St Mary of the Angels Academy - Bells Yearbook (Haddonfield, NJ)

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f'Cl REVEREND MOTHER JEAN MARIE, O.S.F. MOTHER GENERAL OF THE SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ALLEGANY, NEW YORK

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Dedication Dear Reverend Mother Jean Marie: We, the seniors of 1949, dedicate our yearbook to you, the beloved spiritual Mother of our teaching Sisters, with dee votion and gratitude. We also oFFer this publication as an expression of congratulation and thank- fulness for your Order's newest con- tribution to this and surrounding com- munities, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

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,IA A Editorial ,-:N To a humble peasant girl of fourteen, the Blessed Mother deigned to appear and choose an intermediary. This was Bernadette Soubiroux, born in 1844 of a pious, poverty-stricken family. As a child, Bernadette was weakened by frequent asthma attacks, her schooling was limited and her knowledge wanting. Much richer, however, was this uneducated girl in her possession of the virtues of humility and simplicity. A ready smile would betray her inner peace and purity of soill. When God wishes to entrust a mission, His choice falls to the lowly, the poor in spirit. The Blessed Virgin had given Bernadette a first mission: Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here in my honor. And a chapel was constructed. The Virgin said furthermore, And I want the-people to come here in procession. The first of the pilgrimages began on April 4, 1864. Bernadette, now placed among the Saints as Saint Mary Bernard, is synonymous with Lourdes. The story of the apparitions is a beautifgl, though familiar one. The quiet, simple way in which Bernadette convinced even the most profound skeptics, has re-echoed throughout the world, transform- inguthe unknown village in the Pyrenees to a modern metropolis, where churches and chapels replace the barren cliFfs of the Grotto. V The cures at Lourdes still remain a mystery of God's eternal goodness diffused through His own Blessed Mother. The greatest miracles of Lourdes are not the physical cures, but the spiritual peace and conte'ntment with which even those still bearing physical infirmities leave Lourdes. How fitting it is, then, that our new hospital has received the title of Our Lady of Lourdes. What safety and security is to be found under the protection of her who regards ours needs, both physical and spi-nitual, with kindlinessl What is good for her children is the concdrn of this wise Mother. From the Seat of Wisdom we hear an echo of this inscription engraved above the entrance of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital: The Body ls Sometimes Curable, The Soul Ever So.