The following e-mail was originally posted on February 9, 2018
Last Sunday, after watching the Young Jedi lead Philadelphia to victory over Darth Vader and the Death Star crew in Super Bowl LII, and after abandoning This Is Us after learning of the demise of Jack but before all the tears could flow, I scrolled down the guide for something else to watch. During the scroll, I came across a listing for TCM showing the 1943 movie The Song of Bernadette. As Wikipedia describes it
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 biographical drama film based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Franz Werfel. It stars Jennifer Jones in the title role, which tells the story of Bernadette Soubirous (later canonized Saint Bernadette) who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported eighteen visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
However, this is not quite true. The visions were of a lady who would later identify herself as the Immaculate Conception, but the theological complexity associated with such a self-identification are not significant for this story. What is significant is that The Song of Bernadette has always been a favorite movie of mine ever since when I saw it for the first time in 1963 (when I was 10 years old) and it inspired me to become a more "saintly" person in hopes that I could see something miraculous as well.
As events occurred, my attempts to become a saint did not last too long. Not long after seeing the movie, the base commander (I was on Glasgow Air Force Base, Glasgow, Montana at the time), decided to relieve the tedium of the base by opening a youth center where I soon could be found learning games of war (Chess and Risk), honing my gaming skills (bumper pool and shuffleboard), and mingling with teenagers who were fond of listening to that radical new group, The Beatles.
Nevertheless, over the years, I have watched The Song of Bernadette many times and I have often wondered what would have happened if I had continued to pursue the saintly path.
Last Sunday night, I again paused to see the movie and to reflect on life. While doing so, I noticed that one of the newspapers highlighted in the movie indicated that the church investigation into Bernadette began in March 1858. The date prompted me to look up Bernadette Soubirous on Wikipedia where I learned that Bernadette's visions actually began on February 11, 1858 ... 160 years ago this weekend.
In reading about Bernadette Soubirous, I also learned, for the first time, that there is now an actual song titled "Song of Bernadette" that was composed by Jennifer Warnes and Leonard Cohen. Intrigued by this new development, I found this website
which provides Jennifer Warnes' explanation for the composition of the song
I was given the name Bernadette at birth. But my siblings preferred the name “Jennifer” so my name was changed one week later. In 1979, on tour in the south of France with Leonard Cohen, I began writing a series of letters between the “Bernadette” I almost was, and “Jennifer”–two energies within me. One innocent, and the other who had fallen for the world.
I showed Leonard my letters to which he replied, “There’s a song in here…just start at the beginning…”There was a child named Bernadette, I heard the story long ago…and then keep going….”
So the song arose in a bus nearby Lourdes. I was admiring Bernadette’s countryside from the bus window, thinking about the great Saint who held her ground so well, and was not swayed from what she knew to be true.
But the song is also about me longing to return to a place that was more pure, honest and true. I still long for this, and I think others do too.The letters were just an experiment: “Dear Bernadette, I’m so lost right now.” “Hello dear Jennifer, don’t worry, I’m here, and it’s gonna be okay.”
I suppose I was struck by the timing of my rediscovery of the movie The Song of Bernadette and of my new discovery of the song "Song of Bernadette". I was also struck by the coincidence that two women named Jennifer (Jennifer Jones and Jennifer Warnes) were connected to Bernadette in very intimate ways. However, most importantly, I was struck by the fact that more than a century after her death, the story of Bernadette Soubirous continues to provide healing both physically and mentally and that the miracles still occur. And now, for many, the healing associated with Bernadette Soubirous can be ministered through the beautiful sound of a song
I hope all of you have a blessed weekend filled with miracles great and small.
Peace,
Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Song Of Bernadette Lyrics
There was a child named Bernadette
I heard the story long ago
She saw the queen of heaven once
And kept the vision in her soul
No one believed what she had seen
No one believed what she heard
But there were sorrows to be healed
And mercy, mercy in this world
So many hearts I find, broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we have done and can't undo
I just want to hold you, won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
We've been around, we fall, we fly
We mostly fall, we mostly run
And every now and then we try
To mend the damage that we've done
Tonight, tonight I just can't rest
I've got this joy in my breast
To Think that I did not forget that child
That song of Bernadette
So many hearts I find, broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you, won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
I heard the story long ago
She saw the queen of heaven once
And kept the vision in her soul
No one believed what she had seen
No one believed what she heard
But there were sorrows to be healed
And mercy, mercy in this world
So many hearts I find, broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we have done and can't undo
I just want to hold you, won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
We've been around, we fall, we fly
We mostly fall, we mostly run
And every now and then we try
To mend the damage that we've done
Tonight, tonight I just can't rest
I've got this joy in my breast
To Think that I did not forget that child
That song of Bernadette
So many hearts I find, broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you, won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
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