#0205

St. Bernadette of Lourdes

Overview:

Bernadette Soubirous was a humble peasant girl who was graced by apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France. She was born into a poor miller’s family in 1844, and endured frail health, asthma, and cholera during childhood. At age 14, while gathering firewood near the Grotto of Massabielle, she saw a “beautiful Lady”, standing on the rocks. Between February and July 1858, Bernadette received 18 apparitions, during which the Lady urged prayer, penance, and the construction of a chapel. Despite skepticism from civil and religious authorities, Bernadette remained steadfast, famously saying, “My job is to inform, not to convince.” Pressed by the people to ask the Lady her name, Bernadette had done so several times. Finally, on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, Bernadette asked her again and the Lady identified herself as “The Immaculate Conception.” This doctrine, defining the sinless nature granted to Mary at the moment of her conception, had just recently been defined by Pope Pius IX and would never have been known by a child. When she told her priest that this was the name the Lady told her he became convinced the child had been communicating with the Mother of God. The apparitions led to the creation of the Lourdes shrine, now one of the world’s most visited pilgrimage sites, associated with miraculous healings and spiritual renewal. Seeking a life away from public attention, Bernadette joined the Sisters of Charity in Nevers in 1866, where she lived humbly, dedicating herself to prayer and service. She suffered greatly from tuberculosis and other ailments but embraced her trials with faith and humility. Bernadette, who had been told by Mary “I cannot promise you happiness in this life, only in the next,” died at age 35. According to protocol in these matters, her grave was opened after 30 years and she was found to be near perfectly preserved even though her rosary had rusted and her habit had frayed. Bernadette’s incorrupt body rests peacefully in Nevers to this day.

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