Saint Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an impoverished miller in Lourdes, France. Her family resided in the basement of a decrepit building when, on February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a cave by the Gave River. At 14, Bernadette was a virtuous but academically slow child, who had yet to receive her first Holy Communion and suffered from asthma since early childhood.

Over several weeks, Bernadette witnessed 18 apparitions. The final one occurred on July 16, the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Initially met with skepticism, Bernadette’s visions gradually drew large crowds. She reported that the apparition, a young girl around 16 or 17 years old dressed in white with a blue sash and yellow roses at her feet, commanded her to build a chapel at the site and to use a newly emerged spring for healing.

The turning point came on March 25, when the apparition revealed herself as “the Immaculate Conception,” a title whose significance Bernadette only understood later. This identification contributed to the Church’s 1862 affirmation of the visions’ authenticity. Lourdes then evolved into a major pilgrimage and healing site, famous for its reported miracles.

Bernadette’s own life remained fraught with suffering. Public attention and official scrutiny drove her to seek refuge in a convent, where she struggled with ongoing health issues. Despite her illnesses, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame.

She died on April 16, 1879, at 35, and was canonized in 1933.

Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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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.

  7. 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.

  10. 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

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

  18. 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.

  19. 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!!!!!

  20. 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.

  21. 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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