St Bernadette Soubirous
Bernadette was born on the 7th of January 1844 to a poor family in Lourdes, France. On the 11th of February 1858 while collecting scraps of wood on the bank of the river Gave at Massabielle near Lourdes, she received a vision from Our Blessed Lady. #
She continued to receive these visions from 18th February until the 25th of March. The message was a simple one to pray and do penance. Our Lady also requested that Bernadette drink water from the spring. Misunderstanding she went to the river Gave but Our Lady pointed to the ground where she saw only a little dirty water and eventually after digging away at the earth clear water began to flow and she was able to drink it. Our Blesed Lady also requested that pilgrims come also to drink from the spring.
Bernadette was also given the instruction to request that a Church be built and a procession formed. Our Lady also revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception.
At first she was accused of lying and then of being mentally incompetent but eventually having consistently stuck to her story, the Church accepted her testimony as true in 1862. Bernadette in 1866 joined the Sisters of Notre Dame at Nevers, France. Since St Bernadette first dug up the spring in 1858 many cures have been verified by the Lourdes Medical Bureau, after very stringent and rigorous medical and scientific examinations.
St Bernadette was canonised by Pope Pius XI on 8th December 1933.
St Bernadette of Lourdes. Pray for us
Our Lady health of the sick. Pray for us
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