Saint Bernadette Soubirous :: essays research papers

Saint Bernadette SoubirousThe Soubirous family lived in the far northwest of the little town of Lourdes, inthe Lapaca district. A large stream flowed at that place, and on this stream there weres veritable(a) 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 moth miller that had brought the coupletogether. They had married on the parish church on 9th January 1843. By 1855,the family income had decrease drastically - trade was not good at the mill,and the Soubirous were not the stovepipe of business people often filled with pityfor the poor of the local anesthetic 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 unless drained their resources. No longer being able topay for the bust of the mill, the Soubirous were forced to quit t heir dwellings,give up the millers trade and take on whatever work they could find forthemselves. Francois Soubirous recalled that an some other relative owned a buildingin the Rue des Petits Fosss - this building was the motive Lourdes jail. Theold jail was locally known as "the Cachot". The Soubirous were allowed to remainthere rent-free. Each evening, the family gathered around the old fireplace forfamily prayers. This concluded with the example of the Rosary - often led byone of the Soubirous girls, Bernadette.BERNADETTEThe marriage of Francois Soubirous and Louise Casterot produced hexad kidskinren.The eldest of these was Bernadette. She was born on 7th January 1844, and wasbaptized the next twenty-four hours by Abb Forgues in the old parish church, being given thename of Marie Bernarde. Because of her undersize stature, she was always referred toby the diminutive form of the name, Bernadette. Six months later, Louise wasexpecting a child because of this, Bernadet te 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 open her chest so thatshe might breathe. Because of her cushy constitution, her parents wouldattempt to give her little bits of food not available to the other children,such as white bread instead of black.