Our Patron Saint

St. Bernadette’s School opened on the 2nd September 1975 — she has now been our Patron Saint for 47 years.

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Mary, Jesus’ mother, is the greatest saint. She has appeared to many people over the centuries. Each place she has appeared she has been given a different title. Our Lady of Lourdes was the title she was given after she visited Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen-year-old girl in 1858.

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Bernadette lived in a very poor house in Lourdes, France, with her parents, two brothers, and a sister. (It used to be a jail!) One day Bernadette was out with her sister and a friend to gather wood for the fire. Bernadette, who suffered from asthma and was often sick, did not cross over the stream to gather wood on the other side with her sister and friend.

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While they were gone, Bernadette heard a noise near a cave-like area, and she went to investigate. There, Bernadette saw a lovely lady dressed in white with a blue sash around her waist and a rose on each foot. She was beautiful! Bernadette prayed the rosary with this lady before she disappeared. The lady asked her to come back again. The lady appeared to Bernadette a total of eighteen times. Bernadette was teased and laughed at; many believed that she was either imagining the appearances of Our Lady or making it up.

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When a spring miraculously appeared after one of the visions, many who doubted her began to believe. Those who bathed in the spring were often cured of serious sickness or disability. Eventually, the lady identified herself: “I am the Immaculate Conception,” she told Bernadette. It was then that people realized for sure that it was Mary, the mother of God, appearing to the young woman.

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Bernadette showed great courage and strength to tell people that a lady had been appearing to her, especially because they were laughing at her, teasing her and did not believe her. Mary, the Mother of God had chosen her to appear to a humble poor girl. It is for this reason, that our staff, governors and pupils are all proud to have St. Bernadette as our patron saint and be a part of a school community that values her courage and strength.