BELIEVE ME, BRIGADIER, IT WON’T LAST!

SOON EVERYONE WILL BE LAUGHING AT THE VILLAGE OF LOURDES!

THEY ALREADY ARE!

I GO AWAY FOR JUST ONE WEEK, AND LOOK WHAT

HAPPENS!

IT'S MUCH WORSE, COMMIS-SIONER JACOMET!

What on earth was going on in the small town of Lourdes, France, in February 1858?

In a small, rocky grotto near the Gave River, a fourteen-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous had seen a beautiful young woman surrounded by light. Bernadette promised the lady to return each day for fifteen days. Mobs of people were gathering near the river, praying and waiting. The authorities were furious, the priests disbelieving.

“I am the Immaculate Conception,” the lady told the simple peasant girl.

What could it mean?

Using historical records and beautiful artwork, this graphic novel tells the exciting story of Saint Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.

www.JClubCatholic.org

$8.95 U.S.

WHAT’S GOING ON

HERE?

BELIEVE ME, BRIGADIER, IT WON’T LAST!

SOON EVERYONE WILL BE LAUGHING AT THE VILLAGE OF LOURDES!

THEY ALREADY ARE!

I GO AWAY FOR JUST ONE WEEK, AND LOOK WHAT

HAPPENS!

IT'S MUcH WORSE, cOMMISSIONER

JAcOMET!

WE’RE NOT LIVING IN THE MIDDLE

AGES! AREN’T WE IN 1858, BRIGADIER? AREN’T WE?

SO EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT’S GOING ON IN LOURDES, AN INSIGNIFIcANT TOWN OF 3,000

PEOPLE!

WHY ARE PEOPLE RUSHING BY THE HUN-

DREDS TO THIS ISOLATED GROTTO, FOLLOWING A

14-YEAR-OLD GIRL?

AND REcITING PRAYERS FOR

HOURS ON END? WELL . . .

AND YOU TELL ME THE SOUBIROUS GIRL IS AT THE BOTTOM OF ALL THIS? WAIT, BRIGADIER

. . . IS SHE THE DAUGHTER OF THAT MAN WHO SPENT EIGHT DAYS IN PRISON

LAST WINTER?

BAH, THE POOR MILLER WAS UNEM-PLOYED. HIS FAMILY WAS HUNGRY. HE WAS SUSPEcTED OF STEALING

TWO SAcKS OF FLOUR.

HE WAS INNOcENT. BUT WHEN HIS HOUSE WAS SEARcHED, THEY FOUND SOME TIMBER.

AHA! TIMBER?

THEN HE’S A THIEF!

HE’S NOT A THIEF. THE TIMBER HAD BEEN ABANDONED ALONG

THE ROAD. SO THE PROSEcUTOR ORDERED HIM RELEASED.

HERE WE ARE! TOMORROW I’LL QUESTION THE GIRL. WHAT’S

WRONG?

TOMORROW? BUT IT’S SUNDAY!

THIS IS URGENT, BRIGADIER!

EIGHT DAYS IN PRISON! FOR

NOTHING! IT’S HARD TO BE POOR . . .

SUNDAY, FEB. 21 . . .

GOOD GRIEF! WHAT I DON’T GO THROUGH FOR

THE EMPEROR!

INcREDIBLE! THE SUN HASN’T EVEN RISEN YET, AND

THEY’RE WILLING TO STAND AROUND IN THE cOLD ON A SUNDAY MORNING.

THE POLIcE SAY THERE ARE AT LEAST 150 PEOPLE! HOW MANY AccORDING TO THE ORGANIZERS? BUT . . .

BUT WHO ARE THE ORGANIZERS?

I JUST NEED TO FIND THE

LEADERS. THAT WILL END ALL THIS

NONSENSE!

THERE! THE GIRL SEEMS NO OLDER THAN ELEVEN! HOW cOULD SHE HAVE STAGED ALL

THIS BY HERSELF?

SHE’S LOOKING IN THE DIREcTION OF THE GROTTO, BUT THERE’S NOTHING

THERE, EXcEPT A LEAFLESS BUSH…

AH! SOMEONE IS APPROAcHING HER! cOULD

IT BE THE PERSON WHO MASTERMINDED THIS?

LET’S SEE!

WHO IS IT? DR. DOZOUS! WHAT? HE’S REAcHING FOR HER HAND, HER ARM?

OH! HE’S TAKING HER PULSE.

THE SUN IS RISING . . .

I’VE SEEN ENOUGH. I DON’T

WANT TO BE REcOGNIZED!

WELL, I DIDN’T SEE FR. PEYRAMALE, THE PASTOR, AT THE GROTTO. BUT HE MAY BE

BEHIND ALL THIS.

HE MUST BE TRYING TO PROFIT

FROM IT!

cOMMISSIONER! YOU’VE

RETURNED!

AH, THE PASTOR! YOU’RE JUST THE ONE I

WANT TO SEE!

TELL ME, FATHER, WHIcH OF YOUR cOLLEAGUES

ORGANIZED THE PRAYERS AT THE GROTTO? THERE WERE AT LEAST

150 PEOPLE THERE AT DAWN.

THE VILLAGERS ARE cERTAINLY

RELIGIOUS!THAT’S NOT IT!

cOME HERE!

IT’S A DISASTER!

WHAT??

I DON’T UNDERSTAND! EVERYBODY IS AT THE GROTTO PRAYING. AREN’T YOU HAPPY ABOUT THAT?

BUT . . . IT’S ALL

BEcAUSE OF NOTH-

ING!

. . . IT’S A REAL PROBLEM. AND IT MUST BE HANDLED cAREFULLY . . .

LET ME SUM IT UP: FOR TEN DAYS, THAT YOUNG GIRL HAS PRETENDED

TO SEE “THE HOLY VIRGIN.” YES . . . BUT . . . NO . . .

WELL? YES OR

NO?PLEASE, SPEAK MORE

SOFTLY.

SHE HASN’T SAID THAT IT’S THE BLESSED VIRGIN. SHE SAID IT’S A YOUNG WOMAN, A LADY IN WHITE . . .

FROM THE BEGINNING, SHE’S

SIMPLY cALLED HER “THAT ONE.”

“THAT ONE”?

YES, “AQUERO” IN THE LOcAL DIALEcT,

THE ONLY LANGUAGE SHE

SPEAKS.

SHE DOESN’T . . . NOT A

WORD!

BUT THEN, WHO’S

cLAIMING THE LADY IS THE BLESSED

VIRGIN?

THE PEOPLE . . . JUST AS THEY DID AT LA SALETTE,

WHERE APPARITIONS TOOK PLAcE ONLY

12 YEARS AGO, AND AT PARIS, MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO . . .

APPARITIONS? REALLY?

YES. cATHOLIcS DON’T HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THEM, BUT THE cHURcH REcOGNIZES

THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNS FROM HEAVEN.

OH? AND HOW DOES

THE cHURcH KNOW?

THE ARcHBISHOP OF

PARIS HAS ALLOWED A SMALL MEDAL TO BE STRUcK

THAT SHOWS THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. IT’S BEEN A MEANS

THROUGH WHIcH GOD HAS WORKED MANY HEALINGS. PEOPLE cALL IT THE “MIRAcULOUS MEDAL.” THE cHURcH INVESTIGATES THESE

THINGS VERY cAREFULLY AND . . .

BUT I’M THE ONE INVESTIGATING WHAT’S GOING ON NOW. HAVE YOU YOURSELF SEEN

ANYTHING AT THE GROTTO?

I cAN’T RISK THAT! I HAVEN’T

GONE!

SHE DOESN’T SPEAK

FRENcH?

FR. PEYRAMALE DOES SEEM SINcERE . . .

BUT HE’S THE ONE WHO’LL

PROFIT FROM THESE SO-cALLED APPARITIONS . . . PRAYERS, cROWDS,

DEVOTIONS . . .

THIS IS REAL

TROUBLE!!

WHAT IS THIS VISION? WHAT’S BRINGING MORE THAN 150 PEOPLE, AT NIGHT, IN THE FREEZ-

ING cOLD, TO PRAY BEFORE A BARREN GROTTO?

AT A PLAcE WHERE

PIGS ARE HERDED! AND WHAT

ABOUT THESE “HEALINGS”? BAH!

THIS IS THE 19TH cENTURY!

THERE’S NOTHING THERE.

NO HIDDEN DEVIcES, NO TRIcKERY . . .

THE GIRL IS A NOBODY. BUT WHO cOULD

BE ORGANIZING THIS?

WHAT ABOUT LAST

MONTH WHEN THAT ITALIAN MADMAN

TRIED TO KILL EMPEROR NAPOLEON

III?. . HIS BOMB KILLED EIGHT PEOPLE . . .

AND WOUNDED 143! THE TRIAL

BEGINS IN THREE DAYS . . . cAN THERE BE

A cONNEc-TION?

ARE BOMBS HIDDEN HERE?

NO BOMBS SO FAR . . . BUT IT’S cERTAINLY SOME SORT OF TRIcK! WE MUST BE VIGILANT . . .

WHO’S THIS? IT’S YOUNG JEANNE

ABADIE!

SO, JEANNE, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THIS PLOT? WE’RE JUST

LOOKING FOR WOOD!

HAH! ALWAYS FOR WOOD! TELL ME, JEANNE, WHAT HAPPENED THAT FIRST TIME YOU

WERE WITH BERNADETTE?

I SAW NOTHING. NOT ME!

TELL ME EVERY-THING ABOUT IT!

HMMM! IF I QUESTION THEM HERE, I DON’T NEED THEIR PARENTS’

PERMISSION. I’LL GET MORE OUT OF THEM!

THE THURSDAY BEFORE LENT . . .

FEBRUARY 11?YES. AROUND

NOON, I WENT LOOKING FOR WOOD WITH THE SOUBIROUS SISTERS . . .

“THERE WAS NONE NEAR THE cEMETERY, SO WE WENT TOWARD THE GAVE RIVER. WE PASSED THE SAVY MILL.” DON’T TOUCH

THAT WOOD!

“WE HEADED TO WHERE THE MILL-STREAM EMPTIES INTO THE RIVER.

THERE’S A GROTTO.”

I DON’T LIKE THIS PLAcE!

LOOK AT ALL THE WOOD!

YIKES!IT’S

COLD!MY

STOcK-INGS . . .

HELP ME PILE ROCKS IN THE

WATER, SO I CAN CROSS!

COME OVER LIKE WE DID!

SHE NEEDS TO HELP US.

ARE YOU COMING?

LOOK AT YOUR

SISTER!

WHAT’S TAKING SO

LONG?!

SHE’S FOOLISH TO PRAY THERE! SHE PRAYS ENOUGH

AT cHURcH!

“BERNADETTE LOOKED AT US, BUT DIDN’T ANSWER.”