SAINT BERNADETTE
In Her Own Words about Our Lady of Lourdes
From a Letter by Saint Bernadette
(edited by Fr. Edlefsen, for brevity)
I had gone down with two other girls to the river Gave when, suddenly, I heard a rustling sound. I turned toward the river’s bank, but the trees were still. Then I saw a cave where I saw a lady wearing a lovely white dress with a bright belt. On top of each of her feet was a pale-yellow rose, the same color as her rosary beads.
I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things, and I put my hands into my dress’ fold where my rosary was. I wanted to make the Sign of the Cross but, for the life of me, I couldn’t manage, and my hand just fell. Then the lady made the Sign of the Cross. At the second attempt, I managed to do the same though my hands were trembling. I began to say the rosary as the lady’s beads slipped through her fingers, without her moving her lips. When I stopped saying the Hail Mary, she vanished.
I asked my companions if they noticed anything, but they said no. They were curious. I told them I saw a lady wearing a white dress though I didn’t know who she was. I told them not to say anything, and they said I was silly to have anything to do with it. I said they were wrong, and I came back next Sunday, feeling drawn to the place....
The third time I went, the lady spoke to me. She asked me to come every day for fifteen days. She wanted me to tell the priests to build a chapel there. She also told me to drink from the stream. She was not speaking of the Gave, and she indicated a little trickle of water nearby. I found a few drops, mostly mud. I cupped my hands to catch some liquid without success, and I scraped the ground. Only at the fourth attempt was there enough to drink. The lady then vanished, and I went home.
I returned daily for two weeks, and the lady told me to pray for the conversion of sinners. I asked what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally, with outstretched arms and eyes looking heavenward, she told me she was the Immaculate Conception.
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