by Aurora de los Reyes
Born on January 7, 1844, in Lourdes, France. Died on April 16, 1879, at Nevers.
Canonized on December 8, 1933.
Feast day is on April 16, but sometimes celebrated on February 18 in France.
St. Bernadette of Lourdes or Bernadette Soubirous (Su-bi’ru) was the first child in a brood of nine born to a poor miller and a laundress on January 7, 1844 in Lourdes, France.
Frail in health and barely standing at 5 feet, Bernadette in her early teens had visions that led to the founding of the shrine of Lourdes.
At the age of 14, she had a series of 18 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Massabielle grotto.
Most significant of these visions happened on February 11, 1858 when a “white lady” first appeared and gestured to an unknowing Bernadette to pray the Rosary.
One week after, on the third meeting on February 18, the Lady first spoke to Bernadette and promised to make her happy “not in this world but in the next.”
Four days later, after the Lady’s appearance and accompanied by about a hundred curious townsfolk, Bernadette was first questioned by the village police commissioner about the details of the apparition to which the visionary could only answer “AQUÉRO” (“that thing” in local dialect).
On February 24, the Lady spoke her first message: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners!”
It was on the 12th apparition on March 1 when in the presence of almost two thousand people, the first miracle happened when a woman plunged her dislocated arm into the water of the grotto’s spring. Immediately, her arm and her hand regained their movement.
The next day, the Lady asked Bernadette: “Go and tell the priests that people are to come here in procession and to build a chapel here.”
The last appearance of the Lady at Lourdes was on July 16, 1858.
There was initial skepticism from some sectors of the Catholic Church and civil authorities, even strong opposition from her own parents with regard the veracity of the apparitions but Bernadette firmly defended the truthfulness of the visions as she faithfully transmitted the Lady’s messages.
To escape public attention, Saint Bernadette entered a religious house in Nevers. In 1866, as Sister Marie-Bernard, she devoted herself to prayer and to caring for the sick. She herself continued to suffer physically, uniting her suffering to Christ. She died of tuberculosis on April 16, 1879 at the age of 35.
On December 8, 1933, she was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
#NSOLLPH
