The Song of Bernadette

novel by Werfel

Also known as: “Das Lied von Bernadette”

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Article History

The Song of Bernadette, novel by Czech-born writer Franz Werfel, published in 1941 in German as Das Lied von Bernadette. The book is based on the true story of a peasant girl of Lourdes, France, who had visions of the Virgin Mary. It was written to fulfill the vow Werfel had made in Lourdes in 1940, while trying to escape the Nazis: if he and his wife reached safety in the United States, he would write the story of Bernadette of Lourdes, who was canonized in 1933.

In the novel, Bernadette’s visions begin in 1858, when a beautiful lady claiming to be the Virgin Mary appears to her at a grotto. News of the apparition and Bernadette’s subsequent visitations invoke disbelief by the townspeople, harassment by civil officials, and skepticism by the clergy. After the Virgin causes roses to bloom in winter and reveals to Bernadette a previously unknown spring of water, both church and government accept the truth of Bernadette’s revelations.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.