The Song of Bernadette (1941) by the famous Austrian writer Franz Werfel (1890–1947) is not fiction. All the events described in the novel happened in reality. The Virgin Mary actually appeared to a simple French girl, Bernadette. “I dared to sing a song of praise to Bernadette,” writes Werfel in the preface to his book, “even though I am not a Catholic, moreover, I am a Jew. What gave me the courage to do this was a much earlier and much more unconscious vow. <...> I vowed to myself always and everywhere to glorify the divine mystery and human holiness with my creations - in spite of our time, which with ridicule, malice and indifference turns away from these greatest values of our life."