Saint Bernadette Soubirous :: essays research papers

Saint Bernadette SoubirousThe Soubirous family lived in the far north of the little town of Lourdes, inthe Lapaca district. A large rain buckets flowed in that location, and on this stream there wereseven mills one of them known as the Boly Mill, and this had been the residenceof the Soubirous. Francois Soubirous leased the mill from relatives of his wife,Louise. In many ways, it was the trade of the miller that had brought the coupletogether. They had unite on the parish church on 9th January 1843. By 1855,the family income had decreased drastically - trade was not good at the mill,and the Soubirous were not the best of business people ofttimes filled with pityfor the poor of the local people, they would tell their customers to pay whenthey were able to, and they never refused credit. And of course there was thefamily to raise, which further drained their resources. No longer cosmos able topay for the rent of the mill, the Soubirous were forced to quit their dwellings,give up the millers trade and take on whatever work they could find forthemselves. Francois Soubirous recalled that another relative owned a buildingin the Rue des Petits Fosss - this building was the former Lourdes jail. Theold jail was locally known as "the Cachot". The Soubirous were allowed to appeasethere rent-free. Each evening, the family gathered around the old fireplace forfamily prayers. This concluded with the recitation of the Rosary - often led byone of the Soubirous girls, Bernadette.BERNADETTEThe marriage of Francois Soubirous and Louise Casterot produced half dozen children.The eldest of these was Bernadette. She was born on 7th January 1844, and wasbaptized the next day by Abb Forgues in the old parish church, being given thename of Marie Bernarde. Because of her small stature, she was forever referred toby the diminutive form of the name, Bernadette. Six months later, Louise wasexpecting a child because of this, Bernadette was entrusted to the care of awoman in near-by Bartres, Marie Aravant, who had just lost a baby boy. Shestayed there for 15 months. From her birth, Bernadette was a weak child,suffering even then from the asthma which would cause her so much suffering thatlater, in the convent, she would beg the nurses to tear return her chest so thatshe might breathe. Because of her delicate constitution, her parents wouldattempt to give her little bits of food not available to the other children,such as white ice lolly instead of black.