Little Bernadette had become part of a great event in human history, yet at the time, very few could appreciate the significance of what was taking place.
At the grotto of Massabielle, a place often used to burn garbage on the outskirts of the little town of Lourdes, France, a beautiful Lady appeared 18 times to a young peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous.
Describing the first visit, Bernadette said, “I beheld within the grotto a glittering cloud of gold; and almost simultaneously there appeared before my dazzled eyes at the edge of the opening just over the bush, a Lady both young and beautiful, beautiful beyond description. She gazed tenderly at me, smiled and bade me come nearer, as if she had been my mother. The sense of fear had vanished …”