From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

April 16th - St. Bernadette
18 February (France, some traditionalist congregations
(1844-1879)

We can't think of Lourdes without thinking of the 14-year-old girl =
to
whom Our Lady appeared there in 1858--Bernadette Soubirous.

St. Paul wrote, =E2=80=9CGod =E2=80=A6 singled out the weak of the world to=
shame the
strong.=E2=80=9D (I Cor. 1:27). In her apparitions to various people, Mary = has
followed the same policy. She has never revealed herself to presidents
or potentates or plutocrats. She has chosen simple but substantial
people, whether men or women or children.

Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes was just such a person. A teenager who
was physically frail and who, at that point, had not yet learned to
read or write, or even studied her catechism or made her first Holy
Communion! Bernadette was nevertheless solid, balanced and docile. A
good one, in other words, to be sent as Mary's ambassador to urge
Catholics to prayers and penance for sinners, and to urge the local
clergy to set up a chapel at the riverside grotto of the apparitions.

In exchange for Bernadette's prophetic role, Mary did not promise h=
er
to make her happy on this earth, only in the next. Bernadette began to experience frustrations during the apparitions themselves, in the form
of excessive pestering by the curious people who flocked to the new
shrine. But when the apparitions ceased, the young girl sought to
escape from this turmoil. By then her embassy was basically
accomplished. Now she wanted to hide from the world--to be retired,
she said, as an old broom is retired behind the door.

At the age of 18, Bernadette sought entrance into the Sisters of Notre
Dame at Nevers. However, she could not be completely anonymous even
there. The very nuns of her religious community sometimes expected her
to be proud because of her special graces. But she would point out, =E2=80=9CDon't I know that the Blessed Virgin chose me because I wa=
s the most
ignorant? If she had found anyone else more ignorant than me, she
would have chosen her.=E2=80=9D

Although St. Bernadette's mission was officially finished in July,
1858, she had the continuing duty of living up to Mary's injunction=
s,
and of thus setting an example for others. As a nun, she sought to
fulfill perfectly the rule of her community. She accepted even her
chronic illness in that light. Thus, on a certain day, one of her
superiors, finding her in bed because of her serious ailments, twitted
her, =E2=80=9CWhat are you doing there in bed, you lazy little thing?=E2=80= =9D Sister
Marie Bernarde (her name in religious) replied, =E2=80=9CWhy my dear Mother=
,
I'm doing my job.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CAnd what is your job?=E2=80=9D = =E2=80=9CBeing ill=E2=80=9D said
Bernadette.

Always a vital part of her own =E2=80=9Cprayers for sinners=E2=80=9D was th=
e rosary,
which she constantly recommended to all. Part of the rosary was the
sign of the cross. Whether in the rosary or at any other time, from
the days of the Lourdes apparitions on, Bernadette was noted for the
wonderful way she made the sign of the cross. One observer at the
grotto later wrote, =E2=80=9CIf the sign of the cross is made in heaven, it
can only be made in this manner.=E2=80=9D Everybody marveled at the way she crossed herself--slowly, reverently, =E2=80=9Cwith majesty.=E2=80=9D =E2=80= =9CIt is important
to make it well,=E2=80=9D she told one of her fellow novices in the convent=
..
The sisters respected the way she blessed herself, because they knew
who had taught her. It was Our Lady herself, during the Lourdes
apparitions.

Do we make the sign of the cross often? (Do you know that we can
obtain a partial indulgence, applicable, if we choose, to the souls in purgatory, every time we make it?) Why not take on the project of
always blessing ourselves slowly and reverently, pondering meanwhile
what that sign means? If we offer up these signs of the cross for the conversions of sinners, we will also be corresponding with what Our
Lady of Lourdes asked of us through her humble ambassadress,
Bernadette Soubirous.
=E2=80=93Father Robert


Saint Quotes:
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

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


<><><><>
Prayer To Saint Joseph

O Blessed Joseph,
you gave your last breath
in the loving embrace of Jesus and Mary.
When the seal of death shall close my life,
come with Jesus and Mary to aid me.
Obtain for me this solace for that hour,
to die with their holy arms around me.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
I commend my soul,
living and dying,
into your sacred arms.

Amen.

--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)