The Calvary of Betharram (10)

Old documents gathered in boxes have recently been brought from Bétharram to Rome in order to be cataloged and kept in the archives of the Congregation. In one of theses boxes was unearthed the Speech pronounced in the chapel of Bétharram on September 14th, 1916, by Abbot Maupas, diocesan missionary, on the occasion of the 3rd centenary of the mystery of the Cross.
100 years later, this meditation, which we shall propose in two parts, still resounds with strength from the hill of Bétharram.

Betharram, Betharram! You have been, in centuries gone by, the great home of the religious life of Béarn, the pious rendezvous-of its children. Your Calvary, dominating the valleys and plains, protecting far away lands, continually carrying towards Heaven the homages of the scattered pilgrims, interceding for them. Next to you, souls believe themselves to be nearer to Heaven and, in fact, it is next to you that they have had a pre-taste; it is next to you that they have found the grace and generosity that lead them there. But about this past, my brothers, you keep hold of the memory. You have gathered in your homes and you have remained faithful.

Each year, you are happy to repeat the gesture of your ancestors; you carry out the same pilgrimage, you whisper the same prayers; like them, you fall to your knees at the foot of the statue of Mary and at the foot of the Cross. Like them too, you receive the maternal smiles of the Blessed Virgin and the graces of her Son; and each of you, based on the intimate experience of your soul, could say with me that you are always happy at Betharram and that you still receive there the blessings of Heaven.

For these benefits and for the benefits of three centuries of devotion, give thanks today to our Divine Saviour. Pray to Him with a fervent soul and meditate on the lessons that are given to you by the miraculous Cross of Betharram’s Calvary, and you will begin the way home again, your hearts filled with a new courage and an unwavering confidence, as the feast we are celebrating is a lesson and a source of hope. The hope I want to speak to you about is before all, you understand, the Christian hope, that lets us wait with a firm faith for the Glory of Heaven, the purpose of our life, and the necessary good to reach there by commendable deeds.

This hope has therefore as its purpose, the grace of practicing good and of triumphing in the struggle against difficulties and against evil. But isn’t the Cross simultaneously the source of all good, of all virtue, the symbol of the love of God, and His victory flag over Hell and over the world?

Also, it isn’t possible for a Christian to look at the cross with a living faith, without feeling a strong trust in his divine Saviour rising up in his heart.

The occasion of wonder that we celebrate contributes again towards strengthening this hope that the Cross gives.

At Betharram’s Calvary, the Cross was knocked over by a forceful wind, then it stood up straight, radiant. Within this miracle, there is a vision of the story of its triumphs.

Throughout the centuries, the Cross has in fact had some struggles to withstand, some very violent struggles, and we have sometimes asked ourselves, during times when evil seems to be making its insolent progress, if the Cross might not be defeated for good. We were forgetting the great prophecy of Our Lord. We were forgetting that struggle is the great rule of life, that the heavens suffer violence, that the disciple isn’t above the master. We were also forgetting that so encouraging word from the Lord: Have faith, I have defeated the world.

Well, all these truths are brought out by the Miracle of the Cross.

The knocked down cross – this is contempt, blasphemy, betrayal.

The upright cross – this is the eternal triumph of Our Lord over his enemies.

(to be continued)

Abbé Maupas
14 September 1916