By Sarah Levesque (Rated G)
St. Bernadette was born Marie-Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844. She was considered a sickly child, and had asthma. Whether due to ailments or other difficulty learning, Bernadette was unable to read, write, or learn her catechism lessons properly as a child, which delayed her First Communion. At the age of fourteen, over the course of six months, she had eighteen visions of Mary, Mother of God, in the unlikely location of a dump. In these visions, Mary identified herself as the Immaculate Conception and asked that a chapel be built on the spot.
During one of these visions, Bernadette was instructed to dig with her hands in the dirt at Mary’s feet. From this spot, a spring began to flow. Through this spring, thousands of people report being healed, though only 70 (still a significant number) have currently been recognized as miraculous by the Catholic Church.
Meanwhile, Bernadette was examined and re-examined, but always stuck with simplicity to what she had seen and heard. Eventually, to escape the notoriety and fame that she had gained, she was sent to the city of Nevers, where, in time, she became a Sister of Charity known as Sr. Marie Bernard, and she learned to read and write. She was known for her kindliness, holiness, simplicity and wit, as well as for her chronic pain, which she offered up for the good of others without complaint. Bernadette died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35. On December 8th, 1933, the Catholic Church declared her a saint. Today, her body is on display at the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, for it never decomposed, earning Bernadette a spot on the list of Incorruptibles.
May we, like Bernadette, shun fame and pride, choosing instead to suffer for the good of others.
Sources:
Lourdes-france.org/en/bernadette-soubirous/
lourdes-france.org/en/the-miracles-of-lourdes/
britannica.com/biography/Saint-Bernadette-of-Lourdes
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