Young Bernadette Soubirous was an illiterate and very poor peasant girl of 14 living in the little unknown town of Lourdes when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her 18 times in 1858. The humble visionary reported the messages from Heaven with consistent accuracy to government and Church officials. She lived her simple life in seclusion and away from notoriety at Lourdes for eight years following the apparitions.

Bernadette entered religious life as a Sister of Charity at Nevers in 1866. It was during her remaining years at St. Gildard Convent that she lived her life of penance to holiness and sanctity dying in 1879. She remains incorrupt at the convent located about 500 miles northeast of Lourdes where pilgrims can visit for a few hours or enjoy an extended stay for retreat at the convent.

 For more about the life of Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, please visit the Official Lourdes Sanctuary website. For more about St. Bernadette at Nevers, please visit the Official website of Nevers. Be sure to click on the English flag at the bottom for the English translation.

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