Lauryn Lucatorto

Mr. Campbell

Religion II

12/15/17

Saint Bernadette Soubirous

Bernadette Soubirous was born on January 7th, 1844 in a small, poor town outside of

Lourdes, France. She was the oldest of nine children. She lived in extreme poverty, and her

whole family was forced to live in one room. Her family was loving and nurturing, despite their

harsh conditions. Her parents were unable to provide a proper education for her. Bernadette’s

family was not particularly religious; however, she was baptized at her local parish church.

During her childhood, she suffered from asthma and was often sickly. Her poor health followed

her for the entirety of her life.

When Bernadette was only fourteen years old, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her

in a vision. The first apparition occurred on February 11th, 1858. While she and her friends were

out collecting firewood, she came across a grotto. Her friends saw nothing and continued on, but

Bernadette saw a woman in the grotto, who she described as being sixteen or seventeen, wearing

a white rode with a blue sash and carrying a large rosary over her arm. However, Bernadette did

not realize at the time that the woman she was seeing was indeed the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Bernadette returned to the grotto every day following her first vision. During the 9th

apparition, Mary instructed Bernadette to drink from the spring. However, Bernadette did not see
a spring, so she began digging with her hands. She was ridiculed for this and people believed her

to be insane. However, the following day, a spring appeared on the site. Its waters are still known

today for their healing properties.

Bernadette was instructed to ask he parish priest to build a chapel on that spot. The priest,

who did not believe she was truly seeing Mary, asked Bernadette for her name. The woman had

never answered Bernadette when she asked for the woman’s name before. However, during an

apparition on March 25th, Mary then told her “I am the Immaculate Conception.” This proved to

the priest and all other who doubted Bernadette that she was indeed seeing the Virgin Mother

because the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception has only been created three years earlier, and

a poor and uneducated girl such as Bernadette would have never heard the term before. The last

of the apparitions happened on July 16th of the same year. She had eighteen apparitions in all.

For years following the apparitions, Bernadette had many visitors, both believers and

skeptics, come to talk to her about her visions. Unhappy with all of the attention she was

receiving, Bernadette attended a school run by The Sisters of Charity. There she finally learned

to read and write. She wished to join the Carmelites, but decided that she was too sickly. On July

29th, 1866, she officially joined The Sister of Charity of Nevers. She worked for the remainder of

her life as an infirmary nurse and a sacristan.

Bernadette lived from 1844 to 1879, dying at the age of 35 from tuberculosis, and was

canonized in 1933. The chapel that Mary instructed Bernadette to build has become an important

shrine to Mary. People take a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes seeking

healing, and many healing miracles have occurred. The church officially recognizes over sixty of

them. The water of the spring there are sacred. Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and

continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people.

Saint Bernadette,
Patron of Lourdes and messenger of Mary,
Help us to humble ourselves so that we too recognize when God is calling,
So that we may answer him and be his servant, following the example you left
for us,
Guide us through hard times and gives us the strength to carry on, through
poverty and through illness
Intercede for us, we pray, so that we may live you and all the heavenly saints
at the end of our days. Amen
 Works Cited

Lourdes, Bernadette of. “Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes.” The Song of Bernadette, Matthew

James Publishing Ltd. , www.bernadette-of-lourdes.co.uk/bernadette-of-lourdes.htm.

Miller, OFM Fr. Don. “Saint Bernadette Soubirous.” Franciscan Media, Franciscan Media, 11

Apr. 2017, www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-bernadette-soubirous/.

Online, Catholic. “St. Bernadette.” Catholic Online, Catholic Online,

www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=147.

Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Bernadette Soubirous.” Biography Online, Biography Online,

www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/bernadette-soubirious.html.
Name:_________________________________

Guided Notes- Saint Bernadette Soubirous

1. When was Bernadette born? _______________________________

2. What illness did Bernadette suffer from? __________________________

3. Bernadette was only ____________ years old when Mary appeared to her.

4. What was the date of the first apparition? ______________________________

5. Bernadette saw a woman in the grotto, who she described as being ___________ or

_____________, wearing a white robe with a blue _________and carrying a large

________________over her arm.

6. Explain the story of the spring?

7. Mary said, “I am the _______________________.”

8. Why was this significant?

9. Bernadette wished to join the ____________________, but she was too sickly. Instead,

she joined the __________________________________.

10. What has happened to the chapel Mary instructed Bernadette to build?