St. Bernadette Soubirous is the famed visionary of Lourdes. She was born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844, the daughter of Francis and Louise Soubirous. Bernadette, a severe asthma sufferer, lived in abject poverty. On February 11, 1858, she was granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a cave on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. She was placed in considerable jeopardy when she reported the vision, and crowds gathered when she had further visits from the Virgin Mary, from February 18 of that year through March 4. The civil authorities tried to frighten Bernadette into recanting her accounts, but she remained faithful to the vision. On February 25, a spring emerged from the cave, and the waters were discovered to be of miraculous nature, capable of healing the sick and lame.

On March 25, Bernadette announced that the vision of Mary stated, "I am the Immaculate Conception." This declaration was astonishing because the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had only recently been formally defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Bernadette, an uneducated peasant girl with no theological training, could not have known about this doctrine on her own. When she relayed this message to her parish priest and later to the bishop, it caused a sensation. The Church took this as a powerful confirmation of the Marian dogma, lending credibility to Bernadette’s visions. Her words deeply impacted Church authorities, further solidifying the belief that the visions were of divine origin.

Many authorities tried to shut down the spring and delay the construction of the chapel, but the influence and fame of the visions reached Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III, and construction went forward. Crowds gathered, free of harassment from the anticlerical and antireligious officials.

In 1866, Bernadette was sent to the Sisters of Notre Dame in Nevers. There, she became a member of the community and faced some rather harsh treatment from the mistress of novices. This oppression ended when it was discovered that she suffered from a painful, incurable illness. She died in Nevers on April 16, 1879, still giving the same account of her visions.

Lourdes became one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the world, and the spring has produced twenty-seven thousand gallons of water each week since emerging during Bernadette’s visions. She was not involved in the building of the shrine, as she remained hidden at Nevers. However, her unwavering faith and the miraculous events at Lourdes continue to inspire millions worldwide. There are about five million pilgrims who visit Lourdes every year.