St Bernadette Soubirous

Saint Bernadette Soubirous was born on January 7, 1844, in Lourdes, France, to a poor miller’s family. Frail in health and uneducated, she is best known for the Marian apparitions she experienced in 1858 at the Grotto of Massabielle. Over the course of several months, Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin Mary eighteen times. Mary identified herself as the “Immaculate Conception” and requested prayer, penance, and the building of a chapel at the site. Though initially met with skepticism, the apparitions were investigated and approved by the Church. Bernadette later joined the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, where she lived a life of humility, prayer, and service until her death from tuberculosis at age 35. Her body remains incorrupt at the Sanctuary of Saint Bernadette in Nevers.