February 11

It was on February 11, 1858, that a beautiful lady first appeared to

Bernadette Boubirous of Lourdes, France. Bernadette was a sickly girl.

Her family was so poor they lived in a cellar that had once been a jail.

Even though she was fourteen, Bernadette still could not read or write.

She never could remember her catechism lessons, but she was a good girl.

She loved God very much. Although her memory was poor, Bernadette kept

trying hard to learn all she could about God. She was pure and obedient,

too.

The beautiful lady Bernadette saw wore a white dress and a light blue

sash. A white veil covered her head and fell over her shoulders to the

ground. On her feet were two lovely golden roses. Her hands were joined

and a rosary hung from her right arm. Its chain and cross shone like

gold. The lovely lady encouraged Bernadette to say the Rosary. She

appeared eighteen times to St. Bernadette. She asked her to tell the

people to pray, to do penance and to recite the Rosary for sinners.

During the last apparition, Bernadette asked the beautiful lady who she

was. The lady replied, "I am the Immaculate Conception." She was Mary,

the Mother of God.

A large church called a basilica was built where Bernadette saw Our

Lady. Although the apparitions took place over a hundred years ago,

miracles still happen there. Many people are cured of sicknesses.

Crippled people walk again. Blind people see again. Lonely, broken

people find hope again. There, where she once appeared to St. Bernadette,

Our Lady still shows her love for us.

Let us try to say the Rosary to our Blessed Mother every day. Through

this prayer, we receive all the graces we need for ourselves and for those

we love.