Hello there!
Welcome to my last WEP entry. What's that?
As many at the IWSG have been involved with WEP over the years I'm placing this information before my WEP entry which is below if you'd like to read it and call it my IWSG post.
I'm not insecure about closing down WEP; I think the team has done a great job, been selfless in the interests of our writers for such a long time. But all good things must come to an end, even something as good as WEP.
This
is our final WEP challenge, as after 13 years, WEP is closing down.
This
is partly due to the stressors on the team which have been relentless since
Covid and are ongoing, and partly because of the drop in the number of
participants this year. We know many WEP members are experiencing their
own stressors in the form of health challenges in themselves or family members
which impacts their writing time.
After
much consideration, the WEP team concluded that this is the time to finish. Not
exactly on a high, but not exactly at the bottom of our game.
For
thirteen years we have been a light for many struggling with their writing
life, and many of you credit WEP with the improvement in your writing and
confidence when submitting your work to publishers. This is what WEP set out to
do and we can be happy in that we achieved the supportive writing community we
set out to create. I know we could have done better in some areas, but due to
time constraints we could not follow every avenue we would have liked.
Thank
you to all who have visited our website over the years and offered us words of encouragement
and thank you to those who took up the challenges which made the hard work rewarding.
Our wonderful judge, Nick Wilford, attests to the quality of WEP writing when
he judges each challenge, so it’s not just us.
A
special thank you to those of you who have been with us for the whole journey
and we’re sorry that closing down WEP will have a great impact, but all is not
lost. More info on the WEP website.
THE
FUTURE OF THE WEP ANTHOLOGY
The WEP anthology is going ahead at this stage, for publication in May 2024, but as yet we do not have enough entries to take it
forward. The end of December is the close of submissions, but if you intend to
submit, please send Nila your information. We need at least 14 more submissions to
make the anthology viable. It will be a precious keepsake, so if you want to
see your story included for perpetuity, gain a publishing credit, send it in!
Now, for Over to You, we have been asked to base our story on our favorite movie.
From the WEP Challenges Page: So...will it be a romance? action-adventure? family
drama? horror? Or will it be a comedy? tragedy? thriller?
I'm not absolutely sure how to categorize my entry - it's mostly fact, partly fiction, part essay with pictures...whatever...please enjoy,
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
I watched The Song
of Bernadette with my sister when we were very young. I remember we bawled our
eyes out afterward, and to this day it’s a movie I can’t forget.
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 American biographicaldrama film based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Franz
Werfel. It portrays the story of Bernadette
Soubirous, who reportedly
experienced eighteen
visions of the Blessed
Virgin Mary from February to
July 1858 and was canonized in 1933.
The novel was extremely popular, spending
more than a year on The New York Times Best Seller list and thirteen weeks heading the list. The story was also
turned into a Broadway play, which opened at the Belasco Theatre in March 1946.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a Roman Catholic, but I was profoundly touched by this movie. I do believe in miracles however. In these troubled times, we need all the miracles we can get!
A Song of Miracles
Based on a true story
In the quaint town of Lourdes, nestled amidst the rolling hills
of southwestern France, a sense of serenity lingered in the air undisturbed by
the echoes of the past that reverberated through cobblestone streets and
ancient stone buildings.
Lourdes, SW France
Amidst this peaceful setting lived a fourteen-year old girl named Bernadette
Soubrirous. She was an ordinary peasant girl, but the richness of her spirit
made her extraordinary. Little did she or the townsfolk know her life would
soon become entwined with the miraculous.
Bernadette Soubrirous
“Bernadette! Go fetch some firewood,” was her mother’s cry each evening. “Stop your dreaming, silly girl.”Bernadette did not mind the menial task or the sharpness of
her mother’s tongue. She loved to ramble beside the river, admire the wildlife
and discover secret grottos nestled in its rocky banks.
It was an ordinary day when it happened.
Bernadette wandered along the banks of the Gave River
collecting firewood for her family. Distracted by a strange breeze and a change
in the light, she discovered a hidden grotto. Intrigued by its mysterious aura,
she felt an inexplicable urge to linger. It was as if an unseen force beckoned
her to stay.
Before her eyes, a vision appeared. A
beautiful lady clad in white stood on a rock niche. Bernadette fell to her
knees. When she looked up, the lady had disappeared.
I will come to this magic grotto every day, Bernadette
whispered. As God is my witness, I will see you again.
Soon, whispers of an ethereal presence spread. Some of the
townsfolk doubted Bernadette’s visions, while others believed, but there was an
undeniable sense of magic in the air.
“Maman,” Bernadette said after seeing the vision several times, “I have witnessed a beautiful lady
bathed in light by the river, who spoke to me with a voice as gentle as the
breeze.”
“Enough of your silliness, my girl.” Her mother tossed her
bright red hair. “Go fetch more firewood or you will go hungry tonight.” She
grabbed Bernadette’s arm. “And stay away from the river.”
Bernadette, true to her vow, repeatedly visited the grotto despite her mother's warning.
The citizens of Lourdes stopped her in the streets as she made her way to the river.
“Come with me. See the lady for yourself,” she told them.
On one visit, the lady asked Bernadette to drink and wash at
a seemingly non-existent spring. Bernadette obediently dug a hole in the ground with her fingers and smeared her face with dirt.
“Ha! See! A charlatan, a trickster, an imbecile!”
some onlookers cried, but their ridicule changed to wonder when water began to
flow from the hole, and later to exaltation when its miraculous healing properties
cured the sick amongst them.
Even more people flocked to Lourdes to witness these
miracles for themselves.
The news of Bernadette's visions reached the ears of the
town mayor, the sceptical Alphonse Lacade. Intrigued yet doubtful, he decided to
investigate for himself.
“Do you truly see visions?” he asked Bernadette, trying to
discern the truth behind her extraordinary tale. “I see sincerity in your eyes and
you exhibit an unwavering conviction in your voice. I am truly baffled. This
tale cannot be true.”
“My tale is true,” she said. “I know they say I’m just a
poor girl who has never suffered. Why was I chosen to receive visitations from the
Lady? I cannot explain. I only believe.”
The mayor doubted.
Many did not.
Soon the Massabielle grotto, became a
place of pilgrimage. People from far and wide travelled to witness the miracles
whispered to occur in Lourdes.
“Help me. Carry me to the waters,” the sick and blind cried.
“I need solace,” wept a young mother, clutching her
children’s hands as she took her turn at the stream. “My husband has died. The
mysterious Lady's presence comforts me.”
Bernadette watched in wonder as miracles occurred, overcoming
scepticism and scrutiny.
Jennifer Jones as Bernadette
The hoards believed what they were seeing and spoke to
Bernadette. “We have witnessed the inexplicable: the blind seeing, the lame
walking, and the hopeless finding newfound hope. Bernadette, your song is our
song.”The grotto transformed into a sanctuary of faith and
miracles, with countless pilgrims kneeling, praying, watching and spreading the
good news.
“The whole world needs these miracles,” they told each
other. “Look at Brother John. How long has he lay abed? Now he walks.”
Soon the kneeling believers were joined by men in robes
standing behind them, watching those who could not walk, walk, those who could
not see, see. They were a delegation of priests of the Catholic Church,
cautious and measured, sent to investigate the authenticity of the young girl's apparitions.
They spent hours questioning Bernadette and examining the witnesses, and
deliberated over the inexplicable events unfolding in Lourdes.
In the end, after countless interviews and miraculous healings, the Church
recognized the supernatural occurrences as genuine.
“We cannot doubt when before our eyes we see the lame walk
and the blind see as Jesus promised. These visions are indeed a divine
intervention. Even the mayor is now humbled by the inexplicable beauty of these
miracles that have unfolded in his small town. We must see to the Lady’s
canonization and build a sanctuary to The Lady of Lourdes.”
The Sanctuary to The Lady of Lourdes
The Song of Bernadette echoed throughout Lourdes,
immortalizing the faith and resilience of a young girl who, against all odds,
became the vessel for miracles. The grotto, once a hidden gem, now stood as a
symbol of hope, drawing pilgrims from every corner of the globe.
The priests declared she must enter a convent. “You must
spend your days in reflection and prayer with the Sisters of Charity of Nevers.”
And so, in the heart of Lourdes, amidst the timeless hills
and the flowing Gave River, the melody of miracles continued its song, carried on the
wings of belief and the echoes of a song that transcended the boundaries of the
ordinary.
Bernadette herself refused to take the miraculous waters
when a tumor grew in her leg. On her deathbed, she sorrowfully maintained that
she may never see the lady again. However, the lady appeared in her room, smiled,
and gestured to Bernadette. Bernadette joyfully cried out to the apparition
before she took her last breath.
The last words Bernadette heard: "You are now in Heaven and on
earth. Your life begins, O Bernadette."
According to the RC Church over 7,000 people have been cured at Lourdes ...
TAGLINE: Do you believe in magic? The miraculous? The humble
being exalted?
Thanks for visiting!
Denise
