Saint Bernadette

A mischievous simplicity that mystifies

Being a poor girl, one day she meets a beautiful lady on the banks of the Gave river. Although she was completely unaware that the Church had just proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, this did not prevent the lady from introducing herself saying: “I am the Immaculate Conception”… This is how, at the beginning of the 20th century, Bernadette received from Mary the first great conversion message from Heaven for our times.

It can be said that the beginnings of his vocation were extraordinary, however his life after the apparitions and his entry into religion was quite ordinary. In this regard, Saint Bernadette tells us that the important thing is not to do much, but to do it well… That’s how she was, simple, not very mystical, mischievous… In fact, with her personality she managed to disconcert society, however, beneath her religious habit there was a wound that tormented her daily.

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Biography of Bernadette Soubirous

Before becoming the Saint Bernadette known worldwide and to whom one prayed, among other things, for “obtain graces of salvation for the poor and the little ones“, Bernadette was a little peasant from the south-west of France. Maria Bernadette Soubirous was born on January 7, 1844 near Lourdes. She was the eldest in a family of nine siblings, four of whom died when they were still very young. His father, Francisco, was a miller before losing his job. After falling into ruin, this large family settled in a place called “Le Cachot”, in an unhealthy and cramped room. As little Bernadette began to suffer from asthma at a very early age, which made her very weak, she had to be sent as a servant to Bartrès, near Lourdes in 1857. A year later the girl returned to Lourdes to receive her first communion and it was in fact during the year 1858 that the 14-year-old girl had 18 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. The miracle first occurred on February 11 at the Massabielle grotto and was repeated until July 16, 1858.

Two years after the apparitions, Bernadette entered the hospice of the Sisters of Charity of Lourdes, where he strengthened his religious vocation. In 1864, she began her postulation at Lourdes, then she left her native Pyrenees to join the convent of Saint-Gildard de Nevers in 1866. In October 1867, she took her vows and became the Sister Maria Bernarda. For thirteen years, Bernadette Soubirous’s life was marked by her suffering due to her precarious state of health and the harsh treatment of her superiors. However, she offered her sufferings for the world praying tirelessly to the Virgin Mary and brought care and comfort to the sick who were in the infirmary. She subsequently had to be locked up for many months due to a serious lung disease that would lead to her death on April 16, 1879, when she was barely 35 years old. Before taking her last breath, she softly murmured: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, poor sinner”.

Bernadette Soubirous’s body was exhumed from her coffin in 1909, 1919 and 1925 in view of her beatification process. Inexplicably preserved intact, his body was kept in the Saint-Gildard chapel in Nevers. Later, Saint Bernadette was canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI for his faith and the exemplary nature of his religious life and not for the apparitions he witnessed. His feast is celebrated on February 18. In fact, Saint Bernadette is the patron saint of shepherds, the poor, the sick and… those who share accommodation! Even today, little Bernadette continues to inspire many Christians around the world, including many artists who pay tribute to her through literary and cinematographic works such as the film Bernadette (Bernardita in Spanish) released in 1987 or the musical Bernadette of Lourdes (Bernardita de Lourdes).

The apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes to Bernadette Soubirous

In the space of five months, between February 11 and July 16, 1858, Bernadette Soubirous had eighteen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin.

• The first apparition happened on February 11, 1858 when Bernadette, in the company of her sister and a friend, goes to look for firewood in the forest. As she herself told it, she first felt a “gust of wind” and then one “soft light”, before seeing at the entrance of the Massabielle cave a “very beautiful boy” who became a “beautiful lady”. There they prayed the Rosary together and then the lady disappeared from her sight.
• February 14, 1858 Bernadette returned to the cave despite the prohibition that had been made against her. Seeing the beautiful lady appear again, she threw holy water at him, and she responded with a smile. Then they prayed the Rosary together.
• During the third appearance, on February 18, 1858the Lady responded for the first time to Bernadette, who asked her name: “there’s no need” before adding: “Do you want to have the grace to come here for a fortnight?” , then went on to say: “I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the other. Will you do me the favor of coming here for a fortnight?”. Immediately afterwards, Bernadette went to the cave, for fifteen days in a row, without seeing the beautiful lady again.
• February 19, 1858Bernadette arrives at the Grotto with a lit and blessed candle. From that gesture will be born the custom of carrying candles to light them before the Grotto.
• February 20, 1858the Lady taught Bernadette a personal prayer.
• On February 21, 1858, that day, Bernadette had an apparition and was later questioned by Jacomet, the police superintendent.
• February 23, 1858the Virgin reveals to Bernadette a secret “just for her”.
• February 24, 1858The Virgin told him: “Penance, penance, penance. Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the earth for the conversion of sinners.”
• February 25, 1858Bernadette discovers the source after the Lady tells her: “Go and drink from the fountain and wash yourself in it” Y “you will eat of that grass that is there“.
• February 27, 1858the Apparition is silent, Bernadette took the water from the spring and made the usual gestures of penance.
• February 28, 1858Bernadette prayed, kissed the ground and crawled on her knees as a sign of penance.
• March 1, 1858the first miraculous healing happened: Catalina Latapie went to the grotto, immersed her dislocated arm in the spring water and immediately her arm and hand regained their flexibility.
• March 2, 1858the beautiful lady says: “Go tell the priest to come here in procession and build a chapel.Bernadette repeats these words to the priest, who in turn asks for the Lady’s name and proof of her visions.
• March 3, 1858Bernadette asks the lady her name, and she answers with a smile.
• March 4, 1858the Lady was silent, and the crowd, who expected a miracle, was disappointed by what happened.
• March 25, 1858 It is the day of the Annunciation, the day chosen by the Lady to respond to Bernadette: “That I am was Immaculate Conception“, which translates as “I am the Immaculate Conception“.
• April 7, 1858During the apparition, the miracle of the candle took place, whose flame enveloped Bernadette’s hand without burning it.
• July 16, 1858 access to the Massabielle cave was prohibited, so Bernadette went to the other side of the Gave river and saw the Blessed Virgin for the last time. She recounted the incident as follows: “It seemed to me that I was in front of the grotto, at the same distance as the other times, I only saw the Virgin, I had never seen her so beautiful”.

The legacy of Saint Bernadette: the Sanctuary of Lourdes

On January 18, 1862, the Bishop of Tarbes, in the name of the Church, recognized the apparitions of Bernadette Soubirous as authentic. This recognition took place after a careful and meticulous examination of all the facts. In fact, the priest Peyramale, was the dean of Lourdes to whom Bernadette directed all the requests of the Virgin during the apparitions, in particular that of having a chapel built in the grotto. For this reason, the bishop entrusted him with the launching of an official pilgrimage and the construction of the future Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

The church was built between 1862 and 1871, overlooking the Massabielle grotto, the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. The sanctuary of Lourdes, which later became the largest Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, includes the grotto, three basilicas (Immaculate Conception, Rosary and Saint Pius X) as well as a large esplanade, numerous buildings service, fountains, pools, etc. The legacy of Bernadette Soubirous is summed up in the millions of pilgrims who come to the Marian city every year to praise the Virgin or to obtain graces.

If you wish, you can learn more about the Sanctuary of Lourdes by following this link.

Prayers to Saint Bernadette

Lourdes is one of the most famous places in the world, known especially for the abundance of graces spread there. Therefore, The intercession of Saint Bernadette and the Virgin Mary, who came to Lourdes making herself known as the Immaculate Conception, is fervently requested.. Next, we present several prayers to Saint Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.