‘Every single one of us is in need of healing’

St. Bernadette Church hosts patron saint’s relics during national tour

LINVILLE — Busloads of pilgrims flocked to St. Bernadette Church May 9-11 to pray for the intercession of St. Bernadette Soubirous, called “the seer of Lourdes,” and see her relics.

The teenage saint witnessed 18 apparitions of Mary in Lourdes in 1858. The French town has become a famous destination for pilgrims, some of whom have been miraculously healed after bathing in its natural spring.

Linville became a pilgrim destination of its own this week – the only stop in North Carolina on a five-month national tour of St. Bernadette’s relics.

Among the faithful making the pilgrimage to the little church nestled in the shadow of Grandfather Mountain was Rose Alenius-Spencer of Abingdon, Va. She drove one-and-a-half-hours south through the mountains Monday with one of her daughters and her infant grandson to visit the saint she’s had an affinity for since childhood.

“I have always felt a real connection to her. I don’t really understand what it is,” she said. “My youngest daughter has Bernadette as her middle name. I am here for her and for my grandson – there are special prayers going up for them.” But, she added, “We are all in need. Every single one of us is in need of healing.”

The relics of St. Bernadette traveling across the country are ex-carne relics (meaning “from the flesh”). The reliquary, or container that houses the relics, was crafted in Spain by the Maison Granda workshop and unveiled in 2019.

The national tour, which began in April, is being organized by the Sanctuary of Lourdes in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, North American Volunteers, Hospitalité of Miami, and the Order of Malta.

During the relics’ three-day visit to his parish, pastor Father Christopher Bond anointed the sick, offered Mass and led a candlelit rosary procession each night.

Among those who were anointed Monday were Gerry and Judy Bielfeldt, who were on their way to Chicago to meet their first great-grandson. Parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte for 26 years, they read about the tour in the Catholic News Herald and knew they wanted to build it into their trip itinerary.

“I thought it would be an interesting stop. And we all need the anointing of the sick, so I wanted to stop here on our trip,” Judy said.

“I’ve always been interested in her, and I’m definitely in need of spiritual healing,” said pilgrim Catherine Norton, who is a junior at Charlotte Catholic High School. “St. Bernadette is my confirmation saint.”

“I just love these types of things,” added her aunt and confirmation sponsor, Patricia Hayes. “The symbolism (of events like this) to me is the universality of the Church.”

Six women from the Mary’s Women of Joy group at St. Mark Church in Huntersville also made the pilgrimage to venerate the relics May 9.

“I felt like we were being called,” said Jean Whelan, longtime coordinator of the ministry. The group had recently visited the Marian grotto at Belmont Abbey, and this was another opportunity for them to get together and pray.

Whelan received the anointing of the sick and spent hours in prayer before the relics and image of St. Bernadette, interceding for family and friends.

She sat in on Megan Bean’s talk about a healing she experienced in Lourdes in 2013 – a healing that is being investigated for possible recognition as a miracle.

Bean had the same misdiagnosed leg clot that Whelan’s mother had before she died. “On many levels, Mary was calling me there to heal from my mother’s passing,” Whelan reflected.

She feels a kinship with Bean, not only because Bean and her mother shared the same ailment, but through a priest connection. “Her son’s a priest. My dad’s a priest (retired Father Robert Ferris, who entered seminary some years after her mother passed away). So we bonded over that. And her son (Father Matthew Bean) is at my church, so I’m praying for him.”

Each day of the relics’ visit was capped off with a candlelight procession similar to those held in Lourdes. Participants prayed the rosary as they weaved their way up the hill behind a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, to the grotto overlooking the church.

“When you go (on a pilgrimage), you thank God,” Whelan said. But more than that, she added, “You don’t realize how impactful it is for your soul, and how impactful it is for everyone you went there for.”

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. Photos by SueAnn Howell and César Hurtado