Brigitte Bardot in 1962.
We are publishing an article dedicated to the spirituality and life of the great diva which appeared in issue 32 of 2019 of the weekly magazine Maria con te published by Periodici San Paolo.
The soul of an artist is often a mystery, especially if it is a timeless myth that marked an era like Brigitte Bardot. Today, at 84 years old, after a tumultuous past, the French diva has chosen her quiet and solitude, together with her dogs and cats of whom she is very fond. A strong feeling, expressed in one of his cult phrases: «The more I know men, the more I love animals». The actress, so famous that she gave her face to Marianne, an allegorical representation of the French Republic, becoming the embodiment of that national symbol, is a woman who has always fought for her ideas, in defense of animals and values most important humans, such as tolerance and respect for others, denouncing a dangerous absence of rules. Brigitte’s difficult choices, which suggest her generosity of spirit and her Catholic education, never ostentatious, but deeply rooted. However, it still surprises her to hear her say: «God and Our Lady protect me and she represents an indispensable spiritual beacon for me». And she also wrote it in her latest book, Larmes de Combat (Tears of Combat), published a year ago. The Marian cult in her maturity, in fact, became for the actress a refuge from the evils of our society to which she is so sensitive, a reason for reflection and also comfort for regrets and some inevitable remorse. To understand the actress’s journey we must reconstruct her restless existence in the essential stages that led her to retire, at just 38 years old, at the height of her success. Brigitte was a teenager rigorously educated by her colonel father when, at just seventeen, she met Roger Vadim, a brilliant and transgressive director of Russian origin, who married her, immediately launching her into the world of cinema as a sex symbol in the film And God created woman. Beautiful and “born free”, to use one of her expressions, Bardot effortlessly fell into the role imposed on her by her husband, quickly becoming the emblem of a new femininity, autonomous and uninhibited. While the girls of the 1960s took her as a model, imitating her look and behavior, giving rise to a social phenomenon labeled “bardotism”.
In this climate, Brigitte made a few too many daring films, forcing herself, she confided years later, in the impossibility of escaping her myth. She had many loves and, after Vadim, a second husband, the actor Jacques Charrière, with whom she had a son, Nicolas: an experience for which she did not feel prepared, lived traumatically, so much so that she never had a real loving relationship with his son. A situation recounted crudely in his autobiography They call me BB, which cost her much criticism and painful guilt complexes. It is presumable that the incompletely lived experience of her motherhood brought the actress closer to her cult of Mary, in search of moral support. Certainly the actress has always lived her religiosity with the utmost reserve, drawing from it the strength to move forward. Let us not forget, in fact, that at the age of forty, after a dinner with friends in which she appeared serene, Brigitte attempted suicide by ingesting a massive dose of barbiturates. It is a secret that only recently leaked out but, when she woke up in the clinic, Bardot asked the nun who was assisting her for a rosary, clutching it in her hands as if it were a lifeline. “Religion belongs to my private sphere and it seems inappropriate to talk about it,” she later explained in an interview. «Furthermore, people now identify me with my character and would not consider me credible if I told them how important prayer is for me». Brigitte had the bravado of youth at the time, but that has changed now and on the occasion of the presentation of her book Army of combat with humility he revealed the secret of his rebellious heart: «I need God and the Madonna. I yearn for spirituality in a world that scares me and I place myself under Their protection, in particular Our Lady, for whom I have total devotion. I had her build a small chapel among the pines in the park of my villa in Saint Tropez where I retreat whenever I can. I address the Virgin and her Son directly, without using saints as “intermediaries”, but I am very close to Saint Francis, particularly close to me due to his love for animals. I ask Mary that those too often forgotten human values come back to life in the consciences of men who are dehumanizing themselves, violating nature, ignoring the weakest and persecuting animals, used cruelly to obtain illicit gains.”
It is at the top of a mule track, in the middle of a wild and uncontaminated nature, with a magnificent view of the Big Blue, that in the 1980s the actress had this intimate spiritual refuge built for herself, which she called “Madonna della Garrigue” after name of his second residence, on the Capon hill, a small portion of woods on the French Riviera, purchased to escape the photographers who continually hounded her. Inside the little chapel, of Mexican inspiration, two wooden and straw chairs, ancient sacred objects found at the Place des Lices market, the great-grandmother’s ivory missal and, on the walls, all the Marian effigies she loves most, from Our Lady of Fatima to the Queen of Peace of Medjugorje. In addition to the portrait of Padre Pio and a small statue of the Poverello d’Assisi. The one of the Virgin which dominates, in the centre, was given to her by Gérard Montel. Brigitte called her “La Perruquière”, in homage to her trusted friend and hairdresser who passed away, but also to signify that the Mother of Heaven makes all the knots come to a head for her. Behind this statue, Brigitte places under the protection of the Virgin the photos of the dearly departed, even those of her animals that have flown to heaven. «It is a place that helped me continue my fight. Here I gained the strength and courage that I sometimes lacked. I relax, help myself and calm down”, she explained simply. The path dotted with cobblestones that takes her to Notre Dame de Garrigue, suspended on the hill flooded with thyme and pine trees, reminds her of a Via Crucis, especially since she no longer moves easily. Yet she does not give up the meeting: «I love going there because I can say a frank word to the Virgin. The Holy Virgin has supported me for a long time. She is an intimate and benevolent presence. I am supported by this idea of sweetness, purity and brightness that She inspires: of unconditional generosity and also of maternal protection. She too suffered, on earth. The only pain she has truly experienced is the loss and crucifixion of her Son… it’s a huge thing, it touches me deeply. The pain in the flesh… she has known it… and she cannot help but be sensitive to that of others. She protects me: I know she protects me. If she hadn’t accompanied me with her mercy at the right time, I would have been dead long ago. I am convinced of it.” Brigitte fights strenuously for her ideas, supported by prayer which helps her not to lose heart.
“I think that hope for a better world still exists,” he adds. «As long as I have the strength, I will carry on my battles and I would even go to the ends of the world to convey my message. I love Pope Francis very much and I thank him for his constant commitment to faith, hope and charity.” The Argentine Pope loved him from the beginning also for the choice of his name, that of the saint who for her represents the strength of detachment from apparent material securities to move towards true values and true joys, those of the soul. He recently said of the Poverello d’Assisi: «He is a spiritual model for me, both for the bond he had with nature and animals, and because by abandoning earthly goods for those of the soul he indicated the best path towards wisdom », Brigitte with her touching confession opens a window on her legend, once based on beauty, which has evolved into a powerful call to an existence more in keeping with Catholic principles, with a particular thought for young people. «Some of them seem to come from another planet», observes the actress. «They seem anesthetized, suffocated by dangerous choices and drug use. To those who listen to me, I recommend recovering respect for others and for animals.” In her devotion to the Madonna, Brigitte avoids visiting her sanctuaries for fear of being recognized and for this reason she has created a spiritual oasis of her with her private chapel. «I have direct contact with Heaven and I take refuge there every time I feel the need to say a frank word to the Virgin. She and I are intimate, in the sense that I speak to her as if she were a friend, in the certainty of being understood and comforted. The Mother of God suffered so much and for this reason she identifies herself with the pains of those who pray to her.” Perhaps in those moments of spirituality, Brigitte thinks of her son who is now a stranger to her, in a difficult search for lost time. Sometimes she also prays in the company of one of her pets, who have free access to her chapel. And, illuminated by the light of faith, friends say, the actress’s face regains the splendor of youth in a peace of soul in which, thanks to the Madonna, meditation and the sense of the divine extinguish the melancholy of the sunset avenue.
in the photo, Brigitte Bardot in front of the chapel of her villa on the French Riviera (courtesy of Maria con te)
