CHAPTER XXXI LOURDES 66 THE great value of Lourdes is that here for fifty years the cures have been tested and recorded by medical men. We are thus left in no manner of doubt that religious cures are a verified fact of experience; with a reminiscence of Matthew Arnold we might say that "Miracles" do happen; though, as has been already pointed out,1 a genuine miracle is really a "mighty work or a sign," following its own law and merely over-riding the lower law by the higher. We are also able to form a rough standard by which we may measure the reality of the cures performed in the many other centres of the Church and in the various faith-healing sects; and we are able to form some opinion as to whether spiritual healing is only possible in functional nerve diseases. Let us for simplicity's sake at once state the conclusions which the facts establish. (1) Cures do take place, and the utility of Lourdes from the medical point of view is accepted by non-Christian as well as by Christian doctors in France.2 (2) Lourdes has been a centre of healing since 1 See pp. 117-20 and 182–3. 2 See p. 93. the visions of Bernadette Soubirous, in February, March, and April, 1858, the average number of pilgrims being about 148,000.1 Since 1882 the cures have been reported by a medical committee open to all doctors, which is described on p. 323. (3) The registered cures vary from 100 to 220 per annum, but it is estimated that only about half the cures are registered.2 At best, the percentage of cures is very low. (4) The list of cases reported to be cured is given in the Appendix.3 It shows that though nothing happens against nature-a - a maimed man, for instance, does not grow a new limb-yet a wide variety of diseases are reported as cured; and these are not at all confined to the functional neuroses.1 On the contrary, nervous diseases are in a minority: only 48 cures are reported of neurasthenia, for instance, and 49 of neuralgia, while 107 are set down under rheumatism, and 124 under diseases of the hip-joint; and high as paralysis 5 is with 217, it is out-distanced by pulmonary tuberculosis, which is the highest of all with 262 cures. As for the evidential value of these cures, there is something to be said on both sides. It is probably 1 This was the number in 1903. In 1902 it was 142,000, in 1901 it rose to 191,000. Dr. G. Bertrin, Lourdes: Apparitions et Guerisons, 1905, Appendix p. 410. 2 Bertrin, Ibid. The reasons being that some patients do not submit to a public examination before leaving Lourdes, while with others the cure is accomplished after they have left. 3 See pp. 410-13. 4 See Chapter XI. 5 A case of paralysis may be due to hysteria; but this form is rare, and the presumption is that even among the patients sent to Lourdes most paralytic cases would be organic. higher than that of ordinary medical practice; but, on the other hand, considering the great importance of the subject, one could wish that very exceptional precautions were taken, for we need evidence as to which there shall be the very smallest margin. of error possible in medical diagnosis. At the same time we need be grateful to the authorities of Lourdes that they have already done so much in the way of investigation - a good deal more than the faith-healing centres in America and other countries. Here is Dr. Bertrin's description of the methods of investigation 66 "Bureau de Constatations Medicales. In 1882 a medical committee was formed, charged with the duty of verifying all medical certificates brought by the sick to Lourdes. When a cure takes place, it is immediately notified to this committee, which takes charge of the case. All examinations are made publicly, a cer tain number of doctors are official members of the committee, but it is open to all competent men, friends or enemies. In particular, all doctors are admitted, whatever their nationality and however opposed to the supernatural. In fact, they are never asked any questions as to their opinions. Probably no clinic in France is as accessible and frequented. In fourteen years 2,712 doctors have visited Lourdes, from 1890-1904. Of these 461 were foreigners and amongst them were: 3 members of the Academy of Medicine, Paris. 26 professors of the French faculty. All these names have been registered. For the last ten years Lourdes has been visited on an average by 200 or 250 doctors a year. On some days there have been sixty of them in the committee room, and they are perfectly at liberty to see and examine the patients who come to make known either their malady or its cure, indeed, often the president asks if any of the doctors would like to take a special case into a private room or examine it in a hospital. "Dr. Head, an English Protestant doctor, spent many hours in the committee rooms during some of the great pilgrimages. He came provided with various special apparatus for examining eyes, ears, etc., and also with a good camera. He took notes assiduously during the debates and was allowed full liberty to question the sick. On his departure he wrote to Dr. Boissarie, and after expressing his gratitude for his cordial and courteous reception by the authorities at Lourdes, he says, 'I shall not fail to make known the hospitable welcome I have received and the politeness shown to me, though a foreigner. "As regards the medical examination of the cures, I am happy to express my complete satisfaction with the manner in which medical certificates are dealt with. Nothing can exceed the conscientious care with which the value of each certificate is discussed.' "Most of the sick bring medical details of their diseases. These documents are very important. Each pilgrim in the great national pilgrimage has his number and his papers, which are put into the hands of the committee. When a cure is notified and the sick person remains some days afterwards at Lourdes, he has to appear every morning and evening before the committee in order to prove that the cure is permanent.” 1 All this has, of course, nothing whatever to do with the special religious beliefs associated with Lourdes, any more than the cures wrought by Christian Scientists prove the accuracy of Mrs. Eddy's religious opinions. The story of the appear 1 Translated from Dr. Georges Bertrin, Lourdes, pp. III115, and Appendix, No. 7. ance of the Blessed Virgin to Bernadette with the ungrammatical remark, "Je suis l'Immaculée Conception," is that of a subjective experience with no objective value: "Judged by our habitual canons of evidence," says F. W. H. Myers, "—which, as the reader knows, do, in fact, admit the veridical character of many apparitions there is no reason to suppose that the figure which appeared to Bernadette was more than a purely subjective hallucination; still less reason to assume that that apparition was in any way connected with the subsequent cures." 1 In other words, the apparition to Bernadette is a "bad case," and the trained judgment of Myers (which led him to accept the objective reality of other apparitions) could find no satisfactory evidence in this. Nor was Myers favourably impressed with the general atmosphere of Lourdes "To the student of suggestion, indeed, to the psychologist, the story of Lourdes is a mine of attractive material. Yet from a point of view perhaps profounder still, I cannot but sympathise with those wiser Catholics who bitterly regret the whole series of incidents; — who stand aloof from that organised traffic in human ignorance; from the vested interests sanctimoniously alert on every side; - from the money-changers in the temple; - nay, even from that cowardly craving for earth-life prolonged at any cost which dries the leprous and the cancerous to implore a deferment of their entry into the promised heaven.” 2 Mr. Myers, with his brother, Dr. A. T. Myers, investigated Lourdes, and their conclusions were 1 Human Personality, 1904, I, p. 214. 2 Ibid., p. 214. |