St. Bernadette was from a very poor family in Lourdes, France. While collecting firewood one day in a grotto near the Gave river, she was given a vision of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. This vision returned for 15 days. During this time, Bernadette was mocked and harassed by some villagers and made an instant saint by others. Bernadette was a very humble and uneducated girl and did not like the attention she was getting. But in obedience to the Lady, she fulfilled her mission. What most people remember her for is the spring of healing waters that Our Lady instructed her to uncover. Many healing miracles are attributed to the waters. But in addition to this, Bernadette was a simple and humble girl, later becoming a nun, who accepted the will of our Lord in her ongoing suffering, and in growing in virtues. So saintly was this woman that her body is incorrupt and is displayed in the church at Nevers, where the convent was where she lived and died.
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