St Joseph Moscati
and his voyage to Lourdes
Antonio Marranzini s.j.
[Translated by Arlette Desaules]
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St Joseph Moscati Antonio Marranzini s.j. [Translated by Arlette Desaules] |
In 1923, fame and the celebrity that Moscati would have agreed to avoid, finally joined him and its life takes an obsessing rhythm, without peace nor respite.
He comes out early in the morning for the Mass and the Communion; then, he passes three or four hours at the Incurabili Hospital; when he re-enters at his place, he finds there many patients who await him, coming from various social classes, come from the city and other areas from the South. He receives them all, but it give his preference to poorest. Lastly, there remain to him the visits with residence reserved to the disabled persons. For that, the professor is often accompanied by one of its pupils, at the time of a small turn to foot, especially in hollows and the attics poorests, where any hope rests on him. The requests for visits in residence out of Naples are always more many.
This work at the unrestrained rhythm worries much his parents and friends, who will insist that he rests a little. Moscati himself often thought of the idea to go to spend one week or two in the paternal house of S.Lucia de Serino (Avellino) populated memories of childhoods. But needs of its patients obliged him to defer his holidays.
Meanwhile, sight troubles worry him a little, not for him, but in fear of having to still slow down, or worse, to stop his work.
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The opportunity arises, in connection with an international Congress of Physiology in Edinburgh (England). It will be professor Bottazzi, one of the first who sepak about tis congress and which will convince him, pointing out to him that while going there, he could put itself in liaison with the largest scientists of the world and to thus grow rich by last scientific knowledge which him will allow to achieve its work in a way even more qualified.
Moscati speaks about it with his family, which, of course, encourages him of all them ways to benefit from it. He, on the other hand, remains dubious until the last moment; finally, it will be the Father Perillo, barnabite, which he had asked consulting, which will convince him to make the voyage like " a duty ". His travelling companions will be professors Quagliariello, De Blasi and Bottazzi, the woman of this last and her two daughters. In spite of his health, Moscati writes a newspaper of voyage very detailed and long letters.
His writings express the feelings of a mystic, of a scientist and esthète and show his linguistics knolidge. His admiration for each wonder is very prompt and alive, but sifted deep spiritual requirements. The feature of spirit is alive, the glance goes immediately beyond appearance; the limpid and precise style expresses his opinion with promptness and elegance.
Departure for Rome and England - personal Newspaper
A 10h15, departure for Rome, accompanied by professor Bottazzi, his wife and his two daughters, of Gaetano Quagliarello and professor De Blasi.
The Lord, already for a certain time, had calmed the storms of my heart: I discouraged myself and I thought that perhaps, I had lost the fruit of little of goodness I could have made in the last years... But God had diverted to ego the occasions to sin, already, since several months, it had given me, in its infinite tenderness, a peace very soft; and a few days ago, I read in the biography of Blessed Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1), a sentence made for me: "Even the discouragement, my God, is a sin". Yes, it is a sin of pride, because it makes me believe that I could accept in me the idea to have done something great, whereas on the contrary, we do not have always be that useless servants ". [...]
Letter sent of Lourdes, August 6-7, 1923
I arrived towards 8h30 at Lourdes. I had left at 7h30 the horrible one Park of Orsay of Paris (underground) with an overpowering heat. All the train was, in good part, reserved; but I succeeded in finding a place and fortunately, during the way, the man who was opposite to me is passed in another compartment, allowing me to lengthen my legs delightfully. [...]
The train stopped a moment in Poitiers and Tours before Bordeaux and then in Lourdes. They have express trains these French, I want to say that they always roll without never stop: impossible thing in Italy. I found a hotel (St-Louis-of-France), held by an elderly spinster, Miss Jacob. But Lourdes overflows with hotels. She is full of slow train, hotels, thing which I never saw, neither in London, nor in Paris.
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I immediately went to the church of the Rosary, where there was one infinity of masses. I served one of them, because I saw the abbot who gave sorrow to find somebody who can serve the mass.
Lourdes is a gracious city on the first buttresses of the Pyrenees: it is crossed by a fast torrent (Gave). Where are concentrated the houses, it seemed me to see Atripalda; So, like the corner of basilica with its broad horizon and the belt of the mountains and the beautifulsound of its bells recalled me Serino (2). Mountains with the rocks color brown-black, container of invaluable minerals (agate, onyx, quartz); of with which the inhabitants make invaluable objects. All is expensive here!
I dedicated myself to the sanctuary. At the beginning, I did not have large impression. A large esplanade in a park, closed at the bottom by two slopes with clippers, which are closed with the church of the Rosary, elliptic, byzantine, with many altars near the periphery of the ellipse. Above church of the Rosary, there is the basilica, made of an intended crypt especially with the confessionals and a Gothic church, where is repeated the system seen in France and England: few images, but the statues and low-reliefs which are harmonized with all the architecture of the temple. The altars are not on the wall at the bottom of the vaults, but in the side towards the Master-altar
By exceeding the slope on the right-hand side, we are near the rock on which is the basilica and we find the swimming pools immediately, then the taps water and finally the cave of the appearances, larger, but similar with that of St-Nicolas de Tolentino (3). The rock is very smoked out and blackened like the wall of a furnace, because of the flames of the candles. In the niche of the appearance, there is a nonbeautiful statue of the Virgin, and below an inscription in Basque dialect "QUE SOY ERA IMMACULADA COUNCEPCIOU". On the walls, hang crutches and all the orthopedic implements.
All this zone of the sanctuary becomes animated as by enchantement at the solemn times. The morning, Mass in the cave. In front, in an enclosure separated by tended chains, there are patients on stretchers and bancalines. A long file of faithfuls, tight and international , pass very close to the gate of the cave, where two priests manage continuously the Holy Communion. When the first file finished, the long file takes again the stopped path; other communions and so on. While waiting, the masses follow one another to the altar.
Around, on the great place, one cosmopolitan population, follows the mass and the prayers that an abbot aloud recites from top of a stone pulpit, placed onn feets of the Holy Virgin. No noise, no distraction. We hear only the voice of the priest and the rustle of Gave, impetuous, like the wind in a forest, and the chirp of the birds which continue in the small shrubs rocks. From time to time,we hear the train, in top on the other side of Gave.
But near the cave, there is always somebody, even after the mass, even the night. During these offices, the image of the Virgin, there, at the point where she appeared, becomes of a supreme beauty.
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Swimming pools. The personnel is numerous, it is call "stretcher-bearers" ["brancardiers"], young people, very strong, beautiful, and also men with square shoulders. At the Office of the Medical Observations (Bureau de Constatations Médicales), I obtained a green card of authorization to visit closely all works of Lourdes, the swimming pools included. The stretcher-bearers are voluntary male nurses: one of them for example, which gave me explanations, yesterday, was one Belgian lawyer.
What there is the very admirable one, is that there is always stretcher-bearers who are registered for this noble apostolate. They deal with the patients who come here by train-hospital and will place in various old people's homes and hospitals. They accompany them to the swimming pools, which in reality, are only cabinets with a bath-tub. The patient, if possible, enters water on its two feet, supported by both stretcher-bearers who say prayers. If the patient is paralytic, he is deposit on a table, then he is raised by the male nurses and is plunged in water. While waiting, outside, the pelerins a numerous and the priests incite them to pray.
Water is not changed and is very cold. When the subject comes out water, hi is not dryed. And yet, all these strange things do not have ever involved any disadvantage. The day before my arrival, there was a bright cure (a cure): one paralytic, because of a fracture to the spinal column, going back to 15 years, leaped on its feet out of the swimming pool. The newspaper " La Croix de Lourdes " made special editions for the event.
At the office, Doctor Marchand, successor of Doctor Boissairie, very estimated at Lourdes, informs me that with the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, I could follow closely and thus observe the patients. Another solemn moment, where occur the miracles, is that of procession of Blessed Sacrament. At 5h in the afternoon, departure of the cave: there is an infinite number of youg girls with white veils which precede; then come the abbots, bishops, pelerins and finally The Blessed Sacrament. With a signal of Doctor Marchand, the procession stops and 5 or 6 doctors - of which I form part place myself among them, very of continuation after pallium. The procession arrives at the great place, near the church of the Rosary; all around, the patients are laid out in a large circle.
The priest, follow-up of some priests and doctors, makes the turn of the patients and blesses them one after on with the monstrance. It is an enormous private clinic which opens in front us. All these poors being laid down on the back,on the stretchers deposited on the floor , have on their face a badly dissimulated hope, and at the same time a great resignation. Some are very pale, of an anguish mortal, of a devouring confidence. The disease have deformed them all, but the great number transforms them. In the medium of the great place, the priests shout: "Lord, I will believe!" and chorus of the disabled persons: "Lord, whom I believe!", "Lord, that I see!", and so on.
A young person on his bancaline cries and shouts: "Lord, whom I cure!" A beautiful paralytic child is there, with the joined hands and the eyes very soft turned towards the white Host; the blind men turn their eyes extinguished, inert, where they feel, but do not see the light eternal; a long series of emaciated women, suffering, skeletals like mummies, tighten their chain. The Host passes in silence. No cure! The Lord, who can in one moment to give again the life, which is very powerful, is addressed to the hearts, floods them of a resignation increasingly larger.
Bernadette, did'nt she remain asthmatic, he, to which the Holy Virgin appeared, and who remained, the last 8 months of his life, paralysed on a chair? Once the turn of the patients finished, the procession begins again and from top of staircases of the church of the Rosary the priest raises the custode to the three angles of the world and blesses.
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Procession of the torches. At 8h30 of the evening, the torchlights procession. It is a fantastic spectacle. Thousands of people leave the cave with torch in the hand, singing an anthem to the Blessed Virgin. Each stanza ends in Ave Maria, and all the torches rise.
We go up on a side and we goe down from the other side and when we are on the great place, we traverse it in zigzag, this is why we see alternatively a luminous file outward journey in a direction and a luminous file in the other. The basilica is illuminated: on all its contours, there are electric lamps. Reflectors of the castle reverberates its light on the basilica. The cross on Pic-du-Jer (high mountain) ignites. When all are arrived near the church of the Rosary, we sing the Creed and there procession is finished.
This morning, I have gone to the Pic-du-Jer by the funicular. From there, we can enjoy marvellous spectacle of the valley of Lourdes and the Hautes-Pyrénées snow-covered: there is a perfume of flowers and of grass, it is delicious.
To 6h20, I leave for Toulouse-Marseilles-Nice-Ventimiglia. If the voyage is too much tiring, I will stop in Nice, otherwise I will continue until Genoa.
I kiss you...
Notes.
1. Moscati was very excessively pious person in St Therese of Lisieux ("The Little Flower"). He had an image in its room. It is now in the "Moscati Rooms" of the church of Gesù Nuovo in Naples.
2. Atripalda and the area of S. Lucia di Serino, in Italy.
3. In the church of Saint Nicola da Tolentino, in Naples, there is one reproduction of the cave of Lourdes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alfredo Marranzini s.j.: Giuseppe Moscati, modello del laico cristiano di oggi, Ave, Roma 1989, pp.153, 186-192.
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