St. Bernadette Soubirous
Feast day: April 16
Born in Lourdes, France, in 1844, St. Bernadette Soubirous suffered from severe asthma and lived in abject poverty. In 1858, she was granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a cave on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. A spring emerged from the cave, and the waters were discovered to be of a miraculous nature. She had further visits from the Virgin who announced that she was the Immaculate Conception and a church should be erected on the site. In 1866, Bernadette became a member of the Sisters of Charity. Chronically ill with worsening asthma and tuberculosis of the bones, she died at age 35. Bernadette was canonized in 1933, and she is the patron of the sick, the poor and Lourdes.
Prayer
O God, who called your handmaid St. Bernadette
to seek you before all else,
grant that, serving you, through her example and intercession,
with a pure and humble heart,
we may come at last to your eternal glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
