The Song of Bernadette Page #7

is loving and good.

Was she good to that girl just now?

Was she good to me? Me, Bouriette,

the finest stone-carver in Lourdes.

I'll never forget that day.

I was carving a statue for the church.

A chip of marble flew off my chisel

and hit me in the eye...

...and, as quick as that,

I was no longer a stonecutter...

...and that's how the Blessed Virgin

repaid me...

...by throwing a stone in my eye.

Ever since, it's been

like looking through a bowl of milk.

Bouriette. Bouriette!

- What is it, Antoine?

- Come here!

Look!

Bernadette said there was a spring,

and they called her insane.

Look at it, Bouriette!

Look at it!

Tell the others. Hurry.

Bouhouhorts! La Grange!

Come back! Look!

Dr. Dozous!

Where is the doctor?

Dr. Dozous.

Dr. Dozous, my eye. I can see!

I put mud on them from the grotto

and now I can see. It's a miracle!

Don't be in such a hurry

with miracles, Bouriette.

Tomorrow at 2, Madame Blanc.

Come here.

- Sit down.

- Yes, doctor.

Fix your eye on the ceiling

and look straight ahead.

BOURIETTE:

Yes.

All I did was put mud on them

from the grotto.

Be quiet.

Then I said a prayer

and now I can see.

Quiet.

It's a miracle, doctor.

It's a miracle!

Be still.

There's no improvement

in this eye, Bouriette.

Four scars on the cornea.

- Same as it was six months ago.

- But I can see!

It's like sheet lightning.

DOZOUS:

Excuse me.

BOURIETTE:

Doctor, everything is bright.

DOZOUS:
What you've done

is pressed against the eyeball so hard...

...you've irritated the optic nerve.

For a time, things will seem bright,

but that will pass.

- Take a look at that chart.

- Yes.

- Can you read it with your left eye?

- No, doctor, I can't.

- How about the right?

- No, no, I can't.

- How about both eyes?

- No good, doctor.

There you are.

But, doctor, I never knew how to read.

But I can see!

I can see you, doctor.

I can see everything. It's a miracle.

Come back tomorrow

when you're calmer, Bouriette.

All right, but it's a miracle.

It's a miracle! It's a miracle!

I understand it all now.

Ever since that piece of marble

flew in my eye...

...she's been trying to find a way

to make it up to me.

And at last, she did.

Mortar!

You can see better now, Bouriette?

I see everything.

- There's no hope.

- No. No.

Charles, get Louise Soubirous.

She has always saved him before.

She's not at home. I can't find her.

DOZOUS:

It's too late.

It's better so.

You don't want your child...

...to drag himself through life

a hopeless cripple, do you?

I want my child to live!

No. No!

[MUMBLING]

CHARLES:

Croisine!

Croisine!

Croisine, come back!

- Somebody's coming.

- Who is it?

BOURIETTE:
I don't see anything.

CHARLES:
Croisine! Croisine!

Croisine, please.

- Croisine, be sensible.

CROISINE:
Let me be.

Are you mad?

CROISINE:
Take him, O Lord,

or give him back to me.

[BABY CRYING]

Well, doctor?

There can be no question

of innervation...

...and I can find no reason to doubt

the presence of muscular substance.

What does that mean, doctor?

That means that yesterday, the baby's

legs were completely paralyzed...

...and today, they're as sound as yours.

I'm sure you can understand now my

anxiety for confirmation of my findings.

MAN:
You're positive

there's not a possibility...

...of error in your previous diagnosis?

DOZOUS:

August 25th...

...high temperature, violent convulsions,

complete paralysis of the legs.

Couldn't we assume a mere atrophy,

due to rickets?

I couldn't.

Then the water at Massabielle...

...must contain an unknown

and powerful therapeutic substance.

At any rate, I must report on this case

to the medical journals.

Mmm. I'd hesitate to do that.

It might make you an object of ridicule.

It won't be an easy thing to write.

I'm not accustomed

to believing things I can't see.

What about you, Father?

You've been very silent.

What do you make of all this?

Well, unlike a doctor...

...a religious must believe

a great many things he cannot see.

Sometimes, I confess,

it's extremely difficult.

Last night, when I came here,

it was very dark.

It's much lighter now.

Good morning, gentlemen.

CHARLES:

And no longer are his legs like dishrags.

Now they're firm and strong.

And without Bernadette,

it couldn't have been.

Let me say a prayer by her bedside.

Heavenly Father, no!

Save your prayers for Mass.

Go home to your wife, Charles.

Tonight you will all have dinner with us.

We will have an omelet 10 feet wide.

Good morning, Maman.

Good morning, Papa.

Good morning, Bernadette.

Good morning, Bernadette.

And then she held him

in that ice-cold water...

...and all of a sudden,

the baby began to cry.

Not a weak, sickly cry,

but a healthy one.

And both doctors agree

a great change took place.

They confess they can't understand it.

It's left them wondering.

What do you think of it, Father?

I, too, am wondering.

WOMAN 1:
And you know the baby

was never strong enough to cry before.

Then, on the way home,

the child slept in his mother's arms.

WOMAN 2:
When he woke up,

he was smiling and hungry.

The baby began to stir.

He was moving his legs.

WOMAN 3:
Since he was born,

his legs were as if they had no muscles.

WOMAN 4:

The doctors couldn't do anything.

[CROWD SINGING]

- This is awful.

- Yes, commissioner.

By sunrise, that whole hillside will look

like a sugar loaf crawling with ants.

- It won't be so bad after tomorrow.

- Why?

She said the lady only asked her to come

for 15 times. Tomorrow makes 15.

This is no longer a curiosity.

It's a disease.

The crowd will come if she's here or not.

- Where are you going?

- No place, monsieur.

- What's in that basket?

- Commissioner, my wife is very sick.

Is your wife in the basket?

- No, monsieur...

CALLET:
Let's see.

Monsieur, I thought I could sell

some hot chestnuts and wine.

There we are. Now it's started.

Pretty soon, they'll be selling sausages.

You want sausage?

I've got sausage too.

Go on. Move.

[MAN SHOUTING IN FRENCH]

Well, who is this lady?

She must have a name.

LOUISE:

Didn't you ask her her name?

I've told you to,

time and time again.

Now it's too late.

I did ask her, today.

Well?

What she said I didn't understand.

- Well, speak. What was it?

- You haven't forgotten?

No, I repeated it many times

so I wouldn't forget.

She said,

"I am the Immaculate Conception".

Immaculate Conception?

Immaculate Conception.

Immaculate Conception.

Do you know what it means,

"I am the Immaculate Conception"?

Don't be afraid, my child. I sent

for you to help you, not to scold you.

Well?

No, Your Reverence,

I do not know what it means.

Do you know the meaning

of the word "immaculate"?

Yes, I know that.

An immaculate thing is clean.

Good, and "conception"?

Well, we'll leave that for the moment.

Do you know what we mean

when we speak of the original sin?

Yes.

The original sin

was committed by Adam and Eve...

...when they did not remain faithful

to God but broke his command.

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