“Every moment that I live I shall spend in loving.”
~ St. Bernadette Soubirous ~

The Grotto at Lourdes

The Bells of the Angelus 

The bells of the Angelus, Call us to pray. 

In sweet tones announcing the sacred Ave 

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria. 

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria.  

An angel of mercy, led Bernadette’s feet, 

Where flows the deep torrent, Our Lady to greet. 

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria. 

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria.  

Immaculate Mary, Our hearts are all thine. 

Protect us, your children, Who kneel at thy shrine. 

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria. 

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria.

The Spring

Several years ago, on the Feast of our Blessed Mother’s nativity and the days surrounding it, my husband, Catherine, and I were privileged to visit Lourdes with most of my family and some friends. Prior to thinking about or planning our trip to Lourdes, we learned that I was pregnant and decided that if we had another daughter, we would name her Bernadette. While we were in Lourdes, we read a plaque that shared the date of St. Bernadette’s birth and I commented to my husband, “St. Bernadette’s birthday is the day after my ultrasound due date.”

Catherine at the Grotto

On St. Bernadette’s birthday, I went to my doctor for a non-stress test and he told me, “You need to get to the hospital. You’re having contractions every two minutes and you’re 5 centimeters dilated.” I wasn’t feeling any pain or discomfort and had no idea that I was in labor. I asked the doctor if I could please call my husband before heading to the hospital. When my husband arrived at the hospital, I said to him, “This is a girl.” He asked, “How do you know?” I responded, “Because it is St. Bernadette’s birthday and we chose the name Bernadette for a girl.” My husband jokingly replied, “Watch the baby be a boy.” However, I knew in my heart that our baby was a girl.

Catherine and her daddy at the Grotto

For our daughter’s Baptism, her godmother gave her goddaughter Fr. Lawrence Lovasik’s Our Lady of Lourdes. Although I had watched The Song of Bernadette many times, I think that this was the first book that I ever read about “our Lady’s little servant” and I thoroughly appreciated this children’s book.

Some of my family, Bernadette’s godmother, and me outside St. Bernadette’s home

As Bernadette grew, I knew that I wanted to teach her more about the patron saint after whom she was named. My parents gave her the video Bernadette: The Princess of Lourdes. My parents-in-law gave Bernadette their old copy of Saint Bernadette (A First Book for Little Catholics) (out of print) by Fr. Gales. I purchased Saint Bernadette Soubirous: And Our Lady of Lourdes by Anne Eileen Heffernan, FSP and Mary Elizabeth Tebo, FSP and the vision book Bernadette: Our Lady’s Little Servant by Hertha Pauli. Last February, I read the latter book to all of my children. They all liked listening to and learning from the story. Bernadette expressed an interest in learning more about her patron saint, so I checked Bernadette Speaks: A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words by Rene Laurentin out from the library for her. She and her older sister enjoyed this book. We also watched Navis Pictures’ film St. Bernadette of Lourdes on either February 11 or 18.