Nevers, France

In the heart of France’s Bourgogne region, the town of Nevers — rhymes with “the stair” — is not likely to come up on your travel agent’s radar.

There are no significant museums to speak of. The countryside is quaint but not unique. (This is, after all, a nation whose understated physical beauty is the stuff of libraries’ worth of poetry and paintings.)

But for Catholics looking for an Eastertide pilgrimage worthy of the season, Nevers offers an opportunity to witness firsthand Christ’s triumph over death as made manifest in his saints down through the centuries.

For it is in this small town that the body of St. Bernadette Soubirous, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared at Lourdes on many occasions, is on display. It’s housed in the same chapel where she worshipped as a nun with the Sisters of St. Gildard. And it is incorrupt.

There are no crowds here, no tourists snapping photos. No pilgrim will confuse this place for Lourdes, where ill and infirm throngs from all over the world line up with hopes of experiencing, or at least witnessing, dramatic healings.

As a Catholic mother of four, I always make it a point to seek out Catholic churches and shrines when we’re “on the road.” And, as an American married to a French national, I have visited France many times over. Yet I had somehow managed to miss this place of miracles and grace.

My in-laws live in Marne La Valle. This is only a 40-minute drive southeast from La Ville-lumière (the “City of Lights” — Paris, of course), but, as far as the eye can see, farms and villages and miles of pristine countryside stretch out before you.

The scenery continued as we made the three-hour trip from my relatives’ home to Nevers two summers ago.

It’s a voyage we’ll be sure to recall on April 16, the feast of St. Bernadette.

Peace Permeates

We arrived and our children piled out of the car. Since they had spent much of the ride questioning us about how dead bodies decompose — and since we had a hard time explaining the process while also pointing out that, sometimes, God preserves dead bodies from decomposing — we decided to directly enter Chappelle St. Joseph to show them the mortal remains of the saint. Of course, my husband and I wanted to see her with our own eyes, too.

The beauty of this quiet place of prayer didn’t disappoint. There were worn wooden pews, traditional stained-glass windows and other subtle signs reminding us that there are certain little corners of the world in which time moves only very slowly.

Spotting the glass coffin just ahead, we knelt to pray. I felt a twinge of anticipatory fear.

I needn’t have worried, for St. Bernadette is anything but frightening. She is stunningly beautiful.

She looks young, having died at age 35, and is still clothed in her habit. Her head is slightly bowed, her skin radiant. I wiped away a tear that seemed to come out of nowhere. My 11-year-old son, Antoine, asked me if I was sad.

“No, honey, but I’m very moved,” I said. “I’m aware how much God loves us.”

We stayed at Bernadette’s side for 15 minutes. I became distracted as my young children started to fidget, but I noticed that my older two were church-mouse quiet. The saint had instantly left her mark on their memory, making the kind of deep and lasting impression that no amusement park, water slide or roadside attraction ever could.

Incorruptible Faith

Leaving Bernadette to the small handful of other visitors present, we moved on to tour the rest of the grounds. Here we learned how Bernadette Soubirous, a poor and illiterate shepherd girl, first saw Our Lady, prayed the Rosary in front of her and, at Mary’s instruction, scratched the grassy floor of the cave with her fingers several times. Then water appeared, at first muddy, and then clear enough to drink, and it soon became the flowing spring it still is today.

We learned of Bernadette’s arrival here in Nevers at the convent to take her vows, her devotion to the sick of the convent’s infirmary and her own terrible battle with illness, which caused her such suffering toward the end of her life. Her body was exhumed on three different occasions — and examined by physicians and local officials whose sworn testimonies on the intact condition of her body are well documented.

We continued to walk around the grounds, enjoying its peaceful presence, outdoor garden and general aura of holiness. Still, I was anxious to get back home and tell everyone I know that I’ve seen a real saint. For as much as faith is “evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), sometimes seeing helps us believe.

Just so, our experience in Nevers — humble, easily overlooked Nevers — left an indelible mark on our human understanding of God and his Easter triumph over evil.

Jennifer Bioche writes from

Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

New Light on Lourdes

Register contributor Kerry Crawford, who with her sister Patricia co-writes our Children’s Book Picks column, has authored a new book for pilgrims bound for Lourdes — whether they’re traveling actually or vicariously. Published by Servant Books, Lourdes Today: A Pilgrimage to Mary’s Grotto takes a fresh look at the historic site through contemporary testimonies, descriptions of physical features and a review of the apparitions in light of Scripture and Catholic doctrine. It’s available in Catholic bookstores or directly from Servant (a division of St. Anthony Messenger Press) at catalog.americancatholic.org or (800) 488-0488.

— Editor