Lourdes, France
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Summary |
| Jan 7, 1844 |
Bernadette Soubirous is born the first of four children in a financially ruined family from a small town in the Pyrenees mountains in France. She was the eldest of six children of Francis Soubirous and Louise Caserot. |
| Feb 11, 1858 |
Bernadette first encounters Our Lady in a golden cloud and prays a Rosary in her presence at the grotto. Her sister Marie told their mother all about the incident and her mother forbade Bernadette from returning to the grotto. |
| Feb 14, 1858 |
Bernadette and her sisters finally persuade her mother to let her return to the grotto. She encounters the Virgin again but the commotion the other children cause makes her mother inclined not to let her return |
| Feb 18, 1858 |
Two influential ladies, Madame Milhet and
her seamstress, Antoinette Peyret, request a visit to the grotto
with Bernadette in order to obtain the name of the appearing woman.
Our Lady asked her to come another 15 times and promised her happiness
not in this world but the next. |
| Feb 19, 1858 |
Bernadette's mother accompanies her to the grotto. |
Feb 20, 1858 |
The Lady teaches Bernadette a secret prayer which she recited the rest of her life. |
| Feb 21, 1858 |
Bernadette is accompanied by large crowds and in particular, Dr. Pierre-Romaine Dozous, the town's most eminent doctor. He evaluates her conditions and announces that there is no indication of "nervous excitement". |
| Feb 22, 1858 |
Despite being told she was imagining everything by the imperial procurator and being called a liar by the police who threatened to imprison her, Bernadette shows up at the grotto but does not encounter Our Lady. |
| Feb 23, 1858 |
Our Lady appears to Bernadette and gives her "three wonderful secrets" which have never been revealed. |
| Feb 24, 1858 |
Our Lady stresses "Penitence" at the next apperance. |
| Feb 25, 1858 |
Bernadette is commanded to bathe in and drink from the fountain. Since there was no fountain there, Bernadette digs up some gravel and reveals a pond which she then drinks from and washes her face. This stream instantly becomes a source of healing for visitors to the grotto. |
Feb 26, 1858 |
Bernadette is asked to "kiss the ground on behalf of sinners". |
| Feb 27, 1858 |
Bernadette is asked to tell the clergy that they should build a chapel at the grotto. |
Mar 1, 1858 |
Bernadette is told that the people should come in procession to the chapel. |
| Mar 4, 1858 |
Twenty-thousand people gather at the apparition site. No sign is performed despite the request of the parish priest, Abbe Peyramale, to have a rosebush bloom in winter. |
| Mar 25, 1858 |
On the Feast of the Annunciation, Our Lady identifies herself: "Que soy era Immaculado Conceptiou" ("I am the Immaculate Conception") |
Apr 7, 1858 |
Dr. Dozous observes Bernadette putting her hand through the flame of a candle without feeling pain or getting burned during ecstacy. |
| Jul 16, 1858 |
Bernadette receives a final invitation to meet the Lady at the Grotto. |
| July 4, 1858 |
Bernadette sees the Lady for the final (18th) time. |
1858 |
Bernadette goes to study at a hospice run by the Sisters of Nevers. |
| July 18, 1858 |
An investigative commission is established. |
Jan 18, 1862 |
The Bishop of the Diocese of Tarbes declares the apparitions to be authentic. |
| July 4, 1866 |
Bernadette leaves Lourdes for the final time to join the Sisters of Nevers. She is given the name of Sister Mary Bernard and worked there as sacristan and avoided publicity as best she could. She referred to herself as "a broom which Our Lady used, but now I have been put back in my corner." |
1876 |
The Basilica at Lourdes was consecrated. |
April 16, 1879 |
Bernadette dies at age 35 and is buried in St. Gildard Convent in Nevers. |
1890 |
The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was established for February 11 approved by Pope Leo XIII and first granted to the Diocese of Tarbes in the year |
Nov 13, 1907 |
Pope St. Pius X proclaimed that it be observed throughout the universal Church. |
| 1925 |
Her body is exhumed and found to be incorrupt. She was beatified in 1925 by Pope Pius X |
Dec 8, 1933 |
Bernadette is canonized a saint by Pope Pius X on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. |
Sept 12-15, 2008 |
Pope Benedict XVI makes a pilgrimage to the Lourdes for the 150th Anniversary of the apparitions. Homily |
Description of the Virgin
"She has the appareance of a young girl of sixteen or seventeen.
She is dressed in a white robe, girdled at the waist with a blue ribbon,
which flows down all along her robe. She wears upon her head a veil which
is also white; this veil gives just a glimpse of her hair then falls down
at the back below her below her waist. Her feet are bare but covered by
the last folds of her robe except at the point where a yellow rose shines
upon each of them. She holds on her right arm a Rosary of white beads
with a chain of gold shining like the two roses on her feet."
Miracles and Signs
In 1859, Professor Vergez of the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier
was appointed to examine the cures. Seven cures were recorded before 1862
promoting the argument for the recognition of the Apparitions by Bishop
Laurence. Over 5,000 cures have been documented at the waters
of Lourdes. The Church has vigorously investigated and validated 67 of them.
Approval
After a 4 year investigation commission the bishop of the Diocese of Tarbes declared on January
18, 1962: " We judge that Mary Immaculate, Mother of God, really
appeared to Bernadette Soubirous on February 11, 1858, and on subsequent
days, eighteen times in all. The faithful are justified in believing this
to be certain."
The Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes is February 4th.
Prayers
O Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, you are the
refuge of sinners, the health of the sick, and the comfort of the
afflicted. You know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. By your
appearance at the Grotto of Lourdes you made it a privileged sanctuary
where your favors are given to people streaming to it from the whole
world. Over the years countless sufferers have obtained the cure for
their infirmities -- whether of soul, mind, or body. Therefore I come to
you with limitless confidence to implore your motherly intercession.
Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests. Through gratitude for
Your favors, I will endeavor to imitate Your virtues, that I may one
day share in Your glory. Amen.
August 15, 2004 - By John Paul II
Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman,
Blessed by the Most High!
Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era,
We join in your song of praise,
to celebrate the Lord’s mercy,
to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom
and the full liberation of humanity.
Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord,
Glorious Mother of Christ!
Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word,
Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word,
and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit,
attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience
and to his manifestations in the events of history.
Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows,
Mother of the living!
Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve,
Be our guide along the paths of the world.
Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ,
to stand with you before the innumerable crosses
on which your Son is still crucified.
Hail Mary, woman of faith,
First of the disciples!
Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always
to account for the hope that is in us,
with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love.
Teach us to build up the world beginning from within:
in the depths of silence and prayer,
in the joy of fraternal love,
in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.
Holy Mary, Mother of believers,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
pray for us.