Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
On February 11, 1858, it was cold and damp in the so-called "dungeon”, a room once used to hold prisoners, where the impoverished Soubirous family and their 9 children had taken shelter in Lourdes. Bernadette (1) and some of her friends went to gather wood near the Massabielle cave on the banks of the Gave river. Suddenly, in a hole in the rock, Bernadette saw a "most beautiful Lady".
Her body only differed from ours in its inexpressible beauty. She was of medium height and looked very young. The oval curve of her face was divinely graceful and her blue eyes had a sweetness that would melt the heart of anyone who looked into them. Her lips conveyed an angelic kindness and gentleness.
Seized with supernatural awe but also filled with joy, Bernadette dared not approach. She joined the Lady in reciting the Rosary. Eventually, the apparition left, and Bernadette came out of her ecstasy. Urged on by her companions, she revealed the secret that she would have preferred to keep to herself.
On hearing the news, Mrs. Soubirous feared that Bernadette had been the victim of an illusion, and forbade her daughter to return to the Massabielle rock. But the following Sunday, she was persuaded by Bernadette's friends to let her daughter return to the grotto. There, the seer announced: "She's here!" Then, approaching, she threw holy water and said: "If you've come from God, stay, otherwise go away!" "The Lady began to smile", Bernadette later recounted, "and the more holy water I threw at her, the more she smiled!"