It all started with Bernadette.
The oldest of nine children, Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was born in Moulin de Boly, France, on January 7, 1844, to François Soubirous and his wife Louise Casteròt.
An industrial accident in 1848 left François blind in one eye. His impaired vision took its toll on his work until he was forced to give up his position as a grain miller at the Boly Mill in Lourdes. When jobs were available, François worked as a day laborer, earning less than half his previous wage. Poverty quickly fell upon the Soubirous family. The situation became dire in 1854 when regional crop failures and a cholera outbreak swept through Southwestern France. Young Bernadette, a frail child at the best of times, almost died from cholera, and she was afflicted with permanent chronic asthma.
By May 1856, the Soubirous family became completely destitute, homeless, and out of options. It didn’t help that François gained the reputation of a thief after he was unjustly accused of stealing two bags of flour to feed his family. He was acquitted of the charge, but the label and stigma remained with him.
Good grief! This is one gloomy tale! Hang in there with me… It’s all part of the story and REAL stories aren’t all butterflies, rainbows, and unicorns.
A cousin, André Sajous, extended a helping hand and offered to let the Soubirous family move into an abandoned property he owned called “La Cachot.”
Thank goodness SOMEONE decided to help those people out!
Oh no! There is a reason no one lived at cousin André’s abandoned property. La Cachot literally means “the lockup” or “the dungeon.”
This particular 12ft x 12ft maison for the Soubirous family was in the cellar of an old jailhouse, which was permanently shut down in 1824 due to unsanitary conditions. (If it was THAT BAD in 1824, it must have been right off the Richter scale by 2024 health standards!)
The Soubirouses endured deplorable living conditions, made even more miserable by the assorted species of “vermin” that cohabited with them. UGH!
According to cousin André Sajous, “My wife often gave them a bit of bread made of millet. Yet the little ones never asked for anything. They would rather have starved."
They were real troopers! I sure wouldn’t be a happy camper under those circumstances.
On the morning of Thursday, February 11, 1858, La Cachot was bone-chilling cold and damp, and there was no end in sight to the icy winds that blew along the eastern slopes of the Pyrenees. The last piece of firewood was burned to a cinder in Cachot’s grimy soot-covered fireplace. Bernadette begged her mother for permission to go collect firewood, but Louise was not keen on her oldest daughter taking on the task. Although she was 14, Bernadette was a small girl, standing only 4’7” (1.4m) tall, with fragile health. Louise was rightfully concerned that increased exposure to the cold damp weather would elevate Bernadette’s risk of serious illness or trigger her asthma attacks. Still, Bernadette persisted until Louise acquiesced - provided she took her sister Toinette and her friend Jeanne Abadie with her. The three girls headed out to gather firewood along the banks of the Gave de Pau River on the outskirts of the town of Lourdes.
The following is Bernadette’s OWN ACCOUNT of the events that transpired on the fateful day in February 1858. My comments are noted by the bullet points and italics.
“The first time I went to the Grotto, was Thursday, 11th February, 1858. I went to gather firewood with two other little girls (Toinette, my sister, and Jeanne Abadie, nicknamed Balourn). When we got to the mill (of Savy), I asked the other two if they would like to see where the water of the mill joins the Gave. They said 'Yes.' From there we followed the canal. When we arrived there (at the foot of the rock of Massabielle) we found ourselves before a grotto. As they could go no further, my two companions prepared to cross the water lying before their path; so I found myself alone on the other side. They crossed the water; they started to cry. I asked them why and they told me that the water was cold. I begged them to help me throw a few rocks into the water so that I could cross without taking my stockings off. They replied that I could do as they had done. Then I went a bit further to see if I could cross without taking my stockings off, but without success."
In 1858 the “grotto” was an area with a cave on the outskirts of town that the people in Lourdes used as a dumping ground. It was also referred to as “the pig-sty” because the trash attracted pigs to the area. During inclement weather, the pigs went into the grotto for shelter. Between the refuse and the pigs, the area had a foul smell.
Bernadette didn’t want to cross cold water in her bare feet because she wanted to avoid getting a chill and risk jeopardizing her health.
"I came back towards the grotto and started taking off my stockings. I had hardly taken off the first stocking when I heard a sound like a gust of wind. Then I turned my head towards the meadow. I saw the trees quite still: I went on taking off my stockings. I heard the same sound again. As I raised my head to look at the grotto, I saw a Lady dressed in white, wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the chain of her rosary; the beads of the rosary were white."
"The Lady made a sign for me to approach; but I was seized with fear, and I did not dare, thinking that I was faced with an illusion. I rubbed my eyes, but in vain. I looked again, and I could still see the same Lady. Then I put my hand into my pocket, and took my rosary. I wanted to make the sign of the cross, but in vain; I could not raise my hand to my forehead, it kept on dropping. Then a violent impression took hold of me more strongly, but I did not go."
"The Lady took the rosary that she held in her hands and she made the sign of the cross. Then I commenced not to be afraid. I took my rosary again; I was able to make the sign of the cross; from that moment I felt perfectly undisturbed in mind. I knelt down and said my rosary, seeing this Lady always before my eyes. The Vision slipped the beads of her rosary between her fingers, but she did not move her lips. When I had said my rosary the Lady made a sign for me to approach, but I did not dare. I stayed in the same place. Then, all of a sudden, she disappeared.
I started to remove the other stocking to cross the shallow water near the grotto so as to join my companions. And we went away. As we returned, I asked my companions if they had seen anything. 'No,'; they replied. 'And what about you? Did you see anything?' 'Oh, no, if you have seen nothing, neither have I.' "
Taken from "Ecrits de Saint Bernadette"
Bernadette was illiterate in 1858 when she encountered the visions of the Lady at the Grotto of Massabielle. When she later learned to read and write, she recorded the details of all 18 experiences she had with the “Beautiful Lady” at the Grotto.
The above photo is the ONLY photo of Bernadette ever taken at the Grotto of Massabielle. Check out my Red Arrow in the upper right-hand corner. It appears to me that someone did some creative work on the photo, yet the same image is on EVERY copy I’ve been able to locate. Interesting. Did the photograph capture an apparition? Has it been photoshopped? Or is it just the way the light falls on the rock? Let me know what your thoughts are.
It is hardly surprising that Bernadette’s visions were met with hostility and skepticism. Even her own family did not believe her. However, by virtue of association, they too, were targeted with ridicule and scorn. Church, legal, and medical authorities subjected Bernadette to grueling interrogations and investigative proceedings. She was constantly told she was insane, delusional, hallucinating, and lying.
Although Bernadette was completely surrounded by skeptics, the number of people who followed her to the Grotto when she went to meet with the “Beautiful Lady” increased noticeably. On February 25, 1858, 350 curious onlookers accompanied her to the Grotto, most hoping to get a first-hand glimpse of the “Beautiful Lady” themselves. Instead, they became appalled and disgusted as they watched Bernadette behaving in a completely bizarre manner!
On all fours, Bernadette crawled backward out of the Grotto in the mud. Her face was so plastered with mud that it was hardly recognizable. She pulled a clump of turf from the ground with her teeth and at the grass.
Was she delusional? Or did she have Mad Cow Disease?
The people of Lourdes were not impressed with Bernadette’s cow impersonation. The headlines in the local newspaper the next day stated, “The gullible have been well and truly had… Bernadette’s real place should be in the asylum.”
Although she was small in stature, she was mighty in her faith. She resolutely withstood all the bad publicity and ill will that was heaped upon her. The following is Bernadette’s OWN ACCOUNT of the event:
“(The Lady) told me that I should go and drink at the fountain and wash myself. Seeing no fountain I went to drink at the Gave[River]. She said it was not there; she pointed with her finger that I was to go in under the rock. I went, and I found a puddle of water which was more like mud, and the quantity was so small that I could hardly gather a little in the hollow of my hand. Nevertheless I obeyed, and started scratching the ground; after doing that I was able to take some. The water was so dirty that three times I threw it away. The fourth time I was able to drink it. She made me eat grass growing in the same place where I had drunk; once only; I do not know why. Then the Vision disappeared and I went home."
By the following day, February 26, 1858, a steady stream of water flowed from the grotto - no stream existed there before Bernadette’s vision. Many of the people who condemned her the previous day, now stood in awe of her and believed she truly was seeing a divine vision. They were seeing her in a completely different light and singing a different tune!
The stream at the Grotto of Massabielle has flowed continually since February 25, 1858.
27,000 gallons of water flow from the spring every day!
People from all over the world travel to Lourdes, France to pray and seek healing at the Grotto of Massabielle and the water that flows from Bernadette’s spring.
Meanwhile back at cousin André’s condemned dungeon La Cachot… Bernadette’s family still lived in abject poverty. The townspeople showered her with money and offered to help the family, but they refused to accept any of it. Bernadette was committed to a life of service and preferred to have no worldly wealth.
By the beginning of March, news about Bernadette’s visions spread all over France, prompting people to flock to Lourdes in hopes of getting a first-hand glimpse of the Lady of the Grotto of Massabielle. On March 4, 1858, several thousand people, including an entire military garrison in full dress uniform, accompanied Bernadette to the Grotto. Although the “Beautiful Lady” appeared, no one saw her except the young peasant girl. However, the large crowd was totally awe-struck by the transfiguration and stunning radiance they witnessed in Bernadette. There was not a shred of doubt that she was able to see and hear something ecstatically ethereal.
Although they did not want to admit it, the authorities charged with the oversight of Bernadette’s case were slowly conceding to the possibility that she was seeing something genuine. Still, they remained skeptical as the apparition was not identifying herself. Furthermore, The Lady began telling Bernadette she wanted a chapel to be built around the Grotta of Massabielle. The church authorities conveyed the message back to the “Beautiful Lady” they needed to know who she was before they would undertake a large project like that! The Lady was in no hurry to reveal her identity.
During the 16th vision on Thursday, March 25, 1858, the “Beautiful Lady” told Bernadette her name was “The Immaculate Conception.”
This was a name for the Virgin Mary that the Church Leadership had agreed upon in 1854, although it was not known to the general population. Bernadette had absolutely no way of knowing this information. Furthermore, in July 1858, she was still illiterate. Church Leaders were stunned by the proclamation that the apparition was “The Immaculate Conception.”
On March 25, 1858, “The Immaculate Conception” AGAIN gave Bernadette the directive that a chapel needed to be built on the site of the Grotto and that a procession should be formed. (“Form a procession” likely referred to making the chapel and the grotto available to anyone who wanted to visit them.)
The “Beautiful Lady” appeared to Bernadette for the 18th and final time on Friday, July 16, 1858.
"We judge that Mary Immaculate, Mother of God, really appeared to Bernadette on the 11th February, 1858 ..."
— Mgr. Laurence, Bishop of Tarbes, Jan. 18, 1862
Bernadette became a Sister of Notre Dame Convent at Nevers, France in 1866. The following portrait of Bernadette was sold at Lourdes to raise funds for the construction of the Basilica of Lourdes.
Marie Bernadette Soubirous died of tuberculosis at age 35 on April 16, 1879.
On December 8, 1933, Pope Pius XI canonized St. Bernadette of Lourdes after authenticating her visions. St. Bernadette’s miraculously incorrupt body can be viewed in the Chapel of Saint Gidard at the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, France.
The Basilica of Lourdes now receives over 6 million people per year, and 200 million people have visited the Grotto of Massabielle and the Basilica to date. The Roman Catholic Church has officially recognized 70 miracles that have taken place at the Grotto of Massabielle, and thousands of additional miracles have not been “officially” reported.
Back to the very beginning...
It all started with Bernadette.
What started with Bernadette?
Well… yes, I have been to Lourdes and I have seen the Grotto of Massabielle. No, I wasn’t looking for a miracle. I was a regular, average snoopy tourist.
No, I’m not a Roman Catholic. This piece was written because…
It all started with Bernadette.
To be continued…..