*_February 11th ~ Our Lady of Lourdes, Memorial_* Bernadette Soubirous was the eldest of nine children born into a poor family in Lourdes, France on January 7, 1844. All eleven members lived in a relative’s one-room basement, a former prison or dungeon. Bernadette spoke the local Occitan dialect and learned some French as a teenager. Frequently ill, she received a simple education from the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction. At age fourteen, Bernadette, her sister, and a friend were gathering firewood to heat the Soubirous home. Bernadette fell behind as they searched for wood near a rock grotto. Hearing the sound of rushing wind, she saw only a wild rose moving. Then, from within the grotto, she saw a dazzling light and the figure of a small young lady in white with yellow roses on her feet. When Bernadette’s sister told their mother about what Bernadette reported seeing, their mother punished the girls for lying and forbade them to return to the grotto.