Life of Saint Bernadette Soubirous - Essay Example

Life of Saint Bernadette St. Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844 in a small town of Lourdes and was baptized two days later after her birth and named Marie Bernarde. However, since childhood, people referred to her as Bernadette. She lived with her family, her mother Louise Casterot and father Francois Soubirious who was a worked as a miller for an affluent family called the Casterods (Paulos, 2003). Her father was an honest man, but did not have a good hand in business and this made them stay in debt and had to leave the mill and live in a prison cell, but she was left behind.

They had no means of survival and the family of six had to live in one room and eat any food that came their way. She lived in poor health during her early life and was struck by illnesses such as asthma, tuberculosis and had survived cholera, and these attacks made her be cut off from the religious lives. One day in 1858 when she was sent to fetch firewood with her sister and a friend, she met a beautiful lady who smiled at her and made the sign of a rosary. Bernadette knelt and took her rosary and started praying.

Mary mother of God had appeared to her as a beautiful lady, and she also appeared seventeen other times after this day and had a conversation with her. She told Bernadette that sinners should repent their sins and be accepted back by God and also that a church be built. When she told people about her vision, many did not believe her, and she had to suffer a lot before people could believe her (Paulos, 2003). One day our lady to dig a hole where water sprung out, began to flow out and began growing bigger and bigger.

When people begun using this water, miracles happened. Bernadette was very humble, and when she grew older she became a nun. She got too much attention, which she dint like and went to a school run by catholic sisters where she learnt to read and write. She spent the rest of her life working as a helper in the infirmary, a job she liked a lot. She died at the age of 35 in 1879 and her body put to rest the Saint Gildard Convent (Paulos, 2003). Reference Paulos, D, 2003, A Biography of St. Bernadette, Accessed July 11, 2012: .