Collection: St. Bernadette of Lourdes, Death of

ARTIST: Dan Paulos

ARTWORK NARRATIVE:

Pray Saint Bernadette, that like you, we may always be obedient to the will of Our Heavenly Father, and that through our prayers and humility we may bring consolation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary that have been so grievously wounded by our sins. Holy Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, pray for us.

Her feast day is April 16.

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Prior to her death, Bernadette seemed to suffer from various ailments and afflictions. For several months she had been unable to take active part in the convent lifestyle. For long periods she was confined to her bed. When asked why she didn't go to Lourdes for healing, she replied “It is not for me."  

Sister Nathalie Portat was present during the final day of Bernadette's life. She remarked how in the afternoon the patient seemed to be tortured by an inexpressible interior agony and asked for those nearby to pray for her soul.  

“At the words of the Angelic Salutation: “Holy Mary, Mother of God", the dying woman revived, and, in a voice full of conviction, a voice that in her final moments expressed her profound humility and her daughterly confidence in the Immaculate Virgin, she twice repeated: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a poor sinner."
—Sister Nathalie Portat  

A few moments later Bernadette made a large sign of the cross, drank a few drops of water and left her mortal body.  

Following the events of the apparitions a papal investigation was founded. After long deliberation and careful examination of the evidence it was declared that the visions of the Virgin Mary really did occur at the Grotto of Lourdes.  

She received Beatification in 1925 and Canonization in 1933 under Pope Pius XI, not so much for the content of her visions, but rather for her simplicity and holiness of her life. St Bernadette is the patron saint of sick persons and also of the family and poverty.  

30 years after her death, Bernadette's body was exhumed and found to be intact. Since 1925, the body of Bernadette is preserved in a shrine in the chapel of the Convent of St.Gildard of Nevers.  

Born:   January 7, 1844 at Lourdes, France  

Died:   April 16, 1879, Nevers, France  

Canonized:   1933 by Pope Pius XI  

Name Means:   Brave as a bear  

Readings:  

Nothing is anything more to me; everything is nothing to me, but Jesus: neither things nor persons, neither ideas nor emotions, neither honor nor sufferings. Jesus is for me honor, delight, heart and soul.
—Saint Bernadette  

You must receive God well; give Him a loving welcome, for then He has to pay us rent.
—Saint Bernadette Soubirous  

The more I am crucified, the more I rejoice.
—Saint Bernadette Soubirous