Deploige and Royer stated in their conclusion: “Two facts seem duly established by this inquiry. 1st fact: The existence on Mlle. Joachime, at least up to September 12, 1878, at ten o’clock in the evening, if not up to the morning of the 13th, of an ulcer covering nearly the whole right leg from the knee to the ankle, exposing the raw flesh, which was broken out in pimples, inflamed and blackish in places; disgusting to the sight, suppurating profusely, giving out a foul odor and, according to medical testimony, incapable of being cured, naturally, in thirteen days, and making no progress towards improvement. 2nd fact: The entire disappearance of the same ulcer and its replacement by new, dry, healthy skin from September 13, 1878, in the forenoon or, at the very latest, towards nine or ten o’clock in the evening” (Boissarie 1933, p. 9). Church officials, after reviewing all the medical evidence, declared the cure miraculous.
Early in the history of Lourdes, there were suggestions that the cures may have been the result of medicinal properties of the water. A chemical analysis showed the water to have a mineral content similar to other waters in the region (Bertrin 1908, p. 116). Others proposed that the power of suggestion may have caused the cures. But even very young children, unable to comprehend such suggestion, have been cured of physical defects. Bertrin (1908, pp. 142–143) states, “George Lemesle, aged two years and seven months, was cured of infantile paralysis (1895); Fernand Balin, aged two years and six months, was cured of a crooked knee (1895); little Duconte, two years old, whom his doting mother carried to the Grotto in an almost dying condition (1858), was restored to health; Yvonne Aumaître, whom the doctor, her father, plunged into the miraculous water in spite of her cries, was taken out cured of a double club-foot (1896); at the age of nineteen months, A. Mertens was cured of paralysis in the right arm (1895); Pierre Estournet, an unweaned baby, had his eyes cured (1864); and lastly, Paul Mercère was cured of two congenital ruptures when a year old (1866). Of course there is no question of psychotherapeutics in such cures.” Dr. Alexis Carrel, who won the Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology in 1912, was a vocal supporter of the Lourdes healings (Rogo 1982, p. 261).
In November 1882, Francois Vion-Dury, a soldier, suffered burns on his face as he rescued people trapped in a fire at a hotel café in Dijon, France. As a result of the burns, the retinas of his two eyes became detached, causing almost complete blindness. He was released from the army with a pension on July 11, 1884. In the course of a proceeding to get the amount of his pension increased, he was examined by Dr. Dor, of Lyon, France, who on September 16, 1884, stated: “Although the retina in the left eye has returned to place, this eye is still unable to distinguish night from day. With the right eye, M. Vion-Dury has difficulty in counting fingers held a foot away. He is thus incapable of doing any work and must be considered completely and incurably blind in both eyes” (Agnellet 1958, p. 52). In 1890, Vion-Dury entered a hospital at Confort, France. Nuns at the hospital convinced him to pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes and gave him a bottle of Lourdes water. The next day, after his prayers, he put some of the water on his eyelids. “My sight came back in a flash,” he later recalled. “I didn’t believe it myself” (Agnellet 1958, p.
53). Dr. Dor, a Protestant, reported to a conference of eye specialists in Paris: “Vion-Dury was nearly blind. His visual acuity was one-fiftieth, about the same in each eye. . . . The detachment of the retinae was diagnosed by a large number of specialists and had resisted all treatment. Vion-Dury’s condition was static for seven and a half years. Then, without any special treatment . . . his sight became about normal” (Agnellet1958, p. 53). The Church recognized Vion-Dury’s cure as miraculous.
In 1887, Catherine Lapeyre had a cancerous tumor on her tongue. A doctor recommended an operation. Instead, Lapeyre went to Lourdes, but after washing her mouth and bathing in the waters was not cured. In January 1889, Lapeyre was admitted to the main hospital in Toulouse, France. After unsuccessful attempts at treatment, a surgeon decided to remove the tumor. Before the operation, a photograph of the tongue was taken. Boissarie (1933, p. 40) said the photograph showed “a malignant tumor, jagged and vegetating, which had developed on her tongue.” Three months after the operation, the tumor returned. The surgeon proposed another operation, but Lapeyre did not want it, and left the hospital for a room in Toulouse. In July 1889, she was refused a place on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, as she had already gone in 1887. Her friends advised her to simply pray with them to the Virgin for nine days. Lapeyre did this and also washed herself with Lourdes water. On the ninth day she was cured. Boissarie (1933, p. 41) stated: “Her tumor diminished and disappeared. The glands of her neck were no longer swollen; she was able to eat and to talk. The dreadful pains in her head which had followed the path of the nerves of the tongue and caused corresponding pains in the ear had completely disappeared. In a few hours this trouble, which had seemed incurable and which had reappeared after the operations, had ceased without leaving any trace other than a very ordinary scar.” Boissarie (1933, p. 42) added, “Thus, according to the statements of the doctors, and from the progress of the disease as shown by the photograph, which gives a very exact idea of the lesion, there is no doubt that Catherine Lapeyre had a cancer of the tongue and consequently an incurable affection, which would have proved fatal in a very short time. Her cure, happening within a few hours, with no treatment, upsets every calculation. We never experience such results in the practice of medicine.” When Lapeyre was examined at the medical bureau in Lourdes in 1897, doctors saw the tongue was healed and that there was no chance of reappearance of the cancer.
Amelie Chagnon was born in France in 1874. As a child she was very much devoted to the Virgin Mary. At age thirteen her foot became red and swollen. In 1889, she went to Lourdes, but was not cured. By age seventeen, a bone in her foot had become thoroughly decayed from tuberculosis. This bone had become soft, and its articulations with other foot bones had been detached. Around the bone was a deep oozing sore. She also had a swollen knee. Treatments at a hospital in Poitiers were not effective, and her maladies were deemed incurable. For three months, she remained in bed, unable to move. During this time she expressed a desire to go once more to Lourdes, and refused further medical treatment (Boissarie 1933, pp. 10–14).
Amelie arrived at Lourdes on August 21, 1891. So convinced was she of a cure that she brought with her a new pair of shoes, although she had not been able to wear shoes for four years. She was dipped once into the waters, but nothing happened. But upon being placed in the water a second time, she felt a sudden snapping of her knee and an intense outflow of pain from her foot. She was cured. Boissarie (1933, pp. 10–11) said: “Caries, sores, tuberculosis of the bone, destroyed articulation—all were cured in a few moments. The sore was replaced by a firm scar. The decayed, movable bone, which marked a bluish trail under the skin, had resumed its normal aspect and firmness. It was joined to the neighboring parts. In the knee there was no more swelling or pain but an entirely healthy articulation.”