Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

On February 11th 1858, a 14 year old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, saw the first of what would be 18 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at a grotto in Lourdes, France. Over the course of these apparitions, The Lady (Bernadette did not know who she was at first) instructed Bernadette to dig a spring from the dirt nearby, to wash in the muddy water and drink it, and to eat of an herb that grew there, as an act of penance. This Lady also told Bernadette that a chapel should be built at the site, and, prayer and penance were a dearly needed focus. Bernadette finally learned, during the 16th apparition, that this Lady was The Immaculate Conception.

The spring, which still flows today, eventually ran clear and became the source of many miracles. 72 miraculous cures have been recorded from this source by the Lourdes Medical Bureau. There are now a number of Chapels and Churches at Lourdes, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes has been a major Catholic pilgrimage site for millions of people around the world.

As for St. Bernadette Soubirous, she removed herself from a life of recognition, and after many years spent as a religious, she died suffering from a long term illness of tuberculosis of the lungs and bones, at the age of 35, while praying the Holy Rosary.  The incorrupt body of St. Bernadette lies in the sanctuary in the ancient convent in Nevers, where she lived for 13 years as a Sister of Charity.