Profile
Bernadette was the oldest of six children born to François and Louise Casterot, and grew up very poor. She was hired out as a servant from age 12 to 14. She was a shepherdess. On 11 February 1858, around the time of her first Communion, she received a vision of the Virgin; she received seventeen more in the next five months, and was led to a spring of healing waters. She moved into a house with the Sisters of Nevers at Lourdes where she lived, worked, and learned to read and write. The sisters cared for the sick and indigent, and at age 22 they admitted Bernadette into their order since she was both. Always sick herself, and often mistreated by her superiors, she died with a prayer for Mary’s aid. Since the appearances of Mary to young Bernadette in 1858, more than 200 million people have visited the shrine of Lourdes.
Born
- 7 January 1844 at Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France
Died
- 16 April 1879, Nevers, Nièvre, France of natural causes
- body incorrupt
- the sisters covered the body in wax, and it is on display in Nevers
Canonized
- 8 December 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Patronage
- against bodily ills, illness and sickness
- against poverty
- Lourdes, France
- people ridiculed for their piety
- poor people
- shepherdesses
- shepherds
- sick people
Source: http://catholicsaints.mobi/calendar/16-april.htm
