Mixed media on paper. June 2015
Here we see St. Bernadette, on all fours, digging in the dirt, at a grotto in Lourdes, France.
No halo, no shaft of divine light, not even a trickle of spring water. This is a display of her Faith in Action. A friend saw this and commented that it should at least feature a twinkling of the divine, but I say, why give the viewer such an assurance? - As if to say "See? I told you my beliefs were real. I am not crazy to think this girl guided by Mary, for here is visual proof!"
No, we are like the observing townspeople, witnessing a driven young woman digging in the soil, like an animal, or a crazy person... or is she in fact following the Virgin Mary's instructions?
For our faith challenges us to "dig deep", and to believe what we cannot always see, even if others think we've lost our mind...
