The Lady of Lourdes

On the 16th. April, 1879, Sister Marie-Bernarde died in the Holy Cross Infirmary of the Convent of Saint-Gildard. She was thirty-five.

Marie-Bernarde Soubirous had always been a frail child. Born in 1844, she was the first child of an extremely poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was living in the basement of a dilapidated building, and little by little fell into extreme poverty. She herself was always in poor health. While still young she suffered from digestive trouble. She just escaped being a victim of the cholera epidemic of 1855, after which she experienced painful attacks of asthma. This ill health almost caused her to be cut off for ever from the religious life. When asked to take Marie-Bernarde, Louise Ferrand, the Mother Superior of the Sisters of Nevers, was of the opinion that "she will be a pillar of the infirmary".

At least three times during her short life she received the last Sacraments. She suffered from other illnesses on top of asthma, among them, tuberculosis of the lung and a tubercular tumour on her right knee. Then, on Wednesday, 16th. April, 1879, her pain got much worse. Shortly after eleven she seemed to be almost suffocating and was carried to an armchair, where she sat with her feet on a footstool in front of a blazing fire. She died at about quarter past three in the afternoon.

The civil authorities permitted her body to remain on view to be venerated by the public until Saturday, 19th. April. Then it was "placed in a double coffin of lead and oak which was sealed in the presence of witnesses who signed a record of the events". The nuns of Saint-Gildard, with the support of the bishop of Nevers, applied to the civil authorities for permission to bury Marie-Bernarde's body in a small chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph which was within the confines of the convent. The permission was granted on 25th. April, and five days later the local Prefect pronounced his approval of the choice of the site for burial. Immediately they set to work on preparing the vault. Then, on 30th. May, Marie-Bernarde's coffin was finally transferred to the crypt of the chapel of Saint Joseph. A very simple ceremony was held to commemorate the event.

So what was so special about Marie-Bernarde. It all started when she was a teenager of fourteen years, before she had even made her first communion. On Thursday, 11th. February, 1858, she was sent with her younger sister and a friend to gather firewood. While they were busy in a grotto called Massabie above the banks of the River Gave near Lourdes, a very beautiful lady dressed in blue and white appeared to her. She smiled at Marie-Bernarde and then made the sign of the cross with a rosary of ivory and gold. Marie-Bernarde fell on her knees, took out her own rosary and began to pray. Later, she described the person she had seen in her vision as a girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a blue sash and with her feet covered with yellow roses. She held a large rosary on her right arm. In a vision on 25th. March she told Marie-Bernarde, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Now Marie-Bernarde was not a very bright girl, and it was not until the meaning of these words was explained to her that she came to realise who the Lady was. The Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, appeared to Marie-Bernarde a total of eighteen times, often speaking with her. She told Marie-Bernarde that she should pray for sinners, do penance and have a chapel built there in her honour. As was to be expected, most people did not believe Marie-Bernarde when she spoke of her vision. She had to suffer much derision. But one day she was told by her vision to dig in the mud. As she did, a spring of water began to flow. The next day it continued to grow larger and larger. Many miracles happened when people began to use this water. After thorough investigation Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862.

Marie-Bernarde was always very humble. More than anything else, she desired not to be praised. Once a nun asked her if she had temptations of pride because she was favoured by the Blessed Mother. "How can I?" she answered quickly. "The Blessed Virgin chose me only because I was the most ignorant."

Marie-Bernarde, as you have probably realised by now, is better known as Saint Bernadette. She was beatified in 1925, and canonized in 1933 by Pope Pious XI. Her feast day is April 16th.

Bill Hutchings