43 Bernadette Soubirous Facts: Who Was She And What Did She Do?

Bernadette Soubirous, better known as the Saint of Lourdes was a little girl who at a young age of 14 saw Marian Apparitions.

This peasant girl hailing from Lourdes, France, claimed to have had visions of a 'small young girl' near the grotto of Massabielle.

Later examinations and testimonies found that her visions were possibly true and she was canonized as Saint Bernadette Soubirous as a saint by Pope Pius XI of the Roman Catholic Church in 1933, roughly 64 years after her death.

Bernadette had experienced a total of 18 visions between February and July 1858. Through the 18 visions of the holy virgin experienced by Bernadette, she faced a lot of struggle in the town she lived.

While some believed her to be true, others did not agree. In fact, some people also called her mentally ill and demanded that she be sent to a mental asylum.

Her own parents did not believe her and tried to stop her from visiting the grotto of Massabielle where she saw all the apparitions. After her 13th vision, Bernadette informed that the apparition whom she referred to as aquero (meaning 'that' in Gascon Occitan) asked her to build a chapel and form a procession.

It was only after experiencing the visions 16-17 times that the young lady told Bernadette her name as the Immaculate Conception.

After reading all about St Bernadette's life, also check Benjamin Banneker facts and Benjamin Disraeli facts.

Bernadette Soubirous's Descendants

Bernadette, having devoted her life to God, becoming a nun did not have any direct descendants. She was outlived by a couple of her siblings, of whom very little is known.

Bernadette died at the young age of 35 due to her long history of frailty, poor health, and illness. As a child she had contracted cholera, leaving her with chronic asthma from which she suffered throughout her life.

Towards the end of her life, she even caught tuberculosis of the bones and lungs, which even deprived her of participating in daily activities. She died in April 1879 in the church, while laying in bed and praying her rosary.

Her last words are reported to be a prayer to Mary, asking the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God to pray for a poor sinner like her to achieve penance.

Initially, Bernadette (who was named Marie Bernarde by the mother superior at that time, in honor of Bernadette’s godmother) was buried at Saint Gildard Convent.

The church exhumed her body in 1909 through Bishop Gauthey of Nevers, and some representatives, doctors, and a sister from the communion, and it is said that while the rosary and cross in Bernadette’s hands had oxidized, her body seemed incorrupt, meaning that it did not decompose like all other bodies that are buried.

This discovery of her body being preserved acted as a driving force granting her canonization and becoming Saint Bernadette. Her body was cleaned and reclothed and buried again in a double casket.

The body was exhumed two more times after that, once in 1919, on the day of the approval of her canonization, and was examined by Doctor Comte; and once in 1925 when certain relics were taken to be sent to Rome.

Doctor Comte later in a published piece in Bulletin de I’ Association Medicale de Notre Dame de Lourdes mentioned that he wanted to open the thorax and take out the Saint’s heart and ribs which he believed would be in good condition to send as relics.

While not much is known about her siblings who outlived her, there are a lot of Bernadette Soubirous facts that we need to understand.

Bernadette Soubirous Movie

Several movies have been made in honor of Bernadette Soubirous. These movies depict the life of Bernadette Soubirous.

In 1943, the movie The Song of Bernadette became the first movie depicting the life of the Saint of Lourdes. This movie was based on a book written by Franz Werfel in 1941, sharing the same title. Jennifer Jones portrayed Bernadette. This movie became the most popular of all others which were made on the life of Bernadette.

The Song of Bernadette novel, on which the film is based, is not a biography or documentary. It is in fact a fusion of fact and fiction, with certain characters’ traits and beliefs and life stories made up or exaggerated than the reality.

The movie, unlike the novel, ends with the death of Bernadette and does not depict her canonization and exhumation of her body.

Many other movies like 'St. Bernadette of Lourdes'; 'The Passion of Bernadette', 'Lourdes', 'The Miracle of Lourdes' have also been made in English and in French to honor one of the great Saints of Christianity.

Bernadette Soubirous's Parents

Not much is known about Bernadette Soubirous’s parents, however, what is known gives an insight into the kind of life and struggles the family and perhaps the people of that time used to face.

Bernadette Soubirous was born in Hautes Pyrenees, Lourdes on January 7, 1844. Bernadette's father was a miller Francois Soubirous and her mother was a laundress named Louise.

Her parents’ anniversary on January 9 became the day she was baptized. Her mother’s sister, Bernarde Casterot, became her godmother.

Inspirational Facts About Bernadette Soubirous

The life that Bernadette led, was not an easy one. Having been born in a poverty-stricken home, getting infected by the cholera epidemic which was widespread at the time, Bernadette suffered asthma all her life.

Her poverty can also be attributed as the primary reason for her always being a fragile and sickly child, She lost a lot of her siblings at a very young age, some died at birth, some soon after birth. Despite being through trying times, Bernadette devoted her life to a higher cause.

It was her grit that serves as an inspiration to many.

While her parents and some townspeople thought she was lying or in a state of mental ill-health, Bernadette stuck to her belief and visited the grotto every day for a fortnight (which became known as the Holy fortnight "la Quinzaine sacrée") as she claimed to have been instructed by the apparition, even though her parents asked Bernadette to not go.

Her requests to a local priest to build the chapel as asked by the lady in her visions, led to multiple chapels and churches being constructed in Lourdes, making it now one of the biggest pilgrimage sites of the believers. It is known as The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Her faith was very strong and Bernadette knew what she believed in.

While the examinations by the church authorities of the water from the spring which allegedly cured people who were otherwise considered incurable were being conducted; no special elements apart from high quantities of minerals were found in them, which could be credited for the miraculous cures.

It was at this point that Bernadette remarked that the water is only helpful in the presence of faith.

It is the faith that cures the people and without it, the water would be of no help.

Her humility is evidenced by the fact that since her visions were confirmed authentic in 1860, she started getting a lot of attention, and to escape this attention, Bernadette moved to become a nun and lead a convent life with her first communion.

She joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers in their hospice school and learned how to read and write.

While she never claimed that the apparition in her daily visions was the Blessed Virgin Mary, She described the young girl as wearing a white-colored veil, with a blue sash and a yellow rose on each foot, which was a description of any statue of the Virgin Mary present in the town.

Bernadette gained Sainthood and was declared Saint Bernadette Soubirous in 1921 by Pope Pius XI.

She spent her last years following a holy life of religious habit in a local parish church, with holy communion and a parish priest, devoting her life wholly to the Holy Virgin, considering herself as a poor sinner, she stuck to her belief in penance and asked Holy Mary to grant her wish upon death.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Bernadette Soubirous facts then why not take a look at Benjamin Rush facts, or Bernard Montgomery facts.