Subtle Workings of Grace in “The Miracle Club” Movie

Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, later known as Saint Bernadette, was the eldest daughter of a French miller, living in the small town of Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains in the mid 1800s. At 14 years old, Marie reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in the nearby Massabielle grotto, and said she instructed her to drink from a spring there.

Initially, few believed Marie, including her own family and the local clergy. Nevertheless, after a canonical investigation, the visions were deemed “worthy of belief” by Pope Pius IX in 1862. Over the past 160 years, 70 of the 7,000 claims of miraculous cures have been authenticated by the Catholic Church.

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Madeleine Kearns

Madeleine Kearns is a former staff writer at National Review.

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Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, later known as Saint Bernadette, was the eldest daughter of a French miller, living in the small town of Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains in the mid 1800s. At 14 years old, Marie reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in the nearby Massabielle grotto, and said she instructed her to drink from a spring there.

Initially, few believed Marie, including her own family and the local clergy. Nevertheless, after a canonical investigation, the visions were deemed “worthy of belief” by Pope Pius IX in 1862. Over the past 160 years, 70 of the 7,000 claims of miraculous cures have been authenticated by the Catholic Church.