On 18th February and 16th April each year, the Catholic Church honours Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary from Lourdes to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858. The feast day on 18th February marks the date on which, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin said to Bernadette, ‘I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the other’.
She became a Sister of Charity in Nevers, where she died on 16th April 1879 at the age of 35, which is the official date of her liturgical feast day. The Church proclaimed her a saint on 8th December 1933, not for having been favoured with apparitions, but for the way in which she responded to them.
The Sanctuary will be celebrating Saint Bernadette on 17th February
In 1858, 18th February was a Thursday, a day off school at the time: Bernadette was free to go to the Grotto. But that Thursday was also the day after Ash Wednesday. The Virgin’s promise therefore came at the very beginning of Lent.
18th February is the day of the third Apparition. It was on this day that the ‘Lady’ spoke to Bernadette for the first time. She did not tell her her name. She refused to write it down, despite Bernadette offering her a pen and inkwell. But she made her a promise: that she would be happy, if not in this world, then at least in the other. This explains why 18th February was chosen as the day on which Bernadette is celebrated as a citizen of heaven (in France and French-speaking countries).
As an exception, the Sanctuary in Lourdes will be celebrating Saint Bernadette on 17th February, as the 18th is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
The programme for Tuesday 17th February to celebrate Saint Bernadette
Veneration of relics throughout the day at the parish church of the Sacred Heart in Lourdes
– 10:00 a.m.: Mass at the Grotto of the Apparitions
– 2:00 p.m.: Bernadette’s footsteps
– 3:00 p.m.: Rosary at the Grotto (in English)
– 6:00 p.m.: Mass presided over by Monsignor Micas at the parish with the relics of Saint Bernadette
– 8:30 p.m.: Pilgrims gather at the Saint Michael gate for a procession of the relics to the Grotto with recitation of the Rosary.
New in 2026
The historical resource centre is hosting a unique exhibition entitled ‘Bernadette, objects from a lifetime, archives of a saint’, on display in the exhibition gallery from 9th to 18th February, then from the start of the season until 15th June 2026, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.
The exhibition is divided into three sections—Bernadette as a child in Lourdes, the Apparition, and the saint—and traces Bernadette’s journey through personal objects, archives, and remarkable works of art. The display cases feature civil status documents, objects that belonged to her, embroidery work by Bernadette, as well as sculptures and sketches evoking the apparitions and the last moments of her life.
Designed to be accessible to all, this exhibition offers an intimate and historical look at the most important person in Lourdes.
Prayer to Saint Bernadette
St. Bernadette,
pure and simple child,
you who were privileged to behold
the beauty of Mary Immaculate
and to be the recipient of her confidence
eighteen times at Lourdes;
you who did desire from then on
to hide yourself in the cloister of Nevers
and there live and die as a victim of sinners,
obtain for us that spirit of purity,
simplicity and mortification,
which will lead us also to
the glorious vision of God
and of Mary in Heaven.
Amen.
