Member Log InLourdes
In the southwest of France, nestled in the remote foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains, Lourdes is among the world's most popular - if not the world's most popular - Marian shrine. Prior to 1858, Lourdes was a quiet village of about 4,000 inhabitants, with no significance on the country's stage, let alone the world stage. Bisected by the fast-flowing river, Gave de Pau, Lourdes shot to prominence in the Catholic church and the world as a result of eighteen Marian Apparitions that occurred there in 1858.
Bernadette Soubirous
Bernadette Soubir.jpg)
ous, the eldest of nine Soubirous children, was born January 7, 1844, to a successful miller, François
Soubirous and his wife, Louise Casterot, a laundress. For the first ten years of her life, Bernadette enjoyed the stability of a close-knit, loving family living at Le Moulin de Boly ("Boly Mill" - pictured right before its restoration - and left, at the time of our visit in June 2023) in Lourdes, which had belonged to her mother's family. Bernadette, despite a lack of formal education, was a strong, responsible and confident child. She was witty, her nature described as 'lively and spontaneous' by her biographers. She was also described as 'proud,' a strong personality, but unsophisticated. She did not go to school, in part because her help was required in the family home, and in part because between the ages of 12 and 14, she was hired out as a servant, becoming a shepherdess tending to sheep. She returned to the Soubirous home, desirous of learning to read and write and of making her First Holy Communion. Her Aunt Bernarde, who would later play a significant support role of to Bernadette in the course of the Apparitions to come, needed her assistance as well, in operating a cabaret which Bernarde owned. Bernadette had contracted cholera at age 2 (a disease from which many in those days did not survive) and had asthma. She was never healthy. Short in stature, her adult height was 4 feet 7 inches.
By 1855, the family had lost the mill to bankruptcy and fell, little by little, into misery, 
unemployment, insecurity and expulsion. François Soubirous, turned to alcohol in an ill-fated effort to cope with his business failures. No one wanted anything to do with the Soubirous family. By age 14, Bernadette had become an illiterate peasant child, whose family of six (her parents, Bernadette, and three younger siblings) was, at the time, living in a former prison cell that had been closed and condemned as uninhabitable by village authorities. Known as "le cachot" ("cash-show" - the "dungeon" - pictured right), the single room measuring 16 square meters (172 square feet), had a dirt floor and a small fireplace. Family furniture consisted of a table, a few chairs, a trunk for linen, and two beds. Bernadette, when later recalling her difficulty with learning, described herself as having a "bad head," referencing her inability to remember much of what she studied. Perseverance ultimately resulted in her achievement of her goal: her First Holy Communion, which happened after a series of events in 1858 that dramatically changed her life and the village of Lourdes.
The Apparitions
One
On February 11, 1858, on a Thursday before Ash Wednesday, Bernadette, along with her sister, Toinette (age 11) and a friend, went out to collect bones and wood to fuel the family's fire and sell to neighbors for extra money. Their destination? The wooded area surrounding a cave just outside the village, known as Massabielle ("mass - ah - bee - elle.") It was common ground, about a mile walk from le cachot, where villagers pastured animals, collected firewood, and dumped garbage. Its reputation was that of an unpleasant place. An assistant priest at the local parish, in a later book about Bernadette and the Apparitions, noted that "a wilder, more savage or solitary spot could not be found in Lourdes."
A stream (a shallow canal from a nearby non-working mill) crossed in front of the cave - from this point we'll call the cave a grotto - that obstructed approach to
the entrance to the grotto (pictured from a distance at right, as it appeared in the mid-19th century.) Her sister and their friend crossed the stream and soon disappeared in search of wood. Bernadette, ever mindful of caring for her shoes and socks (she had only one pair of shoes), sat down to remove them before crossing the canal, when she heard a sound like the rush of wind. She noted that no leaves moved; in fact nothing stirred except a wild rose bush she noticed in a niche in the grotto as she peered into it. A small figure appeared, standing on the rose bush, described by Bernadette as "a lady in white." The lady had a rosary in her right hand, but did not speak. Bernadette, by this time accustomed to regular recitation of the Rosary, carried her rosary in her pocket. The lady, by motion only, invited Bernadette to pray the Rosary together. Bernadette observed the lady's lips move only on the "Glorias" but the lady never uttered a sound. After the conclusion of the Rosary, the lady disappeared.
Bernadette confirmed with her sister and her friend that they saw nothing, heard nothing, and felt nothing. She told her sister not to tell their parents about her experience, to no avail. After hearing the fantastic story from her sister, their parents forbade the girls from returning to the grotto, a mandate that Bernadette promptly ignored.
Two
She was pulled back to the grotto on Sunday, February 14, by an "inner force" against which she could not prevail. Her sister and their friend, Jeanne Abadie, again accompanied, along with other girls from the village, to whom Jeanne Abadie had told the story of the first visit to the grotto. As disobedience was not acceptable to Bernadette, it happend that her mother withdrew the forbiddance of returning to the grotto after much pleading by Bernadette. Bernadette carried a vial of Holy Water with her with the intent to hurl the water at the lady, 'in case she was of the devil.' The lady again appeared, and Bernadette did hurl the Holy Water at her, later noting that "She is not angry," adding, "on the contrary, She sanctions it with Her head and is smiling at all of us." Again Bernadette and the Lady prayed the Rosary together. Again, the Lady was silent; her lips moved only on the "Glorias." She disappeared after the Rosary.
Three
The third Apparition occurred on Thursday, February 18. One week had passed since the first Apparation. By this time, word had begun to spread among the townsfolk, and two women involved with an organization known as "The Children of Mary" in Lourdes accompanied Bernadette to Massabielle, one of whom carried a candle and the other carrying a pen and paper. In this Apparition, the Lady spoke for the first time, asking Bernadette to return every day for 15 days. She also, when asked by Bernadette to write down what She had to say, said, "There is no need to write down what I have to say to you." The women told Bernadette to ask the Lady her name. When asked about the Lady's reply, Bernadette said, "I do not know. She lowered Her head with a smile, but She did not answer." The Lady also said to Bernadette, "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next."
Hearing Bernadette relate what had occurred, her parents were distressed – not least of all by the strange promise made by the mysterious Lady. Until now, they had thought this was simply the product of a child’s imagination… But now the Lady had spoken – and what words! If this was a real Lady, then who could it be? They considered that the child’s description matched that of the Queen of Heaven. They immediately discounted this as a possibility; judging Bernadette not worthy of such a grace. And the Mother of God would surely not appear in such a place as the Grotto of Massabieille. Was it perhaps a soul from Purgatory? Or – most terrifying of all – was it the evil one? Why would She give no name? What did this mean?
Enter Aunt Bernarde. Bernadette's parents sought the advice of the wise Aunt. “If the vision is of Heavenly nature,” said Bernarde, “we have nothing to fear. If it is some trickery of the devil, it is not possible that the Virgin should allow a child who trusts Her with such innocence of heart to be deceived. Moreover, we ourselves have done wrong in not going to Massabieille with her to see what is really taking place there. This we must do before anything else and then we shall be able to form an opinion based upon the facts themselves and decide upon a future line of action.”
Four
During the fourth Apparition on Friday, February 19, Bernadette's parents and Aunt Bernarde accompanied and witnessed her ecstasy that lasted about thirty minutes. It was pre-dawn in the morning. Bernadette carried a lighted candle. Bernadette's face was illuminated and transfigured. They noted she appeared to no longer belong to this world. She prayed the Rosary again. Despite having left the cachot before dawn so as not to be seen, eight people appeared at the grotto when the Soubirous quartet arrived.
Five
By early morning, Saturday, February 20, the entire town of Lourdes had heard of Bernadette's experiences at Massabielle. About thirty people were waiting at dawn at the grotto when Bernadette and her parents arrived. Again, Bernadette knelt and prayed the Rosary and outwardly, appeared to be in an ecstasy. It was at this fifth Apparition that the Lady taught Bernadette a personal prayer which she never shared with any other human being.
Six
The sixth Apparition occurred on Sunday, February 21. In this Apparition, the Lady told Bernadette to "pray for the sinners." A physician, Dr. Pierre-Romain Dozous, a man of previous little faith, attempted to undo Bernadette in her story-telling by evaluating her physical responses during her experience at the Grotto. The result? Not only did Dr. Dozous fail in his effort to prove Bernadette a liar, he quickly became a believer and eventually witnessed the miracle of the candle (the 17th Apparition) at the grotto. In 1874, he wrote a book entitled, "The Grotto of Lourdes, its fountains and its healings."
On Monday, February 22, 1858, Bernadette was again forbidden by her parents to go to the grotto, after a harsh inquisition by the police commissioner the day prior, an effort to trip Bernadette up in her recounting of the visions. Her parents instructed that she go straight to school, which she did. At mid-day, she returned home to consume a small meal and collect a book that she had forgotten that morning. She set out again for school. The route to school took her by a Hospice administered by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. Here, she later noted, "An invisible barrier prevented me from passing." She was able to go only in the opposite direction, toward the Grotto. She again felt the interior pull to return to the Grotto, so return she did. She again knelt and prayed. Again, a crowd had gathered that included two women of the village who had gone to see for themselves the events unfolding at Massabielle. When Bernadette finished her prayer, the women asked her what she had seen. "Nothing," she replied. The Lady did not appear.
Bernadette walked to a nearby mill where she entered and sat down. Her mother was there. The two women followed her and, upon entry, noticed a woman standing by Bernadette. They asked her if she knew the child. "Ah, Mademoiselle, I am her unhappy mother!" the woman replied. Asked why she called herself unhappy, Mme. Soubirous continued, "If you only knew, Mademoiselle, what we suffer! Some laugh at us, others say our daughter is mad. Some even say that we are receiving money for this!" They asked what she thought of the girl.
In this response by Mme. Soubirous, the fierceness of a mother's love is displayed: “I assure you that my child is truthful and honest and incapable of deceiving me. Of that I am certain. People say she is mad. It is true that she suffers from asthma but apart from that she is not ill. We forbade her to return to the Grotto; in anything else I am sure she would have obeyed us, but in this matter – well, you see how she escapes our control. She was just telling me that an invisible barrier prevented her from going to school and that an irresistible force dragged her in spite of herself to Massabieille."
Seven
At the seventh Apparition on Tuesday, February 23, the Lady entrusted Bernadette with three secrets, the nature of which Bernadette never shared with anyone. She took the secrets to her grave.
Eight
The eighth Apparition, on Wednesday, February 24, included another message from the Lady: "Penance, penance, penance," which Bernadette proclaimed aloud to the crowd assembled that morning. It was Bernadette's first public proclamation of anything the Lady had said. The crowd seemed speechless as Bernadette returned to her place of prayer and the vision continued. One man, however, the town quartermaster, approached her and was heard to say, "What are you doing, you little actress?” Bernadette was not even aware of his presence, much less intimidated by it. His only response was his own – “And to think that such follies can take place in the nineteenth century!”
Nine
It was the ninth Apparition on Thursday, February 25, that the spring water at Lourdes appeared. From an eyewitness: “The child had not recited a decade of her beads when all of a sudden she set off on her knees and began to clamber in this way up the slope that led to the interior of the Grotto. She passed in front of me, a short distance away. On reaching the entrance to the vault, she gently – and without pausing – pushed aside the branches that hung down from the rock. From there she went on towards the back of the Grotto. The crowd was pressing close behind her. When she reached the back of the Grotto, Bernadette turned about and came back, still on her knees, down the same slope. I witnessed there a tour de force and I ought to have marvelled more at the ease and dignity of this child’s movements in such a posture and on deeply sloping ground that was very uneven and strewn with stones which jutted out sharply here and there. At the time I saw nothing in Bernadette's movements, apart from the tour de force, but a ridiculous wriggle, for it seemed to me purposeless.” The eyewitness lost sight of the child at this moment, being surrounded by the pressing crowd.
But Aunt Bernarde was more fortunate, "Everyone was astonished. Finding nothing, the child turned off towards the river," she stated. But despite seeing the events occurring before them, those close by were unable to explain them. Only Bernadette could supply this. And she was soon required to do so.
Before this event, no water (apart from stagnant rain water) had ever been observed in the Grotto. In what must have appeared a frenzy, Bernadette was observed to move towards the wild rose bush, push it aside and kiss the rock, then fell once more into ecstasy. She got up and seemed embarrassed – she walked toward the River Gave, then stopped and looked back, like one who has been called, and went in a different direction, into the opening at the base of the rock, on the left hand side. Looking once more towards the niche, she appeared puzzled. She then began to dig with her hands. Muddy water surfaced, which she scooped up and three times threw away. She drank the fourth scoop.
All of these events had happened before dawn that morning. When the on-lookers saw her mud-covered face they thought she was insane and laughed at her. Unaware of all this, Bernadette continued in her ecstasy until 7:00 am, long after the sight-seers had departed. Leaving the Grotto, a neighbour asked Bernadette to explain what had occurred. She replied, "While I was in prayer, the Lady said to me in a serious but friendly voice – 'Go, drink and wash in the fountain'. As I did not know where this fountain was, and as I did not think the matter important, I went towards the Gave. The Lady called me back and signed to me with Her finger to go under the Grotto to the left; I obeyed but I did not see any water. Not knowing where to get it from, I scratched the earth and the water came. I let it get a little clear of the mud then I drank and washed."
Horrified, the crowd had watched in unknowing silence. Their distress was increased as they watched the child eat some wild herbs growing at the foot of the rock.
Unknown to the crowd, the Lady had pointed once more to the floor of the Grotto and told her little one, "Go, eat of the herbs you will find there."
Bernadette then made her impressive Sign of the Cross once more, before coming away from the vault, kneeling once more and watching as the vision faded. Quickly, Aunt Bernarde took hold of the child and ushered her away from the Grotto, fearful of the bystanders who were calling out to the child that she was insane. No one had bothered to examine the hole where the child had been digging; all were too concerned only with their reputations – after all, it would be embarrassing to have to admit to being fooled by this imbecile girl.
Later that afternoon, on the spot where Bernadette had knelt digging, the trickle had become a ribbon of water which was hollowing out its own channel in the topsoil.
Today, that spring continues to flow at a rate of 57,600 liters (15,216 gallons) per day, or about 634 gallons per hour. The water has been channeled into a cistern and, from there, dispersed to multiples spigots about the Sanctuary of Lourdes, where pilgrims can drink it, wash in it, and collect it for the return home. In addition, until the 2021 COVID pandemic, pilgrims were able to bathe in the water in facilities constructed on site for private bathing. Today, instead of bathing, a "Ceremony of Water," is offered, in which volunteers pray with pilgrims and pour water over pilgrims' hands.
On May 6, 1858, a chemist by the name of Latour issued a statement on the water, saying, "The water .. is very limpid, inodorous and without any strong taste; ...it contains the following ingredients – chlorides of soda, lime and magnesia, bicarbonates of lime and magnesia, silicates of lime and aluminium, oxide of iron, sulphate of soda, phosphate, organic matter.." He speculated that at some point a ‘curative element’ would be found in the water, but this never happened. A further analysis, by one, Monsieur Filhol, of the Toulouse Faculty of Sciences (in August 1858) declared, "The extraordinary results of which I am informed have been obtained by the use of this water cannot, at least in the present condition of scientific knowledge, be explained by the nature of the salts whose existence is revealed by analysis." Analyses since that date have reached similar conclusions.
And yet the water from this spring flows – in itself not miraculous, not therapeutic. But countless miracles have resulted from its use since that happy day.
The Lady did not appear when Bernadette returned to the Grotto the following morning, Friday, February 26, 1858.
Ten
At the tenth vision on Saturday, February 27, the Lady gave Bernadette two instructions: first, to "go and kiss the ground in penance for sinners," which Bernadette did on the spot; and, second, to "go and tell the Priests to have a chapel built here." The clergy at Lourdes, were at that point entirely antithetical to the events unfolding at the Grotto. They were very reserved about it and, at the order of the parish priest, they did not go to the Grotto. The priest, Abbé Dominique Peyramale, himself never appeared at the Grotto and never witnessed any of the Apparitions. He was initially convinced that Bernadette's experiences were a hoax and work with village authorities to keep people away from the Grotto.
On this day, however, his armor was cracked when, after walking straight from the Grotto to the presbytery, Bernadette approached the good priest in the garden. She related the Lady's request about the chapel. He quizzed her about the Lady's identity, which Bernadette, undaunted, could not confirm. He listened carefully to her description of the Lady and details of the encounter with her. His heart softened and, when he could not learn the Lady's identity, said,"Tell the Lady who has sent you that the parish priest of Lourdes is not in the habit of dealing with people whom he does not know. Say that before anything else, he demands to know Her name and that – moreover – She must prove that this name belongs to Her. If this Lady has the right to a Chapel, She will understand the meaning of my words to you; if She does not understand, tell Her that She need not trouble to send me any more messages.”
Bernadette rose, curtsied, and left.
Pictured above is the relationship between the Basilical of the Immaculate Conception and the Grotto (directly underneath the sanctuary of the Basilica) as it appears today from across the Gave du Pau River.
Eleven
At the eleventh Apparition on Sunday, February 28, a crowd estimated at more than 2,000 gathered. There was no public address by Bernadette. The crowd quietly observed her motions during the ecstasy. Because of the crowds coming and going, the spring was now flowing in multiple little channels toward the Gave du Pau River. When this morning's crowd dispersed, the local gendarmes decided to dig a small trench from the spring's source to the river, to allow it to flow freely and without course disruption.
Twelve
During the twelfth Apparition on Monday, March 1, the Lady called out Bernadette for not presenting her rosary in prayer. It had happened that, en route to the Grotto that morning, Bernadette had been accosted by a neighbor (the Lourdes seamstress, as it were), who asked Bernadette if she would take her rosary and use it while praying with the Lady, because she wanted to obtain a souvenir of the events at the Grotto. Bernadette agreed to the request and put the neighborlady's rosary in her pocket. When it came time for prayer, the Lady recognized that the rosary was not Bernadette's, and asked Bernadette to use her own rosary, which she did.
The crowds, by this time, had begun to mimic what Bernadette did during her moments of ecstasy, by kneeling and taking out their rosaries and lifting them overhead before praying the Rosary along with the visionary.
Non-believers remained unconvinced and, by this time, had become increasingly critical of Bernadette and the events at the Grotto, having failed in their initial attempts to stop the occurrences. They relentlessly distorted, misrepresented, and attempted to discredit Bernadette, calling her a devious little liar, a psychotic, a neurotic, a fraud, and a fool, among an endless list of other derogative attributes. They were no less vicious in the wake of the events of the twelfth Apparition on this date.
One Paris newspaper printed the following comments a few days later, accusing Bernadette of "blessing" the crowds' rosaries.
"That little actress, the miller's daughter at Lourdes, collected round her again on the morning of the 1st of March, beneath the Massabieille rock, nearly two thousand five hundred boobies. It is impossible to describe the idiocy and moral degeneration of these persons. The visionary treats them like a troop of monkeys and makes them commit absurdities of every kind. This morning, the pythoness was not inclined to play the seer, and to make a little variety in the exercises, she thought the best thing was to play the priestess. Assuming a grand air of authority, she ordered the fools to present their Rosaries and then blessed them all."
For her part, when later questioned by a priest about her actions that triggered these comments, Bernadette related the story of the town seamstress and her rosary revealing that, as she took the rosary from her pocket and attempted to make the Sign of the Cross, she could not raise her arm to do so. She related the Lady's recognition that the rosary did not, indeed, belong to Bernadette, and Her request of Bernadette to use her own rosary. The priest who asked the child to explain said to Bernadette, "Is it true that you blessed Rosaries at the Grotto today?" Bernadette smiled.
“Oh, but Monsieur, women do not wear the stole!"
Thirteen
At the thirteenth Apparition on March 2, the Lady again asked Bernadette to tell the priest to build a chapel at the Grotto. Bernadette was accompanied to the Grotto this time by two aunts, Lucille and Basille, who also followed her to the presbytery immediately after leaving the Grotto. The parish priest was not amused. Exasperated at this second request for a chapel, he shouted, "It is high time for me to get out of the imbroglio in which the Lady and you seek to entangle me. Tell Her that with the priest of Lourdes She must speak clearly and concisely. She wants a chapel. What right has She to these honours which She claims? Who is She? Where does She come from? What has She done to deserve our homage? Don’t let us beat about the bush – if your Lady is She whom you suggest, I will show Her a means of obtaining recognition and giving authority to Her messages. You tell me She stations Herself in a niche, above a wild rose bush. Well, ask Her from me to make the rose bush burst into flower suddenly in the presence of the assembled multitude. The morning when you come to tell me that this prodigy has occurred, I will believe your word and I will promise to go with you to Massabieille!"
So shaken by the priest's countenance was Bernadette that she forgot the second part of the Lady's request. Upon return to her home, she realized her error and begged her aunt to return to the priest's residence. The request was met with a firm "no," so Bernadette resorted to soliciting help from a neighbor who was able to arrange a return visit at 7 o'clock in the evening. Trembling, Bernadette repeated the Lady's first request and spoke the second: "She adds, 'I want people to come here in procession.'" The good father was beside himself. He railed again incredulously that the Lady and Bernadette should disrupt his solitude with such requests. He fell silent for a moment, before adding, "“Ask the Lady Her name once more. When we know Her name, then She shall have a chapel – and I promise you, it won’t be a little one either!”
Bernadette left the house. Now she smiled – despite her fear of the priest, she had carried out the task given to her by the Lady. She had given Abbe Peyramale the full message. Now it was up to him.
Fourteen
Three thousand people gathered early the next morning, Wednesday, March 3, anticipating Bernadette's arrival, which happened at seven o'clock. She knelt and prayed, but was sad. There was no ecstasy. Naysayers were quick to attribute all to "hallucinations." A family relative, Andre Sajous, who had allowed the Soubirous family to live rent-free at Le Cachot, was present in the crowd. Sensitive to Bernadette's sadness, he offered to return to the Grotto with her later in the day.
The fourteenth Apparition unfolded later that day as the previous ones, with the Lady and the visionary caught up in prayer. Afterward, Bernadette returned to the presbytery to relate her experience to Abbé Peyramale saying, "She smiled when I told Her that you were asking Her to work a miracle. I told Her to make the rose bush, which She was standing near, bloom; She smiled once more."
"But She wants the Chapel."
"The Chapel" - the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception - pictured above left as it appeared in the backdrop of the Pyrenees Mountains and the low-hanging clouds, one morning during the June 2023 pilgrimage.
Fifteen
The next day would be the last of the fifteen consecutive days that Bernadette had promised to come to the Grotto.
By this time, the whole of France had heard of the events at the Grotto at Lourdes. On the morning of Thursday, March 4, a crowd estimated at 20,000 people had assembled at the Grotto. Since early the previous evening, pilgrims had been arriving from all over France. They had travelled by horse, in carriages and on foot. Throughout the night torches had remained alight in front of the Grotto. The crowd sang hymns to the Queen of Heaven – surely this was the mysterious Lady of the visions?
For her part, Bernadette attended Mass that morning at 0600 AM at the parish church. She slipped out immediately after Communion (which she did not receive, as she had not yet made her First Communion), much to the dismay of her cousin, who was with her and had planned to go to the Grotto with her.
The crowd was hyped for a big miracle, as this was the last of the fortnight visits. The Apparition, while it lasted longer than any of the others, was otherwise uneventful. The Rosary was prayed - all Fifteen Mysteries - during the rapture.
As she left the Grotto, Bernadette told bystanders who had inquired as to how the experience had ended, "Just as usual. She smiled when She departed but She did not say goodbye to me."
"Now that the fortnight is up, you will not come again to the Grotto?" she was asked.
"Oh yes, I shall", replied the child. "I shall keep on coming, but I don’t know if the Lady will appear again."
She did not return to the Grotto in her usual, early morning visits for the next three weeks. She did, however, go alone at other times of the day, and would remain sometimes for hours there deep in prayer, pouring out her soul to the Lady who had never revealed her name.
Sixteen
On Thursday morning, March 25, Bernadette again made her way to the Grotto in the early morning hours. Having felt the call to return the evening prior, she had told her parents of the interior pull, and had been unable to sleep. A crowd had gathered anticipating that, perhaps, another vision might occur today. Why? It was the Feast of the Annunciation. While not official, many folks had come to believe the Lady who had been appearing was the Blessed Virgin Mary. Why would She not appear on Her Feast Day?
Bernadette arrived at five o'clock in the morning. She had her rosary in one hand and a lighted candle in the other. The Lady was already there. In Bernadette's words:
"She was there, tranquil and smiling and watching the crowd just as a fond mother watches her children. When I knelt down before Her, I begged Her pardon for coming late. Still kindly towards me, She made me a sign with Her head that I had no need to apologise. Then I told Her of all my love and regard for Her and how happy I was to see Her again. And after pouring out my heart to Her I took up my beads."
At this moment, the Figure bathed in the heavenly light moved from the niche down into the larger vault. Rising to her feet, Bernadette went into the vault to be closer to the Lady. She remained standing in front of Her and a conversation followed. Soon afterward, the oval of light moved back up into the niche once more and prayers were resumed.
Again, describing the conversation Bernadette later said, "Whilst I was praying, the thought of asking Her name came to my mind with such persistence that I could think of nothing else. I feared to be presumptuous in repeating a question She had always refused to answer and yet something compelled me to speak. At last, under an irresistible impulsion, the words fell from my mouth and I begged the Lady to tell me who She was."
"The Lady did as She had always done before; She bowed Her head and smiled but She did not reply. I cannot say why, but I felt myself bolder and asked Her again to graciously tell me Her name; however, She only smiled and bowed as before, still remaining silent. Then once more, for the third time, clasping my hands and confessing myself to be unworthy of the great favour I was asking of Her, I again made my request. The Lady was standing above the rose bush, in a position very similar to that shown on the Miraculous Medal. At my third request, Her face became very serious and She seemed to bow down in an attitude of humility. Then She joined Her hands and raised them to Her breast. She looked up to Heaven. Then slowly opening Her hands and leaning towards me, She said to me in a voice vibrating with emotion, 'Que Soy Era Immaculada Conceptiou.'" ('I Am the Immaculate Conception')
The language the Lady spoke was not French, but Occitan, a local dialect spoken by people in that region of the Pyrenees Mountains. It was Bernadette's spoken language, though she could not write or read it.
Again, Bernadette went straight to the presbytery to speak with the good parish priest, repeating every step of the way the unfamiliar words she had heard.
He asked what she wanted, but she did not hear his question, as she was murmuring the recollected words softly to herself.
"What's that you're saying, you conceited little thing?" he asked in an exasperated tone, not unusual to him in their encounters.
"'I am the Immaculate Conception’ it’s the Lady who has just said these words to me!"
He asked if she knew what the words meant. She replied that she did not know their meaning.
"I see you are still being deceived. How can you say things you don’t understand?" he asked.
“All the way from the Grotto I have been repeating the words ‘I am the Immaculate Conception’ for fear that I would forget them,” she replied.
"Good!" said the Priest, adding, "I shall consider what is to be done." He entered the house, leaving the child and her aunt standing in the garden.
Later that day, the Priest admitted to a neighbor the effect of the child’s words on him: "I was so amazed by it that I felt myself stagger and I was on the verge of falling."
This was a big deal. A really, really big deal.
Seventeen
By Easter Sunday, April 4, 1858, daily visitors to the Grotto numbered in the thousands. On the evening of April 6, Bernadette again felt an inner call to go to the Grotto and determined to do so the next morning.
She arrived at six o'clock and was, before long, deep in prayer when the ecstasy began. Dr. Dozous, the naysayer-turned-believer, was present for this vision, as he had been for a number of the other visions at the Grotto. He observed Bernadette's every move. Holding her rosary in her left hand and a lighted candle in her right hand, he observed, "The child was just beginning to make the usual ascent on her knees when suddenly she stopped and, her right hand joining her left, the flame of the big candle passed between the fingers of the latter. Though fanned by a fairly strong breeze, the flame produced no effect upon the skin which it was touching. Astonished at this strange fact, I forbade anyone there to interfere – and taking my watch in my hand, I studied the phenomenon attentively for a quarter of an hour. At the end of this time Bernadette, still in her ecstasy, advanced to the upper part of the Grotto, separating her hands. The flame thus ceased to touch her left hand."
He continued in his description: “Bernadette finished her prayer and the splendour of the transfiguration left her face. She rose and was about to quit the Grotto when I asked her to show me her left hand. I examined it most carefully, but could not find the least trace of burning anywhere upon it. I then asked the person who was holding the candle to light it again and give it to me. I put it several times in succession under Bernadettes left hand but she drew it away quickly, saying ‘You are burning me!' I record this fact just as I have seen it without attempting to explain it. Many persons who were present at the time can confirm what I have said.”
A neighbour whose name was Julie Garros (who later joined Bernadette in the convent of Nevers as Sister Vincent) also witnessed this. She relates, “As the Apparition continued, the candle gradually slipped down so that the flame was playing on the inside of her hand”.
This vision came to be known as "The Miracle of the Candle."
It is important to note that Bernadette made her First Holy Communion following this vision, on the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, Thursday, June 3, 1858. She also that day received the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
On June 8, 1858, the mayor of Lourdes barricaded the grotto and stationed guards to prevent public access. Visitors were fined for kneeling near the grotto or talking about the grotto.
Above left is a photo of Bernadette ca. 1861.
Eighteen
The final Apparition occurred on Friday, July 16, 1858. Though barricaded, the Grotto was certainly visible from the bank of the Gave river. Bernadette knelt outside fence near the riverbank.
Of the experience that happened some distance from the Grotto, Bernadette said, "I thought I was at the Grotto, at the same distance as I was the other times. All I saw was Our Lady ... She was more beautiful than ever."
Thereafter, Bernadette did not feel compelled to visit the Grotto.
A few additional historical notes
The grotto reopened to the public in October 1858 by order of French Emperor Louis Napoleon III, this after he had been
convinced of the Grotto's importance through his son's healing by water from Lourdes. Sometime after the June 1858 barricading of the Grotto, Empress Eugenie, the devout Catholic wife of Louis Napoleon, having heard of miraculous healings occurring through Lourdes water, arranged to have their son's governess travel to Lourdes to collect Lourdes water to be used in her effort have her 2-year-old son, Louis-Napoleon, Prince Imperial, healed from tuberculosis. Though not documented as an "official" miracle healing, the child was, in fact, healed after Lourdes water was used. Empress Eugenie subsequently prevailed upon her husband, Emporer Louis Napoleon III, to have the barricades at the Lourdes Grotto removed later that year. Pictured right is the Bonaparte family, the Emperor Louis Napoleon III, his wife, Empress Eugenie, and their son, Louis-Napoleon, Prince Imperial.
After the last Apparition in 1858, Bernadette in 1861 became a boarder in the Hospice of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers in Lourdes to escape the publicity that continued to disrupt her life in the wake of the visions. She wished for anonymity and a life of quiet prayer. Bernadette is pictured left, with some of the sisters at the house. She was granted admission to the order's postulancy at the motherhouse in Nevers, France, in 1866, whereupon she took the name Sister Marie Bernarde. There, she lived the remainder of her life. In September 1878, Sister Marie Bernarde made her final vows. Despite physically suffering greatly, she was known and loved for her k.jpg)
indness, holiness, and humor. She died April 16, 1879, at the age of 35 years.
On 28th July 1858, twelve days after the last Apparition at Lourdes, the bishop of Lourdes launched a commission of enquiry into the supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Massabielle: the task would last four years, culminating, on 18th January 1862, in a Decree which officially recognized as valid the Apparitions at the Grotto in Lourdes.
The first chapel b
uilt at Lourdes, known today as "the Crypt," was completed in 1866. It was started by Abbé Peyramale and St. Bernadette's father worked on its construction. He was present at its official opening on Pentecost Sunday, 1866, as was Bernadette. At right is a photo of a chapel and reliquary of St. Bernadette in the Crypt.
Over the Crypt was constructed the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (pictured left), the most prominent feature of the Sanctuary of Lourdes skyline. Known also as the "Upper Basilica," it was consecrated in 1876. The sanctuary of the Basilica lies directly above the Grotto. The basilica's exterior is dominated by a 230-foot spire and two lesser spires completed in 1908.
A third basilica, the Rosary Basilica (also known as the Lower Basilica) was completed in 1899 and consecrated in 1901. It has a capacity for 1500 congregants, and its dome is capped with gilded crown and cross (pictured below right), gifted by the people of Ireland in 1924. The exterior façade of the Lower Basilica was modified in 2007 to include murals of the Luminous Mysteries, promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002.
At left is a photo of the organ in the Rosary Basilica. To this author, organs are an important part of any church edifice. 
Bernadette Soubirous was beatified in 1925 and canonized by Pope Pius XI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1933.
A fourth basilica, built entirely underground, the Basilica of St. Pius X, is situated across the Sanctuary of Notre Dame de Lourdes. It was consecrated in 1958, the centenary of the Apparitions. It can accommodate 25,000 congregants for Mass.
Lourdes Volunteers
Lourdes Volunteers is an organization, the mission of which is "to extend the invitation of the Immaculate Conception as given to Bernadette in the Grotto at Lourdes; to serve the sick and suffering at Lourdes and at home following the loving example of St. Bernadette in simplicity, humility and obedience."
The organization sponsors at least two pilgrimages for pilgrims living with disabilites to Lourdes annually, and has been doing so since 2002. Over 6700 have journeyed to Lourdes with North American Lourdes Volunteers since its founding. Lourdes Volunteers has organized over 230 guided volunteer and supportive care pilgrimages, including youth catechesis programs with service, orientation pilgrimages for medical professionals, and pilgrimages for supportive care pilgrims traveling to the Grotto in hope of finding healing and peace.
Below right is a morning gathering of pilgrims outside the dormitory, preparing for the day's excursion.
Though not officially recorded, vocations have also been fostered through experiences at Lourdes. In addition, established vocations - not only to the priesthood and religious life, but to marriage, as well, not to mention the bolstering of the individual vocational call to 
holiness we received at baptism. I witnessed this, and experienced it personally during my time there.
Pilgrimages are staffed by a volunteer team of organizational leaders, priests, and medical, lay, and youth volunteers. Volunteer-to-pilgrim ratios determine the number of volunteers. In most cases, pilgrimages are staff by priests at a ratio of one priest to 20-25 pilgrims to assure adequate opportunity for personal counsel, confessions, and spiritual direction. Likewise, medical personnel are staffed at a ratio of one physician and one nurse to 6-8 special needs pilgrims, to assure adequate medical attention during travel and during the stay at Lourdes.
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I had long wanted to do a medical mission trip. Never in my wildest dreams did it occur to me that the mission would take me to Lourdes. The French word, incroyable, (incredible!) comes to mind. The faith is palpable in Lourdes; while not everyone is physically healed, it is not unreasonable to say that nearly everyone experiences some aspect of spiritual healing. The soul, in its constant search for God, is flooded with love and light at every turn in Lourdes. One cannot escape the veritable tsunami of hope and healing. At left is a photo of pilgrims and their medical escorts assembling for Mass at the Grotto in the mid-week late morning.
Come to the December Serra Club General Membership Meeting and hear more about the experience of the mission trip to Lourdes accompanying pilgrims living with disabilities and chronic disease.
