† Lourdes, France - 1858 †
        † Thur, Feb. 11: Accompanied by her sister and a friend, Bernadette went to Massabielle on the banks of the Gave to collect dead wood. Removing her socks in order to cross the stream, she heard a noise like a gust of wind, she looked up towards the Grotto : "I SAW A LADY DRESSED IN WHITE, SHE WORE A WHITE DRESS, AN EQUALLY WHITE VEIL, A BLUE BELT AND A YELLOW ROSE ON EACH FOOT." Bernadette made the Sign of the Cross and said the Rosary with the lady. When the prayer ended the Lady suddenly vanished.

        † Sun, Feb. 14: Bernadette felt an inner force drawing her to the Grotto in spite of the fact that she was forbidden to go there by her parents. At her insistence, her mother allowed her; after the first decade of the rosary, she saw the same lady appearing. She shook holy water at her. The lady smiled and bent her head. When the Rosary ended she disappeared.

        † Thur, Feb. 18: For the first time, the lady speaks. Bernadette holds out a pen and paper asking her to write her name. She replies ; "It is not necessary", and she adds : "I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the other. Would you be kind enough to come here for a fortnight ?"

        † Fri, Feb. 19: For this meeting with Our Lady, Bernadette comes to the Grotto with a lighted blessed candle. This is origin of carrying candles and lighting them in front of the Grotto.

        † Tues, Feb. 23: Surrounded by 150 persons, Bernadette arrives at the Grotto. The Apparition reveals to her a secret "ONLY FOR HER ALONE".

        † Wed, Feb. 24: The message of the Lady : "Penance ! Penance ! Penance ! Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners ! "


Bernadette Soubirous

        † Thur, Feb. 25: Three hundred people are present. Bernadette relates ; "SHE TOLD ME TO GO, DRINK OF THE SPRING (...) I ONLY FOUND A LITTLE MUDDY WATER. AT THE FOURTH ATTEMPT I WAS ABLE TO DRINK. SHE ALSO MADE ME EAT THE HERBS THAT WERE FOUND NEAR THE SPRING, THEN THE VISION LEFT AND WENT AWAY." In front of the crowd that was asking "DO YOU THINK THAT SHE IS MAD DOING THINGS LIKE THAT ? " she responded ; "IT IS FOR SINNERS." - Afterwards, a spring flows from that very spot, from which many healings occur.

        † Sat. Feb. 27: Eight hundred people are present. The Apparition is silent. Bernadette drinks the water from the spring and carries out her usual acts of penance.

        † Sun, Feb. 28: Over one thousand people are present at the ecstasy. Bernadette prays, kisses the ground and moves on her knees as a sign of penance. She is then taken to the house of Judge Ribes who threatens her with prison.

        † Mon, Mar. 1: Over one thousand five hundred people assemble and among them, for the first time, a priest. In the night, Catherine Latapie, a friend from Lourdes, goes to the Grotto, she plunges her dislocated arm into the water of the Spring : her arm and her hand regain their movement.

        † Tue, Mar. 2: The crowd becomes larger and larger. The Lady asks her: "Go, tell the priests to come here in procession and to build a chapel here." Bernadette tells this to Fr. Peyramale, the Parish Priest of Lourdes. He wants to know the Lady's name.

        † Wed, Mar. 3: At 7:00 in the morning, in the presence of three thousand people, Bernadette arrives at the Grotto, but the vision does not appear! After school, she hears the inner invitation of the Lady. She goes to the Grotto and asks her again for her name. The response is a smile. The Parish Priest tells her again: "If the Lady really wishes that a chapel be built, then she must tell us her name."

        † Thu, Mar. 25: For 20 days Bernadette did not go to the Grotto, because during that time, she no longer felt the irresistible invitation. On this day however, the vision finally reveals her name. Bernadette recounts ; "SHE LIFTED UP HER EYES TO HEAVEN, JOINED HER HANDS AS THOUGH IN PRAYER, HER HANDS THAT WERE HELD OUT AND OPEN TOWARDS THE GROUND, AND SAID TO ME: I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION." The young visionary leaves running and repeating continuously the words that she did not understand. These words troubled the brave Parish Priest. Bernadette was ignorant of the fact that this theological expression was assigned to the Blessed Virgin.- Four years earlier, in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared this a truth of the Catholic Faith.


Today, Bernadette lies incorruptable at the Chapel of St. Gildard, at Nevers

        † Thu, Jul. 16: The Last Appiration - Bernadette receives the mysterious call to the Grotto, but her way is blocked and closed off by a barrier. She thus, arrives across from the Grotto on the other side of the Gave. "I FELT THAT I WAS IN FRONT OF THE GROTTO, AT THE SAME DISTANCE AS BEFORE, I SAW ONLY THE BLESSED VIRGIN, NEVER WAS SHE MORE BEAUTIFUL! "