The particulars of the accounts given here are taken from the most authentic sources: mostly, from the excellent and admirable work of my friend Mr. Henri Lasserre, already known throughout France, and far beyond it. Scrupulously accurate, Mr. Lasserre wished to see everything, hear everything, and judge of everything for himself. He passed entire months at Lourdes and in its vicinity, sparing neither expense nor fatigue to go and question those who are said to have been miraculously cured; hence his testimony is rather that of the actors themselves and of the witnesses to the prodigies which he related, and of which his lively and ardent faith has made him tho faithful recorder. I have next borrowed my information from the Annals of Our Lady of Lourdes, collected on the spot by the pious missionaries, who see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears what they publish in their monthly report, which always has the approbation of the bishop of the diocese. The missionaries are, as it may be said, located on the spot; and this circumstance gives to their testimony an indisputable value. Those from whom I have borrowed all my facts may, then, repeat with the Apostle St. John: "We declare unto you that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and which our hands have handled. And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, "and that your joy may be perfect."
