St Bernadette of Lourdes

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Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was a miller’s daughter born in Lourdes, France. She was said to have had witnessed the virgin Mary appearing to her, which resulted in her becoming a saint and Lourdes becoming a sacred place. According to the story, when Bernadette, who could not read or write and who barely passed her religious education classes, asked the lady her name, she responded, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The faithful believed her to be the Virgin Mary, and she is said to have appeared to Bernadette 18 times. The Roman Catholic Church recognized Lourdes as a holy place in 1862 and Bernadette’s visions of Mary in a cave as authentic. Saint Bernadette was canonized in 1933, as patron of the sick, and Lourdes emerged as one of the premier pilgrimage sites in the world. People from all walks of life, many of them using wheelchairs and canes, come to be healed by water that flows from a spring dug by Bernadette herself, or to help those who are seriously ill and in need of assistance during their pilgrimage. The water is believed to be blessed with healing properties. Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest, writer, and authority on Lourdes who has visited the town many times, says what interests him are the communal aspects of the pilgrimage experience and the healing aspects of the place. In addition to Mary, he says, “it’s the character of Bernadette that draws me. She was completely uninterested in impressing people. She was very authentic. She wanted to tell her story with no personal gain, and that is the mark of a true

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