The saints are one of the most beautiful aspects of the Catholic Faith.
We connect to different saints for different reasons.
One saint I’m particularly drawn to is: Bernadette Soubirous.
First, I’ll share information about this saint directly from the Lourdes Sanctuary website.
Then, I’ll share three reasons why she’s special to me.
I hope you enjoy learning about this French saint and connect to her in some way!
Bernadette Soubirous
All that we know of the Apparitions and the Message of Lourdes came to us from Bernadette. She alone saw the Lady and all depends on her testimony. Who is she, then? Three periods can be distinguished in her life: the obscurity of her childhood, a “public” life at the time of the Apparitions and of giving testimony; finally, a “hidden” life as religious at Nevers.
Before the Apparitions
When one describes the Apparitions, Bernadette is often presented as a poor, frail and ignorant girl, living in miserable conditions in the Cachot. True, but it was not always thus. When she was born on 7th January, 1844, at the Boly Mill, she was the first child and heiress of Francois Soubirous and Louise Casterot who married for love. Bernadette grew up in a close-knit family in which she was cherished. Ten years of happiness in the decisive early years of her childhood made her strong and surprisingly balanced. The descent into the unhappiness which followed could not erase this human richness. Bernadette, at 14 years of age, stood only 1 m[eter] 40 tall [4.5 feet]. suffered from bouts of asthma. She had a lively, spontaneous and generous nature; she was witty and incapable of deception. She was proud, which didn’t escape Mother Vauzou in Nevers who described her as having “a closed character, very touchy.” Bernadette’s faults distressed her and she fought them with energy. A strong personality but unsophisticated. No school for Bernadette: she had to help her aunt Bernarde. No catechism: her memory refused to retain the abstract phrases. At 14, she couldn’t read or write, and she suffered at being excluded. Then she reacted. In September 1857, she was sent to Bartrès. On 21st January, 1858, she returned to Lourdes. She wanted to make her First Communion. This she did on 3rd June, 1858.
The Public Life
This is how the Apparitions took place. In the midst of ordinary daily tasks, going to search for firewood, Bernadette was confronted by a mystery. A sound “like a gust of wind”, a light, a presence. Her reaction? She showed her common sense and a remarkable discernment. Believing herself mistaken, she used all her human resources: she looked, she blinked, she tried to understand. At last, she turned to her companions to check their impressions: “Did you see anything?” She turned then to God: she took up her rosary. She turned to the Church and took advice in confessing to Father Pomian: “I saw something white in the form of a Lady.” Questioned by the commissioner Jacomet, she replied with a confidence and prudence and a firmness which was surprising in a young uneducated girl: “Aquero, I didn’t say ‘the Holy Virgin’… Monsieur, you’ve changed it all.” She reported what she had seen with a detachment, an astonishing freedom: “I’m charged with telling you, not with making you believe.”
Her accounts of the Apparitions were precise, never adding or retracting anything. At one time, taken aback by the severity of Father Peyramale, she added a word: “Father, the Lady always asks for a chapel….even a very small one.” In his pastoral letter on the Apparitions, Mgr Laurence emphasized “the simplicity, the candour, the modesty of this child…she recounts it without affectation, with a touching innocence…and to all the questions put to her, without hesitation, she gave clear, precise responses, impressed with a strong conviction.” Unaffected both by threats and attempts to bribe her with advantageous offers, “Bernadette’s sincerity is irrefutable: she has not wanted to make a mistake.” “But has she herself been mistaken? Victim of an hallucination?” the bishop wondered. He recalled her calmness, her good sense, the absence in her of any exaltation and also the fact that the Apparitions did not depend on Bernadette. They happened without Bernadette expecting them, and in the fortnight, twice, when Bernadette went to the Grotto, the Lady was not there. Bernadette had to respond to the curious, to admirers, journalists and others, to appear before civil and religious commissions. She found herself thrown into the glare of the news; a “media storm” battered her. She needed patience and humour to stand firm in this storm and to preserve the purity of her testimony. She accepted no payment. “I want to remain poor.” She did not bless the rosaries thrust at her: “I don’t wear a stole.” She did not sell medals: “I’m not a merchant.” And faced with images of herself costing ten ‘sous’: “Ten ‘sous’, that’s all I’m worth!”
In these circumstances, life in the Cachot was no longer possible. It was necessary to protect Bernadette. Father Peyramale and the mayor Lacade were in agreement: Bernadette would be admitted as “a sick poor person” to the hospice managed by the Sisters of Nevers. She arrived there on 15th July, 1860. At 16, she learned to read and write. One can still see today, at the Bartres Church, the writing practice strokes she made. Later, she wrote often to her family and even to the Pope! She visited her parents who had been rehoused in the “paternal home”. She looked after the sick, but above all she was seeking her vocation: good for nothing and without a dowry, how was she to become a religious? At last, she joined the Sisters of Nevers “because they did not try to attract me.” From that time on, a truth impressed itself within her spirit: “My mission in Lourdes is finished.” Now, she had to withdraw in order to give all the space to Mary.
The Hidden Life at Nevers
She herself used this expression: “I came here to hide myself.” In Lourdes, she was Bernadette, the visionary. In Nevers, she became Sister Marie Bernard, who would be saint. One often hears about the severity of her superiors towards her, but it has to be understood that she was a unique case: she had to be shielded from curiosity, to be protected, and the community also had to be protected. Bernadette gave her account of the Apparitions before the assembled community on the day after she arrived; thereafter it was not to be spoken of. She was kept in the Mother House where she loved to care for the sick. On the day of her Profession, no particular office/work had been prepared for her: the bishop declared that her work would be “the work of prayer”. “Pray for sinners”, the Lady had said. She remained faithful to this. “My weapons,” she wrote to the Pope, “are prayer and sacrifice.” Her own illness made her a regular patient in the infirmary, and then there were endless parlour visits. “These poor bishops, they’d do better to stay at home.” Lourdes was a long way off… she would never return to the Grotto. But every day she made her pilgrimage in spirit. She did not speak of Lourdes; she lived its message. “You will become the first to live the message,” said her confessor Father Douce to her. And in fact, after having been assistant infirmarian, she entered bit by bit into sickness herself. She did “her work” in this, accepting all crosses, for sinners, in an act of perfect love. “After all, they are our brothers.” During long sleepless nights, uniting herself with the Masses celebrated throughout the world, she offered herself as a “living crucified” in the tremendous combat between light and darkness, bound, with Mary, to the mystery of the redemption, eyes fixed on the crucifix: “That is where I find my strength.”
She died at Nevers on 16th April, 1879, aged 35. The Church proclaimed her a saint on 8th December, 1933, not for having been chosen for the Apparitions, but for the way in which she responded to that grace.
Why She’s Special to Me
Lourdes
- When I went on pilgrimage to Lourdes, I was able to see many places of St. Bernadette’s youth, including the Cachot and the Grotto of Massabielle. It was special to see where she grew up and walk where she did. The most incredible part was witnessing the grotto where Our Lady appeared to her in 1858. Even though the town Bernadette knew looked very different than the way it does now, and she didn’t see most of the sanctuary, it was a blessing to experience some of this saint’s life.
Simplicity
- The Soubirous’ were a humble family devoted to their Catholic Faith. When Bernadette’s father lost his job, they fell into poverty. Their large family moved into the Cachot, a single-room that used to be a prison. (I saw this room. It’s difficult to understand how a family, or anyone for that matter, could live in that space.) Bernadette did poorly in school and was considered to be “ignorant.” She had no social status or future prospects. Nothing about her was attractive in the eyes of the world. And yet, the Mother of God appeared to her!
- After the apparitions, Bernadette maintained her innocence and simplicity. She didn’t seek attention, wealth or acceptance from the world; she wanted to remain hidden, poor and small. Her only desire was to love and serve God by obeying Our Lady’s message. In a society that moves further and further from the truth and the values of Christianity, St. Bernadette encourages me and shows me how to focus on God, not the world.
Suffering
- There isn’t much information about Bernadette’s life, but everything I’ve read makes one thing clear: She suffered greatly. Bernadette was ill for much of her youth, and her illnesses seemed to increase during her time as a nun. She developed a tubercular tumor on her right knee; she didn’t make it known or complain about the pain. Ultimately, she died from the disease at a young age.
- Why didn’t Bernadette experience miraculous healing from the spring in Lourdes? Why would God allow someone He chose to be a visionary — someone so innocent, loving and obedient — to suffer so much? We can’t know the answers to these questions, but we can look at the facts: Bernadette accepted her cross with love and patience; she offered up her sufferings for sinners; she trusted Our Lady’s promise that while she might not have happiness on earth, she would have happiness in heaven. St. Bernadette teaches me how to accept my suffering and believe in its spiritual value, especially when I can’t make sense of it and my cross is difficult to carry.
Legacy
St. Bernadette Soubirous is also referred to as St. Bernadette of Lourdes.
The Universal Church celebrates her feast on April 16th.
In France it’s celebrated on February 18th, the first time Our Lady spoke to Bernadette.
She’s the patron of: illness, people ridiculed for their piety, poverty, shepherds, and Lourdes.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us!
One Small Rose 
[…] the first Saint Spotlight I gave three reasons why I feel connected to St. […]
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Beautiful Terese! I am finishing a book , a memoir by Tara Westover called “Educated”. While the message is not explicitly religious, it is about Tara’s very difficult life of pain both mental and physical. I couldn’t help thinking of Tara while reading your post. I am grateful that God has called me from a very early age to listen to His Word. It has formed me and carried me through difficult times. God bless you during this season of Lent 🕊
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It’s interesting that you see a connection between what you’re reading and what I wrote. Thanks for sharing! Wishing you a prayerful and fruitful Lent +
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