The Times of Happiness

She lived there for 10 years with her parents, François Soubirous and Louise Castérot; they gained a decent living as millers. She used to call the place the "Mill of Happiness", because it was there that she discovered something that is very important to every man and woman – human love. She used to say that her mother and father loved each other. This experience made into a balanced person, especially at times of difficulty, poverty and sickness.

Discover the genealogy of Bernadette

Bernadette as seen by her contemporaries

Here is what contemporaries said about Bernadette:

1.) Marie Laguës, foster-mother of Bernadette.

• "As a baby, Bernadette was already very loveable, the neighbours loved to see her and to hold her in their arms."
• "You could not stop loving her enough, she was sweet and loveable."
• "Bernadette, in spite of the tiredness which was caused by her shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing, always appeared happy and cheerful. She never gave us any trouble, she took what she was given, and appeared happy. We loved her very much as well." (1857)

• "Bernadette was always good natured, she was very docile; when scolded, she never retaliated."

• Bernadette was small for her age, puny, slightly asthmatic, her face was round but regular, beautiful eyes. Her slim size would allow her to pass for a young girl about two or three years younger than she really was."
• " everything about Bernadette radiated naïvety, simplicity, goodness."

• "Bernadette has difficulty to retain the Catechism word by word, because she cannot study, she does not know how to read, but she puts a lot of care into the appropriate meaning of the explanations. Besides, she is very attentive, above all very pious and modest."