On 7th January 1844, there was born at the Boly Mill in Lourdes, a girl child to Francois and Louise Soubirous, a poor family of millers.
She was named Bernadette and was the first of four children. The family had a difficult time trying to survive the numerous vicissitudes of life. These included an accident in which her mother was burned when she was but a few months old and she was sent to the home of a foster mother, Marie Lagües at the village of Bartrés. Marie had lost her own firstborn and was able to suckle the baby and return her to her natural mother after 18 months, though she was never to be a strong and healthy child.
When she was 10, hard times hit the family and they had to seek cheaper accommodation. Francois became a labourer, finding work wherever he could and Bernadette looked after the younger children whilst her mother found domestic and farm work.
In 1855 a cholera epidemic broke out in Lourdes which left Bernadette in permanent ill health as an asthma sufferer. Francois was able to buy another mill with the money left by Louise's mother, but he was no businessman and within a year became bankrupt. The family soon moved to the Cachot, part of an old gaol, described as a 'foul and sombre hovel' with one tiny room in which 6 people had to live, feed and sleep. After a few months, Bernadette was sent again to Bartrés to work as a maid and shepherdess. To complete the family misery, Francois had been falsely imprisoned for theft and their fortunes had never been at a lower ebb. Whilst at Bartrés, Bernadette began to learn the catechism in preparation for her first communion. She had a rosary, which her younger sister had bought for her, and could recite it, though she had no formal schooling, but the first glimmer of a religious faith had begun to come to her.
Bernadette returned to her family in Lourdes in January of 1858. She was now past her 14th birthday and helped to run the home, such as it was. On the morning of 11th February she discovered that there was no wood for the fire and set out with her sister Toinette-Marie and a friend Jeanne Abadie, to collect some. They came eventually to the grotto known as Massabielle by the river Gave. Carved out of the rock face and washed by a mill stream which came between it and the river, the grotto was a favourite haunt for childrens' adventures. Her two companions had crossed the stream and were in the grotto but Bernadette was slower and still on the other side of the mill stream when she heard a gust of wind and she saw that it was rustling the bushes at the foot of the grotto. Then there was a gentle light and the appearance of a smile coming through a mist. Gradually there appeared a most beautiful girl, dressed all in white and holding a rosary. The apparition smiled and opened her hands in a gesture of welcome, and made the sign of a cross. Bernadette reached for her rosary and recited it. The vision likewise fingered her rosary beads but did not speak, before she finally disappeared. In spite of her confused state, Bernadette could remember every detail of what she had seen and reported it to her companions who, though they had seen nothing, could see that she had been deeply affected. In spite of her remonstrations, the story was repeated at home and the young girl was ordered not to return to the grotto. She did not do so for three days, though in the meantime repeated her story in church at confession.
On February 14th, a Sunday, Bernadette determined to return to the grotto and obtained the grudging permission of her father. Accompanied by a number of other children - for her story had now got around - she went this time to the cliff above the grotto and descended the steep and slippery path and knelt in prayer at its foot. As she recited the rosary, the vision appeared once more. Bernadette was in a trance and her appearance frightened her friends who ran away and it took a very strong man, owner of a nearby mill, to remove the inert body of this tiny waif.
Over the next two days public interest in the strange phenomena the girl had seen began to grow, though most people were sure she was either lying or having dreams. Some even thought she might be possessed of a devil, but in spite of the abuse hurled at her, Bernadette returned again to the grotto on the 18th. The vision appeared again. Bernadette, at the behest of some women, asked her to write down her name. 'It is not necessary' said the vision and asked - 'will you have the graciousness to come here for fifteen days?' She spoke in the local patois of the Lourdes area, in what Bernadette later described as a sweet and delicate voice. And her parting words to Bernadette were to prove significant - 'I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next'.
On each of the next three days, the vision again appeared. Bernadette was accompanied by a number of adults - up to 100 on the 21st, but the vision did not speak and no-one but Bernadette saw her. There followed days of enquiry and inquisition but no-one could shake the girls' story. On the 22nd there was no appearance, but on the 23rd the 'Lady' appeared again in silence. On the following day, followed by a crowd now grown to around 300, the vision, in her 8th apparition, asked Bernadette to kiss the ground as a penitence for sinners.
Thursday 25th February was a day of great significance. People were now arriving at the grotto each day as early as 2am to get a good view as the penitent Bernadette approached the grotto on her knees and kissed the ground in accordance with the previous day's instruction. 'Go drink at the spring and wash yourself in it' said the apparition. Bernadette was puzzled as she saw no spring, but she scraped away at the soil where the 'Lady' was pointing and found a little muddy water. Later in the day some people returned to the scene and found the small trickle of muddy water had grown in size. As they scraped away at the source, the water became clearer and developed into a stream. They drank from it and washed themselves, somehow feeling that there must be a healing quality in such a miraculously discovered source. The same evening Bernadette was interrogated by the Imperial Prosecutor but he found her impossible to break in spite of threats of jail and orders not to return to the grotto. The populace were by this time supporting Bernadette and authority could find no means of stopping her without making itself look stupid. On the 26th she went again to the grotto, with a crowd of several hundred in attendance, but there was no appearance.
On the 27th, the 'Lady' made her 10th appearance and she came again the next day with Bernadette carrying out her penitence on her knees, as she explained, 'for myself and for others'. March 1st saw 15,000 people at the grotto and a considerable police presence needed to control the crowds, which this time included a priest, unaware that the Dean, Peyramale; had forbidden the clergy to go. What he saw greatly impressed him and led to the Church at last beginning to take the matter seriously. The 'Lady' appeared but said nothing. But on this day there occurred the first miracle of Lourdes - a woman heavily pregnant and suffering from a paralysed hand after a fall, dipped her fingers in the water coming from the spring and found them suddenly opening and supple.
The following day, Tuesday 2nd March, the vision made her 13th appearance and this time there was a command - 'Go and tell the Priests that I wish a Chapel to be built and processions to come here', a request she repeated the following day. The message was conveyed by Bernadette to Fr Peyramale, who was confused and could not decide whether to take the girl seriously. He played for time, 'You must ask her to state her name' he told Bernadette. The following day there came the 15th appearance - this was the final day of the 15 She had asked Bernadette to come. There was a huge crowd, but they saw nothing except Bernadette go into an ecstasy. But now the crowds were following Bernadette wherever she went, wanting to touch her and offer money and gifts - all of which she firmly rejected. There were stories of miracle cures - of a blind girl who had been embraced by Bernadette and a boy who could not close his mouth. Neither cure was later substantiated.
There the story might well have ended, with public curiosity dying down and life returning to the normal for the Soubirous family. But on the morning of March 25th, Bernadette felt an inexplicable but irrestible urge to return again to the Grotto. The vision appeared, Bernadette again asked her to reveal her identity. 'I am the Immaculate Conception' came the staggering reply. By now, the Grotto had become a place of pilgrimage. Thousands came every day to pray and many to take the water in the hope of cure for some ailment or other. Bernadette herself had withdrawn from public life in order to protect herself from the frenzy of the crowds, though on April 7th (the Wednesday of Easter week) she again felt drawn to the Grotto and saw the 'Lady' for the 17th time. Now barriers had been set up to prevent access to the Grotto, but each time they were torn down by the crowd, and the authorities were at a loss to know how to cope with the situation. There were many reports of cures; there were constant prayers and devotions, services and processions, and offerings were left at the Grotto. The Church was still being ambivalent,...
