that in
these times the pilgrims did not pray so much as they once did, and that
this was a bad sign. He spoke also of France as a whole, and its fall.
My friend said to him that, in her opinion, if these pilgrims could but
be led as an army to Paris--an army, that is, with no weapons except
their Rosaries--the country could be retaken in a day.

Now, I do not know whether the pilgrims once prayed more than they do
now; I only know that I never saw any one pray so much; and I cannot
help agreeing with my friend that, if this power could be organized, we
should hear little more of the apostasy of France. Even as it is, I
cannot understand the superior attitude that Christian Englishmen take
up with regard to France. It is true that in many districts religion is
on a downward course, that the churches are neglected, and that even
infidelity is becoming a fashion;[7] but I wonder very much whether, on
the whole, taking Lourdes into account, the average piety of France, is
not on a very much higher level than the piety of England. The
government, as all the world now knows, is not in the least
representative of the country; but, sad to relate, the Frenchman is apt
to extend his respect for the law into an assumption of its morality.
When a law is passed, there is an end of it.

Yet, judging by the intensity of faith and love and resignation that is
evident at Lourdes, and indeed by the numbers of those present, it
would seem as if Mary, driven from the towns with her Divine Son, has
chosen Lourdes--the very farthest point from Paris--as her earthly home,
and draws her children after her, standing there with her back to the
wall. I do not think this is fanciful. That which is beyond time and
space must communicate with us in those terms; and we can only speak of
these things in the same terms. Huysmans expresses the same thing in
other words. Even if Bernadette were deceived, he says, at any rate
these pilgrims are not; even if Mary did not come in 1858 to the banks
of the Gave, she has certainly come there since, drawn by the thousands
of souls that have gone to seek her there.

This, then, is the last thing I can say about Lourdes. It is quite
useless as evidence--indeed it would be almost impertinent to dare to
offer further evidence at all--yet I may as well hand it in as my
contribution. It is this, _that Lourdes is soaked, saturated and kindled
by the all but sensible presence of the Mother of God_. I am quite aware