She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic Church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes , France. The first apparition of 11 February , of which Bernadette Soubirous age 14 told her mother that a "Lady" spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle 1.
The coronation was performed by Cardinal Pier Francesco Meglia at the courtyard of what is now part of the Rosary Basilica on 3 July The image of Our Lady of Lourdes has been widely copied and reproduced in shrines and homes, often in garden landscapes. Marian devotion has since steadily increased as ecclesiastical investigations sanctioned her visions. In later years, a large church was built at the site that has since [ 7 ] become a major site of religious pilgrimage. On 11 February , Soubirous went with her sister Toinette and neighbor Jeanne Abadie to collect some firewood.
While taking off her shoes and stockings to wade through the water near the Grotto of Massabielle, she said she heard the sound of two gusts of wind coups de vent but the trees and bushes nearby did not move.
A wild rose in a natural niche in the grotto, however, did move. I came back towards the grotto and started taking off my stockings. I had hardly taken off the first stocking when I heard a sound like a gust of wind. Then I turned my head towards the meadow. I saw the trees quite still: I went on taking off my stockings. I heard the same sound again. As I raised my head to look at the grotto, I saw a lady dressed in white, wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the chain of her rosary ; the beads of the rosary were white β¦ From the niche, or rather the dark alcove behind it, came a dazzling light.
Soubirous tried to make the sign of the cross but could not, as her hands were trembling. The lady smiled, and invited Soubirous to pray the rosary with her. After parental cross-examination, she and her sister received corporal punishment for their story. Three days later, 14 February, Soubirous returned to the grotto. She started to smile, and bowed This was the second time. Soubirous' companions are said to have become afraid when they saw her in ecstasy. She remained ecstatic even as they returned to the village.
