Bernadette of Lourdes: Her Life, Death and Visions

Rating:
Summary: History of Bernadette and Lourdes
Review: Historical, incredibly detailed and scholarly account of the life of Bernadette Soubirous and the history of the Grotto at Massabielle.

Rating:
Summary: A Gem of a Book
Review: Therese Taylor succeeds in drawing a full, persuasive portrait of Bernadette Soubirous, a nineteenth century French girl who made the village of Lourdes famous throughout the Christian world. But Dr. Taylor carries the story to its end, finishing not with the immediate aftermath of the apparitions, but to the close of Bernadette's difficult life in a convent in Nevers. This Bernadette was far from what one would imagine a visionary to be. She was sober, honest to a fault, and vehemently set against becoming an object of adoration herself. Curious prelates and nuns tested her patience when they demanded more and more details of what Bernadette had seen. She refused, saying that to embelish is to distort. This laconic posture cost her some popularity in the convent, but Bernadette rejected the notion of having an audience to whom to play. In a sense, her almost flinty integrity gives the best witness to the truth of what she reported she saw. And what she saw or not remains a matter of faith. Dr. Taylor adds this volume to the small library of books that honors the saints through thorough and respectful biography, not sentimental hagiography. She is also as fine a writer as one could wish.

Rating:
Summary: A Gem of a Book
Review: Therese Taylor succeeds in drawing a full, persuasive portrait of Bernadette Soubirous, a nineteenth century French girl who made the village of Lourdes famous throughout the Christian world. But Dr. Taylor carries the story to its end, finishing not with the immediate aftermath of the apparitions, but to the close of Bernadette's difficult life in a convent in Nevers. This Bernadette was far from what one would imagine a visionary to be. She was sober, honest to a fault, and vehemently set against becoming an object of adoration herself. Curious prelates and nuns tested her patience when they demanded more and more details of what Bernadette had seen. She refused, saying that to embelish is to distort. This laconic posture cost her some popularity in the convent, but Bernadette rejected the notion of having an audience to whom to play. In a sense, her almost flinty integrity gives the best witness to the truth of what she reported she saw. And what she saw or not remains a matter of faith. Dr. Taylor adds this volume to the small library of books that honors the saints through thorough and respectful biography, not sentimental hagiography. She is also as fine a writer as one could wish.