BernardeMarie(Bernadette)Soubirous
Daughter of Francois Soubirous and Louise Castérot
Sister of Jean Soubirous and Marie Antoinette Soubirous
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Profile last modified | Created 12 May 2013
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Bernadette Soubirous is Notable.
Bernarde Marie (called Bernadette) was born on 7 January 1844 in Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées, France). [1] She was the daughter of François Soubirous and Louise Castérot, a family of millers, living at the Boly mill in Lourdes. Bernadette had siblings: Marie Antoinette called Toinette (1846-1892), Jean-Marie (1851-1919), Justin (1855-1865) and Bernard-Pierre (1859-1931). [2]
When the watermills began to disappear, it was the start of industrialization. Money was running out at the mill. The Soubirous family got into debt like many others. In 1854, with their children, François and Louise left the Boly mill. They moved home several times, each time smaller until they lived for free in one dark and unsanitary room in the city's old prison, "le Cachot". [2]
For the Soubirous it was a chain of misery and Bernadette had very poor health, and suffered from asthma (which will bother her all her life). She was one of the children who, at that time in France, could not read or write because they had to work. She was sometimes educated temporarily in the class of poor little girls of the Hospice of Lourdes run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. [2]
On 11 February 1858, Bernadette left the Cachot with her sister and a friend to fetch wood for heating in the cave of Massabielle, on the banks of the Gave. As she picked up the wood, she witnessed a first apparition. Bernadette did not say to have seen the Virgin before affirming to have heard her say "Que sòi era Immaculada Concepcion", meaning "I am the Immaculate Conception". She did not reveal her name until 25 March. This was the 16th apparition to Bernadette. People began to come to Massabielle on pilgrimage. Bernadette was then received at the Hospice of Lourdes. In 1864, she decided to become a nun. [2]
In 1866, she left for Nevers, to spend her life with the Sisters of Charity. She took the name Soeur Marie Bernard. During her 13 years in Nevers, she led a very simple life with the nuns. Bernadette was a nurse's aide, head of the infirmary and sacristan. And she acted as a patient herself most often (with pulmonary tuberculosis and a tumor in her knee causing her pain). And despite that, she was still happy and there for others. [2]
She died on 16 April 1879, at the age of 35. [3]
She was canonized and declared a Saint on 8 December 1933. [2]
See also:
Thanks to Clare Mccann for starting this profile.