Song of Bernadette: by Franz Werfel.

Life of Bernadette, the peasant girl who had visions and discovered the miraculous spring at Lourdes, is interesting for more than interest in her. She was young and innocent and pure, and so was able to perceive a vision from above directly, hear the vision and have conversations too. The then church authorities immediately went against her, suspicious of anyone with an access to Divine outside the approved channel of authority, and she suffered much including a possibility of fate such as Joan D'Arc. This she was saved, fortunately. In exchange the church had monopoly over the spring - and the town's facilities - at Lourdes.

It is interesting that she went through so much trouble due to her visions even after she found the miraculous springs, only because of a dogma that normal persons could not access heavens above and an authority, a central fixed one at that, had to certify all miracles - and now the same authority monopolises access to Lourdes, where one can only go by applying and permission from the said authority, Rome - and this continues in the so called secular nation of France, where anyone in an attire or cultural symbol other than traditional to France is likely to be treated worse than criminals (one presumes criminals get a trial, while a decent person of another culture, someone perfectly innocent too, is treated abominably) even in civil places such as airports - or even a so called French cultural centre in another country, and this is even true about people of the said other country entering the French centre in their own towns.

Such is the hubris of French culture and pride thereof, with the false badge of secular attached to cover a slave of Roman domination visible under a thin veil. Of course, when asked about secularity of certain laws a French visitor to another nation with a greater ancient tradition takes refuge in tradition of France, while the French centre silently but very unmistakably discriminates against the local traditions (and this is about those traditions that are other than any discrimination or worse against any part of humanity, for all that) and anyone supporting them to any visible extent thereby encouraging and perpetrating not only a colonial mindset but also a blatant hypocrisy.

Anyone from US visiting France knows about the attitude of course, perhaps one has to be rather sensitive to be aware of it. On the other hand one has met such friendly behaviour and unexpected gracious behaviour there too that one never loses the impression of charm and beauty.