St. Bernadette Soubirous ~ Page 2

BORN 1844; DIED 1879 promised to see to her schooling and religious VIRGIN AND RELIGIOUS instruction. However, the catechism was writ- FEAST DAY: APRIL 16 ten in standard French, which Bernadette could �t. Berna�e ttenot read andSou�i her teacher couldrous read little better, OD sometimes offers this skeptical world di- so she learned little. She also was not sent to rect confirmation of the truths of the faith. The school but instead told to watching the sheep in Gdogma of the Immaculate Conception (the the fields, an occupation she partially relieved teaching that Mary, the moth- by praying the rosary. She soon re- er of our Lord, was conceived turned home so that she might without original sin) was truly learn her catechism. proclaimed by Pope On February 11, Pius IX in 1854. 1858, Bernadette, Four years lat- now fourteen, was er, the Moth- out collecting er of God firewood with appeared her sister and to a four- a friend when teen-year- she noticed a old un- bright light educated in a near- peasant by grotto. girl who As she ap- k n e w proached, she n o t h i n g saw a beautiful about this woman stand- and did not ing above a huge understand rock. The woman P A U L the meaning of wordlessly greeted K E R R the title, and used IS her and prayed with this title to identify her. Bernadette’s moth- herself to St. Berna- er was skeptical of her story dette Soubirous. and initially forbade her to re- Bernadette was born in the turn to the site of the apparition, but small town of Lourdes in the foot- then relented. As the apparitions continued, hills of the Pyrenees mountains southwest of curious crowds accompanied Bernadette to the Toulouse, France, the oldest of four surviving site. She was forbidden to go there by the civil au- children of François Soubirous, a miller, and thorities, a prohibition she did not obey. On Feb- his wife Louise Casterot. She suffered from se- ruary 25, the beautiful lady instructed Bernadette vere asthma and was always in frail health. She to drink and wash in the spring, and showed her was a good and obedient child, although she where to dig to find water. At first a muddy trick- also was willful and had a temper and a sharp le, within a week the spring was producing water tongue. Due to her family’s poverty, she re- at a rate of twenty-seven thousand gallons a week. ceived very little schooling. Her knowledge of It was soon discovered to have the power of mi- the faith was so lacking that, at thirteen, she still raculous healing. had not been permitted to make her First Com- By March thousands of people were accom- munion. When Bernadette was thirteen, she panying Bernadette to the spot. She report- went to live for a time with a family friend who ed to the local pastor that the lady had asked

The Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM) grants the original purchaser (parish, local parochial institution, or individual) permission to reproduce this handout. that a chapel be built on the site. He did comparing herself to a broom that Our not receive her kindly and told the civ- Lady had briefly used, then replaced il officials that he did not approve in the corner. She said that, if Our of these events. On March 25, Lady could have found someone the Feast of the Annunciation, more ignorant, she would have Bernadette asked the beauti- done so. She was joyful, full ful woman who she was. The of humor, told funny stories, reply was: “I am the Immac- and was a fine mimic, to the ulate Conception.” One ap- merriment of her sisters in parition occurred in April; religion. Yet she always in June, Bernadette final- felt that she had not erad- ly made her First Commu- icated her pride and saw nion, and a final vision oc- the harsh treatment she curred in July. received from her novice

Y Bernadette had difficul- H mistress as a source of her P

A R ty convincing the civil and G own purification. She con- O T O Church authorities of the au- H tinued to suffer from asthma P S E L thenticity of her apparitions. It R and contracted tuberculosis of A H C ID was here that Bernadette’s inner V a bone in her leg, developing nu- A strength became her most impor- D merous bedsores as well. As she tant asset. For some time she was in- was dying, she was assailed by Satan, terviewed, questioned, and harassed by the a final agony to add to her physical pain. civil authorities. She never sought to capitalize Eventually a chapel was built and pilgrims on her fame, and refused donations for herself began flocking to Lourdes. People came and or her family, so that there would be no mone- washed in the spring, and miracles abounded. tary gain. She endured everything with humil- The story of Bernadette shows that God often ity and patience, even the harsh treatment of her chooses the most lowly to manifest his glory, by her novice mistress after she entered the con- but also that holiness is not a matter of special vent of the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, France gifts or extraordinary events, but of seeking at the age of twenty-two. As a nun, Bernadette perfection in the very ordinariness and hidden- lived a life of complete self-effacement, once ness of life.

“She never sought to capitalize on her fame, and refused donations for herself or her family, so that there would be no monetary gain.”

St. Bernadette Soubirous ~ Page 2