St. Bernadette (1844 - 1879) was born in Lourdes, France on January 7, 1844. Her parents were very poor and she was the first of nine children. As a toddler, Bernadette contracted cholera and suffered extreme asthma. Unfortunately, she lived the rest of her life in poor health. When Bernadette was 14 years old she was at a grotto and received a vision of a woman who wore blue and white, carrying a rosary of ivory and gold. Bernadette began to visit the grotto, her parents were embarrassed and attempted to stop her, but were unable to do so.
On February 25, Bernadette claimed to have had a life-changing vision.
The vision had told her "to drink of the water of the spring, to wash in it and to eat the herb that grew there" as an act of penance. The next day, the grotto's muddy waters had been cleared and fresh clear water flowed. On March 2, at the thirteenth of the apparitions, Bernadette told her family the lady sad "a chapel should be built and a procession formed".
During her sixteenth vision, which Bernadette claims to have experienced for over an hour, was on March 25. Bernadette claimed she had asked the woman her name, but her question was only met with a smile. Bernadette asked again, three more times, and finally the woman said, "I am the Immaculate Conception". When she died, her body remained incorrupt (did not decompose).
St. Bernadette pray for us to build a close relationship with God through Mother Mary.
Patron of: illness, people ridiculed for their piety, poverty, shepherds, shepherdesses, and Lourdes, France
Comments