Phil

Bernadette of lourdes
Bernadette was born in the Boly Mill on 7th January 1844. Poor management together with the Soubirous’ generosity left the family penniless and they had to leave the mill in 1854. Bernadette would care of Justin (her brother), so had little schooling and was considered educationally backward. She suffered from asthma.
The financial situation continued to deteriorate and at the start of 1857 they had to accept accommodation in the cachot, a former jail. The family lived in one room barely four metres square with sparse furnishings. Severe poverty made it necessary for Bernadette to be sent to a friend in Bartres, where she spent some months helping in the house and caring for the sheep. she was longing for her family so much to receive her First Communion and so returned to the cachot shortly after her fourteenth birthday.
On 11th February 1858, Bernadette with her sister and a friend went to collect firewood. When she reached the rock of Massabielle, Bernadette heard a gust of wind and noticed that a wild rosebush in a grotto was moving. A gentle light brightened the dark area and there stood a beautiful girl, dressed in white with a blue sash and a yellow rose on each foot. She was smiling, with her arms spread in welcome.
Bernadette was forced to tell her parents, she was forbidden to return. But on 14th February they allowed her another brief visit. She took some holy water with her and when the figure appeared again she sprinkled her with the water telling her to stay if she came from God, to go away if not. Again, her parents were unwilling for her to return, but there was a rumour that the figure was the soul of a saintly dead parishioner and to prove the truth Bernadette was allowed another visit in the company of a family friend. She took paper and ink with her so that the figure could write her name. She was told: ‘I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the other’ and then asked: ‘Would you be kind enough to come...