Saint Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an extremely poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was living in the basement of a dilapidated building when on February 11,1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a cave above the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. Bernadette, 14 years old, was known as a virtuous girl though a dull student who had not even made her first Holy Communion. In poor health, she had suffered from asthma from an early age.

 There were 18 appearances in all, the final one occurring on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16.

Although Bernadette’s initial reports provoked skepticism, her daily visions of “the Lady” brought great crowds of the curious. The Lady, Bernadette explained, had instructed her to have a chapel built on the spot of the visions. There the people were to come to wash in and drink of the water of the spring that had welled up from the very spot where Bernadette had been instructed to dig.

According to Bernadette, the Lady of her visions was a girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a blue sash. Yellow roses covered her feet, a large rosary was on her right arm. In the vision on March 25 she told Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” It was only when the words were explained to her that Bernadette came to realize who the Lady was.

Few visions have ever undergone the scrutiny that these appearances of the Immaculate Virgin were subject to. Lourdes became one of the most popular Marian shrines in the world, attracting millions of visitors. Miracles were reported at the shrine and in the waters of the spring. After thorough investigation Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862.

During her life Bernadette suffered much. She was hounded by the public as well as by civic officials until at last she was protected in a convent of nuns. Five years later she petitioned to enter the sisters of Notre Dame. After a period of illness she was able to make the journey from Lourdes and enter the novitiate. But within four months of her arrival she was given the last rites of the Church and allowed to profess her vows. She recovered enough to become infirmarian and then sacristan, but chronic health problems persisted. She died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35.

She was canonized in 1933.

Incorrupt body of St. Bernadette
The Incorrupt Body of St. Bernadette
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23 COMMENTS

  1. un ejemplo de vida para toda nuestra juventud y para los que no somos jóvenes…. protegenos y cuídanos junto a NUESTRA SANTISIMA MADRE para que nos lleven a NUESTRO SEÑOR…

  2. Oh St. Bernadette Soubirous, please pray with the Virgin Mother to the Lord Our God that mine and my loved ones lives are healthy, prosperous, and full of Love. Oh Holy Mary pray for us sinners! Pray for this ever changing world, of frightening, and uncertain events. Please pray for us to live eternal with God the Father in Heaven, Amen.

  3. For those of us, who can not afford to go to France, Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland has the most authentic and oldest recreation of the Grotto of Lourdes in the United States. It sits at the base of a mountain and its is breathtakingly beautiful. It was also the home to Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton for a time and Father Flanagan of boys town attended college there.

  4. Blessings,
    nothing more than blessings
    Never to forget your blessings of love
    Remorse tears roll down on my heart
    Trying to forget my killings of your love

    Blessings,
    for my new life I love you
    I wish I’ve earlier met you, Lord!
    You’ll nor leave me again
    Blessing, woo-o-o blessing
    Woo-o-o, love you always in my heart

    Blessings, feelings I’ve finally found you
    Your blessings like
    I’ll never leave you again out of my heart

    Blessings,
    eternal life I’ll have you
    I´m sure I’ll never lose you, Lord;
    You’ll never leave me again
    Blessings, woo-o-o, feelings…!!!
    ————————————–
    Written just right now, on Feb. 11, 2016 due to inspiration from the old Song “FEELINGS” of Andy Williams in 1975.
    I hereby dedicate this new Song of “Blessings” to Our Holy Lady of Lourdes today – celebrating the Feast of Her Apparition on February 11, 1858 to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, for this sake I converted from a communist dog once to a convicted believer in Jesus Christ in 2001.
    My full-sincere thanks to our Lady of Immaculate Conception of Lourdes, for without Her Apparition there in Lourdes in 1858 I´d surly have fallen into hell for ever.

  5. Please St Bernadette, pray for my marriage. We have both forsaken each other but my husband won’t give me another chance. The girl he’s with has drug background and is brainwashing him against me and our children. I believe we can be a stronger marriage Vee have been together for over 20 yrs. never broke up in those years til now. Pray that he finds it in his heart to give our family and marriage another try. We have been separated for almost 3 yrs. please help us. Amen

  6. St Benadette please pray for my mother who is very ill. Please help her to recover and come home. Please pray for her.

  7. O gentle maiden of Lourdes, St. Bernadette! You endured the disbelief and ridicule of those who opposed you as well as from those who loved you. Teach us, in your holy simplicity, to welcome, honor and cherish the Blessed Virgin Mary in our lives.
    As was done in the grotto of Lourdes so let the healing power of God’s presence within our homes and hearts become a wellspring of grace, forgiveness and mercy to all around us. Pray for us, St. Bernadette, that we, like you, might merit eternal happiness. Amen.

  8. Blessed are you,St.Bernadette,,,,who knew the Mother of God DID come to you with a MISSION for all to see!!!!!!!
    Your LOVE and DEVOTION,,,,,,,became a REALITY ! Because of you, St.Bernadette, God’s People come to the healing
    WATERS at Lourdes. Please,,,I ask for your healing, so that I may continue to do God’s will and the will of the Blessed
    Mother!!!!!

  9. Dear St. Bernadette, Please pray for the world now that this coronavirus may stop. Many have already died from it. Many more are sick from it. Please pray for Raul and I to once again make another trip to Lourdes, France. It was beautiful. And may God bless you.

  10. Saint Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us. For Erin. Heal her of all ills, in body, mind, heart, soul, strength. Grant her joy in Jesus. Our Lady of Lourdes, pity us. Christ Crucified, remove our mistakes, through prayer/penance and full repentance by honest reparation to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart. Amen.

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