December 17, 2008

The Lourdes connection

My Lourdes’ story started 60 years ago—no make that 1945 when the movie “The Song of Bernadette” come out. I was the third daughter. The first two girls were named for each grandmother. Since there were no other grandmothers, my 11-year-old sister, Agnes, who was the oldest, got to pick my name. She chose Bernadette. The Holy Spirit inspired her by naming me for the saint and not the star. My 8-year-old sister did not get to pick a name for a child as mother did not have any more children; however, she, in 1958, did become herself a bride of Christ, like Bernadette. On Aug. 9  she and four other brides of Christ again professed themselves to him on their 50th jubilee.

This spring, my husband Jerry and I did not get to France but on April 4, Agnes and Joe’s 49th wedding anniversary, we were in Aruba to journey to its’ Lourdes shrine in St. Nicholas. We lit a candle there for them and I carried a pearl rosary, which she gave me for our 30th anniversary. It was a moving experience.

Many of Our Lady’s feast days have played a special part in my family’s life, but for my husband and me the most special is Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as it is the day he proposed.

Bernadette Modz
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