Flora Cantábrica

Saint Bernadette Soubirous

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Saint Bernadette Soubirous
(1879)
She was born in Lourdes, France, in 1844 to extremely poor parents. At baptism, she was named Marie Bernarda (a name she would later use when she became a nun), but everyone called her Bernadette.
She was the eldest of several siblings. Her parents lived in a damp, squalid basement, and her father was the hospital’s garbage collector. The child always suffered from very poor health due to a lack of adequate nutrition and the pitifully poor condition of her room. In her early years, she suffered from cholera, which left her extremely debilitated. Also due to the terribly cold winter climate in that region, Bernadette developed asthma at the age of ten, which compresses the bronchial tubes and causes constant shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.
This illness would accompany and torment her throughout her life. Toward the end of her life, she would also suffer from tuberculosis. In her, Jesus’ words were fulfilled: «My Father prunes the tree he loves the most (through suffering) so that it may bear more fruit» (John 15).
From February 11, 1859, to July 16 of the same year, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadette 18 times. We can read about the apparitions in detail on February 11. Our Lady told her: «I will not make you happy in this life, but I will in the next.» And so it happened. The young girl’s life after the apparitions was filled with illness, hardship, and humiliation, but through all this, she acquired such a great degree of holiness that she earned a tremendous reward for heaven.
People brought her money after learning that the Blessed Virgin had appeared to her, but she never wanted to receive anything. Our Lady had told her three secrets, which she never wanted to tell anyone. Probably one of these secrets was that she should not receive money or gifts from anyone, and the other was that she should never do anything that would attract attention. For this reason, she always remained very poor and kept away from any display. She was not beautiful, but after the apparitions, her eyes had a brilliance that amazed everyone.

Bernardette asked to be admitted to the Community of the Daughters of Charity in Nevers. They delayed admitting her because her health was very weak. But they finally admitted her. Four months after joining the community, she nearly died from an asthma attack, and they received her religious vows, but she was soon cured.

In the community, she worked as a nurse and sacristan, and afterward, she suffered from a very painful illness for nine years. When the most terrible attacks came upon her, she would exclaim: «What I ask of Our Lord is not that He grant me health, but that He grant me courage and strength to bear my illness patiently. To fulfill what the Blessed Virgin recommended, I offer my sufferings as penance for the conversion of sinners.»
She longed to return to Lourdes, but from the day she visited the Grotto for the last time to become a nun, she never returned. She would repeat: «Oh, who could
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