er that the visible contradiction of all this conventionalism finds
but little room in the soul.

Then there is another point that I should like to make in the presence
of "Evangelical" Christians who shake their heads over Mary's part in
the matter. It is this--that for every miracle that takes place in the
_piscines_, I should guess that a dozen take place while That which we
believe to be Jesus Christ goes by. Catholics, naturally, need no such
reassurance; they know well enough from interior experience that when
Mary comes forward Jesus does not retire! But for those who think as
some Christians do, it is necessary to point out the facts. And again. I
have before me as I write the little card of ejaculations that are used
in the procession. There are twenty-four in all. Of these, twenty-one
are addressed to Jesus Christ; in two more we ask the "Mother of the
Saviour" and the "Health of the Sick" to pray for us; in the last we ask
her to "show herself a Mother." If people will talk of "proportion" in a
matter in which there is no such thing--since there can be no
comparison, without grave irreverence, between the Creator and a
creature--I would ask, Is there "disproportion" here?

In fact, Lourdes, as a whole, is an excellent little compendium of
Catholic theology and Gospel-truth. There was once a marriage feast, and
the Mother of Jesus was there with her Son. There was no wine. She told
her Son what He already knew; He seemed to deprecate her words; but He
obeyed them, and the water became wine.

There is at Lourdes not a marriage feast, but something very like a
deathbed. The Mother of Jesus is there with her Son. It is she again who
takes the initiative. "Here is water," she seems to say; "dig,
Bernadette, and you will find it." But it is no more than water. Then
she turns to her Son. "They have water," she says, "but no more." And
then He comes forth in His power. "Draw out now from all the sick beds
of the world and bear them to the Governor of the Feast. Use the
commonest things in the world--physical pain and common water. Bring
them together, and wait until I pass by." Then Jesus of Nazareth passes
by; and the sick leap from their beds, and the blind see, and the lepers
are cleansed, and devils are cast out.

Oh, yes! the parallel halts; but is it not near enough?

_Seigneur, guerissez nos malades!_

_Salut des Infirmes, priez pour nous!_

VIII.

The moment Benediction was given, the room be