Life and details of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the girl who saw Our Lady in Lourdes.
Birth: Marie Bernarde Soubirous, better known by Bernadette, was born on January 7, 1844 at the Boly mill, near Lourdes. She was the daughter of François Soubirous and Louise Castérot. They had 9 children and Bernadette was the oldest. When Bernadette was 10 years old, the family was thrown out of the mill and had to live in a damp, musty dungeon that was the old jail in the place. They were very hungry. Sometimes they only had old loaves for a day's food for everyone, or not a loaf of bread at all. They made watery soups by cooking bones and meats collected from the garbage or received from friends. Despite this, parents and children very happy. The neighbor who lived upstairs in the house said he never heard any complaints from them about their lives. He heard the family pray together every day and the parents never argued.
Bernadette's faith: Bernadette was illiterate at the time of Our Lady's apparitions in Lourdes, she didn't even speak French, but only a dialect of that region. Afterwards she had little study, but we see that she had great wisdom in the words she said. In 1857, Bernadette went to live for a few months in her wet nurse's house to eat better. She worked there as a shepherd of the sheep. Bernadette only knew how to pray the Rosary and the invocation: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” She had returned to Lourdes in January 1858 to take First Communion at 14 years old. She hadn't done it before because of the jobs. She had difficulty memorizing the Catechism and the I believe. She didn't understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity, but she had great faith and love for the things of God.
Apparitions of Our Lady: The following month, from February 11th to July 16th, 1858, she had the 18 apparitions of Our Lady and she said: “If you only knew what I saw so beautiful there in that cave... If you only knew how Our Lady Lady is good... So beautiful! I cannot find any image of Our Lady beautiful after having seen the original. I will only go to Heaven if I am good and behave correctly. I will see Our Lady again in Heaven. It will be more beautiful.”
Bernadette with the people: After the apparitions, Bernadette's life changed completely. Thousands of people began to look for her in her home or wherever she was. She continued in the same way as always: very humble, simple and kind, but at the same time, very normal like all girls. She was very frank, sincere and transparent. She was much sought after by the poor, rich, religious, authorities, beggars and the sick. Despite this, she treated everyone in the same way, never differentiated or exalted anyone. She always attended everyone with good will and said: "I will pray for you." She never lost patience with so many visits and many reached graces with her prayers. To those who called her a saint, she said: “You are mistaken. I'm not a saint.” Although her family was poor, she never accepted money and asked for it to be given to the parish or sisters. Some treated her like a celebrity on the streets of Lourdes, but she didn't like that. Some people take photos of Bernadette and sell them for a franc each. She laughed and joked: "They sell the photos for more than I'm worth!"
Persecutions by authorities: Bernadette suffered many persecutions from the mayor and authorities of Lourdes because of the apparitions. He told her, "You here, you impudent?" She replied, "Yes sir, I'm here." He said, "We're going to put you in jail." She replied: "And let it be well locked, or I'll run away."
Bernadette as religious in Nevers: In 1866, at the age of 22, Bernadette left Lourdes and became a religious in the city of Nevers, France. She missed Lourdes and the grotto, but said: “We have little time in the world. We should use it well.” There were nuns who didn't like his natural, frank and sincere way and didn't realize his great holiness. Bernadette said: "I don't want to live a moment here without loving." The superior sisters did her several and suffered humiliations. Another sister said: “I had been at Nevers for three days, and I was amazed that I still didn't recognize who Bernadette was. The superior said: ‘Bernadette? Look at her by your side!’ I exclaimed, ‘That's it?’ Bernadette replied jokingly: 'It's true! I'm just it!’ And after that, we became very good friends.” Despite suffering so much, she was the most humorous and playful of all. She took care of the sick and the sacristy with great love and patience. After prayer, she counseled: “Anytime, sing:‘ With my Mother I will be.” She always asked the sisters to pray for her: "Pray for me, poor sinner, especially at the time of death." On the sisters correcting their faults: “But how? To receive the Bread of the strong so often and not be more courageous?”
Parental Death: When her mother died, she said, “My God, You wanted it! I accept the cup you give me. Blessed be her Name!" In her father's death, she told us: "I have always had a great devotion to the Agony of Our Savior. On Saturday afternoon, I prayed to Jesus in the Agony for all those who were going to die at that time, and it was precisely at the same moment that my father entered eternity. What a joy for me if I helped him!”
Phrases of Saint Bernadette: Some phrases of her great wisdom:
- I will always have enough health, but never enough love.
- The first movement does not belong to us, but the second belongs to us.
- Only Jesus as master. Only Jesus as wealth. Only Jesus as a friend.
- God speaks to the heart without any sound of words.
Prayers made by St. Bernadette: “Oh Jesus, please give me the bread of humility, the bread of obedience, the bread of charity, the bread of strength to break my will and melt it into yours. Give me the bread of patience to bear the pains my heart suffers. Give me the bread to see only You in everything and always." “I waited on you, Lord. Be my house of refuge, for you are my strength."
Illnesses and crosses: Bernadette suffered from asthma since childhood and offered everything for the conversion of sinners. She said: “The Virgin wants me to suffer. I need. Healing is not for me. The Good Lord knows why. I have to be a victim. I will bravely and generously carry the cross hidden in my heart. My weapons are prayer and sacrifice, which I will preserve until my last breath. Only then will the weapon of sacrifice fall, but the weapon of prayer will accompany me to Heaven, where it will be far more powerful than in this Land of exile.” In the convent, she will suffer from bone tuberculosis and a tumor in her knees that will cause her great pain. One sister related: “Bernadette had asthma attacks, coughing attacks that nearly broke her chest. Even vomiting blood and choking, she never let out any regrets, any complaints. She would just look at the Crucifix and say, ‘My Jesus.’ ”She was so sick that she received the Anointing of the Sick three times, surviving them all. After one of them, she joked: “I'm better, the Lord didn't want me. I went to His Door and He told me: ‘Go back! It's still too early!’” When she spent days in bed, she would say, “My occupation is to be sick. This bed and its white curtain is my white chapel." The sisters said, "It's not good to be Bernadette." On another occasion: "When the emotion is very strong, I remember the words of our Lord: 'It is I, do not be afraid.'”
Sign of the Cross with devotion: One day, Bernadette showed a sister that she was wrong with the
Sign of the Cross: “We must be careful, because doing the Sign of the Cross well means a lot.” The sisters said: “The way she did it the Sign of the Cross impressed us deeply. We tried several times to do the same, but we couldn't. She did it well because Our Lady made the Sign of the Cross at the first apparition. That stayed with Bernadette all her life.”
Last years: Her illnesses got worse in 1878 with a strong otitis that caused her a temporary deafness that caused her a lot of discomfort and the tumor in her bones that hurt a lot. She continued patiently. She prayed: "Oh Jesus! Oh Mary! Let all my comfort in this world consist in loving you and suffering for sinners. Oh Jesus, keep me under the banner of your Cross. May this Crucifix not only be in my eyes and in my chest, but in my heart, living in me. May I be a living Crucified One, transformed into him by union with the Eucharist, by meditation on your life and the deepest feelings of your Heart. I call souls, no for me, but for You, from the height of the Cross, where life and love unite me forever."
Death and canonization: In March 1879, Bernadette received the Anointing of the Sick for the fourth time and said: "I ask forgiveness for all the faults of Mother and all my sisters." In Holy Week, April 6-13, he said: “I'm all skinned up. I don't even have the strength to breathe." On April 16, 1879, she asked only for the Crucifix in her room: "This is enough for me." She looked at it and held it the entire time. But her strength was few and she drops the Crucifix. She asked them to tie the Crucifix to her chest and said: "My Jesus, how much I love you!" A sister told him, "You are on the Cross." Another sister present asked Our Lady to comfort her. Bernadette replied: “No, comfort, no, but strength and patience.” She was covered in sores on her back that she couldn't even lie down. She had to sleep sitting in an armchair and had immense pain throughout her body. It said: “I am being ground like a grain of wheat. My passion will last until death.” At three o'clock in the afternoon she gave a great cry: "My God!" The sisters began to pray the Rosary. Bernadette replied in a strong voice: "Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for me a sinner, poor sinner!" At 3 pm, like Jesus on Calvary, she said, "I am thirsty." She made a great Sign of the Cross, drank a few drops of water and bowed her head. She surrendered sweetly her soul at 35 and after 13 years in the convent.
Canonization: Saint Bernadette Soubirous was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI. Her body remains uncorrupted to this day. She is one of the most beautiful and as many say, she seems to be sleeping.
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