Eva Molenmaker faced a sea of faces at Lourdes before singing just feet from the Pope. Her reaction afterward makes her even more endearing.
Try to remember yourself at 13. Standing in front of a classroom could have your stomach churning, so imagine walking out to sing in Lourdes and looking up to see a sea of faces before you, knowing that later that day you would be singing just a few feet from Pope Leo, with cameras relaying your words to the rest of the world, too.
Well, that is exactly what awaited 13-year-old Eva Molenmaker on September 27. More than 150,000 people gathered in Lourdes, where Eva performed with the cast of Bernadette de Lourdes. Later that afternoon, the setting became much more intimate when she sang for the Pontiff during his meeting with sick people, caregivers, and volunteers at the Accueil Notre-Dame.
The young teen is actually the new star of the musical Bernadette de Lourdes, playing St. Bernadette Soubirous, who was only 14 when the Virgin Mary appeared to her at Lourdes in 1858. And maybe that’s why she did such a convincing job as the teen saint: At 13, Eva is stepping into the shoes of a girl who was barely older than she is.
Although Eva may be young, singing has been part of her life for years. She began lessons at 7 and, at the tender age of 10, reached the singing final of the French television competition Prodiges Pop. Yet the story of how she came to play Bernadette began not on a stage, but in a street in Aix-en-Provence.
A chance encounter
Producer Roberto Ciurleo was walking through the city when he heard a young girl singing Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah.” That girl was Eva, and Ciurleo was so taken with her voice that he asked for her parents' contact details. When the team later began looking for its new Bernadette, he remembered her. Her mother told Aleteia that Eva's impromptu performance was hardly unusual: “When she isn't singing at home, she does it in the street.”
Singing in the street was one thing, of course; singing at Lourdes during such an important visit was quite another! Yet when Eva spoke to Aleteia's French edition ahead of Pope Leo's visit, she seemed less preoccupied with the size of the occasion than with the story she had been entrusted to tell.
“I still can't believe what I'm about to experience,” she admitted, before explaining what she wanted people to take away from her performance:
“I would like them to leave with the story of Bernadette in their hearts.”
However, there was one listener in particular she hoped to reach. Speaking to Aleteia about Pope Leo, Eva said simply: “I hope he will be touched.”
Later that afternoon, she finally had her chance. At the Accueil Notre-Dame, Eva sang two songs from the musical, with Pope Leo sitting just a short distance away, visibly moved by her performance.
Afterward, Eva seemed to revert to her 13-year-old self as she tried to take in what had just happened. “It's incredible. It's a unique experience. There's nothing like it,” she told EWTN News when asked about meeting and singing for the Pope.
And then, of course, Eva has to go back to being an adolescent. Rehearsals mean she sometimes misses school, and she relies on her friends to help her catch up with the lessons she has missed. It’s a wonderful reminder that behind the voice that filled Lourdes is a girl who still has homework waiting for her.
As for what she hopes all this might lead to, Eva already seems to have a pretty good idea, saying:
“I hope to sing for people and touch their hearts.”
At 13, with a performance for the Pope already behind her, we have to say she’s off to a pretty impressive start.
