What happened in Lourdes in 1858, from

the official Lourdes Guidebook...

 

 

Lourdes, in the 19th century, was one of the main places in the district with more

than 4000 inhabitants and situated on the banks of the Gave de Paur River. Mills were plentiful;

in one of these, the Boly Mill, Francois and Louise Soubirous lived happily for 10 years

together with their four children.The eldest was christened Marie-Bernarde but called

Bernadette who was born on January 7th, 1844. In 1854, the Soubirous family was reduced

to extreme poverty:as a result of an accident at work, Francois lost one eye

, and he was falsely accused of having stolen two sacks of flour and was sent to prison.

 

The mill went bankrupt.Bernadette was stricken by cholera and tuberculoses.She was

to suffer the consequences throughout the rest of her life.The family had to leave the

mill and in 1857 had taken refuge in a disused prison cell of 16m2 called the "Cachot."

At 14 years of age, unable to read or write, not having made her First Communion,

Bernadette, bruised by all these events, was to have an extraordinary experience.

 

On February 11th, 1858, Bernadette, her sister Toinette and a friend, Jeanne Abadie,

went looking for firewood in the cave called Massabielle, beside the Gave River.

While Toinette and Jeanne gathered wood, Bernadette heard a sound like a gust of wind.

That was the first apparition, 17 others were to follow. On July 4th, 1866, Bernadette

left Lourdes for Nevers where she entered, as a nun, the Convent of St Gildard.

She died there on April 16th, 1879, where her body still lies.