St. Bernadette Soubirous

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Bernadette. St. Bernadette was born on January 7, 1844 in Lourdes, France. St. Bernadette lived in a very poor family and she was the first of nine children in her family. St. Bernadette had gotten very sick when she was a toddler which made her suffer with extreme asthma. St. Bernadette lived her life and suffered greatly due to her illnesses.

During February 11, 1858, St. Bernadette who was only 14 at the time, went with her friend and sister to gather some fire wood. While they were out a very beautiful woman appeared to St. Bernadette. The woman appeared above a rose bush in a grotto.

The lady was wearing a very beautiful blue and white outfit and she smiled at St. Bernadette before she made the sign of the cross with a rosary that was filled with gold and ivory. Due to all of this St. Bernadette fell to her knees, took out her rosary and prayed. St. Bernadette later described the woman as “ a young small woman.” The girls that St. Bernadette was with said they could not see her, however St. Bernadette knew the woman was indeed present.

Three days after St. Bernadette’s first vision, she went with her sister Marie, and other girls to the grotto. When they arrived St. Bernadette knelt immediately, saying she could see the woman again. She fell into a trance and one girl decided to throw holy water and another one decided to throw a rock that shattered on the ground. After all of this had occurred the apparition disappeared.

On February 18, St. Bernadette mentioned she had been told to return to the grotto each day for a fortnight. St. Bernadette started to see Mary for a period of daily visions which became known as "la Quinzaine sacrée," meaning "holy fortnight.”

Due to the daily visits St. Bernadette’s parents became embarrassed and attempted to stop her, but they were unsuccessful in their attempt. On February 25, Bernadette claimed to have had a life-changing vision.

During this vision, St. Bernadette was told "to drink of the water of the spring, to wash in it and to eat the herb that grew there" as an act of penance. The next day, the grotto's muddy waters had been cleared and fresh clear water began to flow.

During her thirteenth visit which occurred on March 2. St. Bernadette told her family the lady told her, "a chapel should be built and a procession formed."

St. Bernadette’s sixteenth vision, occurred for over an hour, this vision occurred on March 25. St. Bernadette claimed she had asked the woman her name, but her question was only met with a smile. St. Bernadette asked again, three more times, and finally the woman said, "I am the Immaculate Conception."

During that time many townspeople believed that St. Bernadette had been seeing Mary. However a lot of division had started to form in her town due to St. Bernadette’s story. Many believed she was telling the truth, while others believed she had a mental illness and said that she needed help. Some people believed that St. Bernadette's visions meant she needed to pray for penance.

During this time, some Church authorities and the French government had interviewed the St. Bernadette, and during the year 1862, they confirmed she spoke truth.

Since St. Bernadette first caused the spring to produce clean water, 69 cures have been verified by the Lourdes Medical Bureau, and no one was able to explain what caused the cures.

The Lourdes Commission that had initially checked St. Bernadette, ran different tests on the water. However, they did not find anything but high mineral content. The mineral content they found could not explain the miracles that had been occurring. St. Bernadette believed it was faith and prayer that was responsible for all the miracles that occurred.

A couple years later, St. Bernadette asked the local priest to build a chapel at the site of her visions. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is now one of the major Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. Many other chapels and churches has been built around it, including the Basilica of St. Pius X.

Following the miracles and all the other things that had been occurring, St. Bernadette decided she did not like all the attention she was getting. Therefore she decided to go to the hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers, where she taught people how to read and write.

On July 29, 1866, St. Bernadette took the religious habit and decided to join the Sisters of Charity at their motherhouse which was located in Nevers. Her Mistress of Novices was Sister Marie Therese Vauzou and the Mother Superior at the time named her Marie-Bernarde, in honor of her grandmother.

St. Bernadette spent the rest of her life there working as an infirmary assistant, and later a sacristan. Many people admired St. Bernadette for her humility and spirit of sacrifice.

During one occasion, a nun asked her if she had temptations of pride because she was favored by the Blessed Mother. "How can I?" St. Bernadette answered quickly. "The Blessed Virgin chose me only because I was the most ignorant."

St. Bernadette was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone in her right knee and was unable to work or help in convent life. St. Bernadette died in the Sainte Croix (Holy Cross) Infirmary of the Convent of Saint-Gildard at the age of 35 on April 16, 1879, and St. Bernadette died while she was praying the holy rosary.

Even while St. Bernadette was on her deathbed suffering from the severe pain and, she kept with the Virgin Mary's admonition of "Penance, Penance, Penance," she proclaimed "all this is good for Heaven!" St. Bernadette's last words were, "Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me. A poor sinner, a poor sinner."

Thirty years after St. Bernadette died, on September 22, two doctors and a sister of the community exhumed her body. They reported that the crucifix and rosary she carried had been oxidized but her body remained incorrupt. The incorruption was cited as one of the miracles supporting her canonization.

The group later washed and redressed Bernadette's body then buried it. The Church later exhumed her body again on April 3, 1919, and the doctor who examined her mentioned that, "The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts. The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body."

During the year 1925, St. Bernadette's body was exhumed again. However during this time many relics were sent to Rome and an imprint of her face was molded, which was used to create a wax mask to be placed on her body. There were also imprints of her hands to be used for the presentation of her body, which was placed in a gold and crystal reliquary in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the mother house in Nevers.

Saint Bernadette is often shown praying with a rosary or appealing to the Holy Virgin. St. Bernadette was beatified in 1925 and was canonized by Pope Piuis XI in December 1933. Saint Bernadette is the patroness of illness, people ridiculed for their piety, poverty, shepherds, and Lourdes, France. St. Bernadette’s feast day is celebrated on April 16.

Prayer to St. Bernadette

St. Bernadette intercede that we may have the strength and wisdom we need to overcome all earthly attachments that we may have that are pulling us away from God. St. Bernadette help us to humbly surrender our selves to God so that we may be guided by his love and mercy. St. Bernadette help us to be more devoted to Mary and help us to give ourselves fully to her so that through our deep devotion with her we may become more intimate with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother in Heaven

Amen

St. Bernadette pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works cited:

Information (read from, not taken):

Catholic Online. “St. Bernadette. ”St. Bernadette - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online . Accessed 16 April 2021.

Images:

St. Bernadette. April 16, 2021. st. bernadette - Google Search.