My Daughter and St. Bernadette
For a few days, my 22-month-old daughter Joy has been pulling my DVD copy of The Song of Bernadette (1943) off the shelf, always choosing it alone out of about 50 titles. Tonight, after mass, she brought it into the living room and put it front of the TV. It was late and she still needed her leg massages, all the more so because her walking has taken a turn for the worse in recent days. (We don't let her watch TV, but have a couple of children's classical music DVDs, which she collectively calls "Bach," that help keep her still for the massages.) I thought that since the movie tells the story of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, aside from it being one of my favorites, I'd see what happened if we watched a 1940s black-and-white film together.
She laughed through the first minutes of the film. Then, just before Bernadette was to receive her first vision of the Blessed Virgin in the film, the wind blew. I asked Joy what was happening. She joined her hands in prayer, these days one of her favorite gestures. (At least fifteen times a day, she must ask us to pray with her in front of the crucifixes, the statue of the Blessed Virgin, or the Our Lady of Guadalupe candle.) A moment later, when in the film Our Lady appeared, Joy lit up with joy. I asked her who that was and Joy again made the prayerful gesture. I told her she was right, that that was Mary and that we ask her to pray for us. Then Joy pointed up to the crucifix on our wall and said "also" in Korean. I told her that she was right again; we pray to Jesus, her Son.
We continued to watch the movie. Whenever there were scenes of the town's authorities, who worked unsuccessfully to paint the apparition as a fraud, Joy seemed annoyed.She again made the prayerful gesture and looked to meto bring Berndatte and Our Lady back to the screen. When Bernadette appeared, she gigged with glee. It was not long before she fell into a happy sleep.
Sometimes my wife asks Joy if her legs will be okay, and her little hands meet in prayer. I think she's telling us something.
For a few days, my 22-month-old daughter Joy has been pulling my DVD copy of The Song of Bernadette (1943) off the shelf, always choosing it alone out of about 50 titles. Tonight, after mass, she brought it into the living room and put it front of the TV. It was late and she still needed her leg massages, all the more so because her walking has taken a turn for the worse in recent days. (We don't let her watch TV, but have a couple of children's classical music DVDs, which she collectively calls "Bach," that help keep her still for the massages.) I thought that since the movie tells the story of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, aside from it being one of my favorites, I'd see what happened if we watched a 1940s black-and-white film together.She laughed through the first minutes of the film. Then, just before Bernadette was to receive her first vision of the Blessed Virgin in the film, the wind blew. I asked Joy what was happening. She joined her hands in prayer, these days one of her favorite gestures. (At least fifteen times a day, she must ask us to pray with her in front of the crucifixes, the statue of the Blessed Virgin, or the Our Lady of Guadalupe candle.) A moment later, when in the film Our Lady appeared, Joy lit up with joy. I asked her who that was and Joy again made the prayerful gesture. I told her she was right, that that was Mary and that we ask her to pray for us. Then Joy pointed up to the crucifix on our wall and said "also" in Korean. I told her that she was right again; we pray to Jesus, her Son.
We continued to watch the movie. Whenever there were scenes of the town's authorities, who worked unsuccessfully to paint the apparition as a fraud, Joy seemed annoyed.She again made the prayerful gesture and looked to meto bring Berndatte and Our Lady back to the screen. When Bernadette appeared, she gigged with glee. It was not long before she fell into a happy sleep.
Sometimes my wife asks Joy if her legs will be okay, and her little hands meet in prayer. I think she's telling us something.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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