The young shepherdess who saw Our Lady in Lourdes, St. Bernadette, found solace in her suffering by turning her eyes to Our Lord.
“O Jesus, Jesus,” she prayed, “I no longer feel my cross when I think of yours.”
If you’re suffering today, pray this excerpt of one of her prayers:
Let the crucifix be not only in my eyes and on my breast, but in my heart.O Jesus! Release all my affections and draw them upwards.Let my crucified heart sink forever into Thine and bury itself in the mysterious wound made by the entry of the lance.
~~~
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When the crucifix makes you want to look away, remember this old writer’s rule
Bernadette was born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844, the oldest of nine children of a poor family.
On February 11, 1858, when she was 14, she saw an apparition of a “small young lady” wearing blue and white, smiling at Bernadette, and making the Sign of the Cross.
Read more:
Why do Catholics make the Sign of the Cross before praying?
Bernadette went on to see the Lady many more times. The Lady instructed the child to dig in the ground, and a spring came forth.
During the 16th vision, the Lady told Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Pope Pius IX had just proclaimed this dogma four years earlier, on December 8, 1854.
Many people have been healed in the waters of the spring, and Our Lady of Lourdes is the patroness of the sick. Her feast day is February 11.
Read more:
Nobel Prize-winning agnostic scientist says “The miracles at Lourdes are inexplicable”
The writings of St. Bernadette include the above prayer, which was provided to Aleteia by Megan Dahle of discountcatholicproducts.com.
Read more:
3 Reasons the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Consoles Me
