St. Bernadette of Lourdes: The Girl Who Saw Our Lady
Quick answer
St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844–1879) was the daughter of a poor miller in Lourdes, France. Between February and July 1858 she saw a beautiful Lady eighteen times in the grotto of Massabielle. The Lady asked for prayer and penance, showed her a spring, and said, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Bernadette later became a Sister of Charity at Nevers, where she died at thirty-five. Her feast is April 16 (February 18 in France).
Key takeaways
- Her family was so poor they lived in a former jail cell called the cachot.
- The first apparition was on February 11, 1858, now the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
- The spring she uncovered still flows, and the Church has recognized more than 70 miraculous healings at Lourdes.
- She said she was like a broom that Our Lady used and then put back in its corner.
She was fourteen, sickly, poor and behind in her catechism. That is exactly the kind of messenger Heaven so often chooses. St. Bernadette’s story still draws millions of pilgrims to a small town in the Pyrenees.
The Cachot
Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was born on January 7, 1844, in Lourdes, France, the eldest child of a miller. When the mill failed, the family fell into poverty and lived in a single damp room that had once been the town jail. Bernadette suffered from asthma and had little schooling.
The Lady in the Grotto
On February 11, 1858, she went with her sister and a friend to gather firewood near the grotto of Massabielle. She heard a sound like wind and saw a young Lady dressed in white with a blue sash and a yellow rose on each foot, holding a rosary. Bernadette knelt and prayed the Rosary.
There were eighteen apparitions in all, until July 16. Crowds grew. The Lady asked Bernadette to pray for sinners and to do penance. On February 25 she told her to drink from the spring. Bernadette dug in the mud and a spring began to flow. It still flows today.
The Lady asked that a chapel be built. When the parish priest demanded her name, Bernadette asked. On March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, the Lady said in the local dialect, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Bernadette did not know what it meant. Pope Pius IX had defined that dogma only four years earlier.
Questioned and Doubted
Officials, police and clergy questioned her again and again. She never changed her story and never sought attention. In 1862 the bishop of Tarbes declared that the faithful were justified in believing the apparitions.
A Hidden Life
In 1866 Bernadette entered the Sisters of Charity at Nevers. She worked in the infirmary and the sacristy and suffered from tuberculosis of the bone. She said that she had been used like a broom and then put back behind the door. She died on April 16, 1879, and was canonized in 1933.
Lourdes Today
Lourdes is one of the great pilgrimage sites of the world. The Church has recognized more than 70 miraculous healings there, and countless sick pilgrims find peace and strength. February 11, the anniversary of the first apparition, is the World Day of the Sick.
A Prayer to St. Bernadette (Original Prayer)
St. Bernadette, you loved Our Lady with a child’s heart. Pray for the sick, especially (name). Help me to stay humble and to pray for sinners, and bring me to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.
Continue Reading
Read about the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Fatima, or St. Catherine Labouré.
Frequently asked questions
When is the feast of St. Bernadette?
April 16, the day she died. In France it is kept on February 18.
What did Our Lady say to Bernadette?
She asked for prayer and penance for sinners, asked that a chapel be built and that people come in procession, and on March 25, 1858, said, "I am the Immaculate Conception."
Is St. Bernadette's body incorrupt?
Her body, found remarkably preserved when exhumed, rests in a glass reliquary in the chapel at Nevers. A thin wax covering was placed on the face and hands.
Sources
- Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Laurence of Tarbes, Pastoral Letter recognizing the apparitions (January 18, 1862)
- Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, official history
- René Laurentin, Bernadette of Lourdes
