Saint Bernadette and the visions of Lourdes

Bernadette, a peasant from Lourdes, reported 18 visions of the "Lady" which were initially accepted with skepticism by the family and the local priest, before finally being accepted as authentic. She became a nun and was beatified and then canonized as a saint after her death. The location of the visions is a very popular destination for religious pilgrims and people seeking miraculous cure.

Bernadette of Lourdes, born on January 7, 1844, was a peasant born in Lourdes, France, like Marie Bernarde Soubirous. She was the eldest of six surviving children of Francois and Louise Castérot Soubirous. It was called Bernadette, a diminutive of its name Bernarde, because of its small size. The family was poor and grew malnourished and ill.

His mother had brought a mill to Lourdes to his wedding as part of his dowry, but Louis Soubirous did not manage it successfully. With many children and bankruptcy finances, the family often favored Bernadette during meals to try to improve her health. He had little education.

When Bernadette was about twelve years old, the family sent her to work for another rental family, working as a shepherdess, alone with the sheep and, as she later told, her rosary. She was known for her cheerfulness and goodness and for her fragility.

When he was fourteen, Bernadette returned to his family, unable to continue his work. He found comfort in saying the rosary. He started a late study for his first communion.

visions
On February 11, 1858, Bernadette and two friends were in the woods in the cold season to collect matches. They arrived at the Grotto of Massabielle, where, according to the story told by the children, Bernadette heard a noise. He saw a girl dressed in white with a blue sash, yellow roses on her feet and a rosary on her arm. He understood that the woman was the Virgin Mary. Bernadette began to pray, confusing her friends, who saw nothing.

When she returned home, Bernadette told her parents what she had seen and they prohibited her from returning to the cave. She confessed the story to a priest in confession and he allowed her to discuss it with the parish priest.

Three days after the first viewing, she returned despite the command of her parents. He saw another vision of The Lady, as he called her. Then, on February 18, another four days later, he returned again and saw a third vision. This time, according to Bernadette, the Lady of the vision told her to come back every 15 days. Bernadette quoted her saying that I said to her: "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next".

Reactions and more visions
Stories of visions of Bernadette spread and soon large crowds begin to go to the cave to watch it. Others were unable to see what he saw, but reported that he looked different during the visions. The Lady of the vision gave her messages and began to work miracles. A key message was "Pray and do penance for the conversion of the world".

On February 25, for Bernadette's ninth vision, the Lady told Bernadette to drink bubbling water from the ground - and when Bernadette obeyed, the water, which had been muddy, cleared and then flowed into the crowd. Those who have used water have also reported miracles.

On March 2, the Lady asked Bernadette to tell the priests to build a chapel in the cave. And on March 25, the Lady announced "I am the Immaculate Conception". He said he did not understand what it meant and asked the priests to explain it to him. Pope Pius IX had declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in December 1854. The "Lady" made her eighteenth and last appearance on July 16.

Some believed the stories of his visions of Bernadette, others did not. Bernadette was, with her ill health, not happy with the attention and the people who sought her. The sisters from the convent school and the local authorities decided that she would go to school and she started living with the Nevers Sisters. When her health allowed her, she helped the sisters in their work take care of the sick.

The bishop of Tarbes formally recognized the visions as authentic.

Become a nun
The sisters were not thrilled that Bernadette became one of them, but after the bishop of Nevers agreed, she was admitted. He received the habit and joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers in July 1866, taking the name of Sister Marie-Bernarde. He made his profession in October 1867.

He lived in the convent of Saint Gildard until 1879, often suffering from his asthmatic conditions and bone tuberculosis. He did not have the best relationship with many nuns in the convent.

He refused offers to take her to the healing waters of Lourdes which he had discovered in his visions, stating that they were not for her. He died on April 16, 1879, in Nevers.

Holiness
When Bernadette's body was exhumed and examined in 1909, 1919 and 1925, it was reported that it was perfectly preserved or mummified. She was beatified in 1925 and canonized under Pope Pius XI on December 8, 1933.

inheritance
The location of the visions, Lourdes, remains a popular destination for Catholic seekers and those who want to recover from disease. At the end of the 20th century, the site saw up to four million visitors annually.

In 1943, the Oscar was won by a film based on Bernadette's life, "Song of Bernadette".

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI went to the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes, France, to celebrate mass on the spot on the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette.