The Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes (1858): Story and Message
From 11 February to 16 July 1858, at the grotto of Massabielle, Bernadette Soubirous saw a “beautiful Lady” eighteen times. On 25 March, the Lady declared herself to be the Immaculate Conception. The message — prayer, penance, conversion — and the authenticity of these encounters were recognised by the Bishop of Tarbes on 18 January 1862.
This page is part of the feature on Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
Massabielle, 11 February 1858: the first apparition
On 11 February 1858, while gathering firewood near the Gave de Pau, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous saw, in the grotto of Massabielle, a young Lady who invited her to pray the rosary.
That day, Bernadette had gone to collect wood with her sister Toinette and a friend, along the Gave de Pau, the river that runs through Lourdes. In front of the grotto of Massabielle — a name meaning “old rock” in the local Bigourdan dialect — she heard a sound and saw, in a hollow of the rock, a young woman dressed in white.
At first, Bernadette did not know whom she was seeing. In her depositions, gathered during the 1858 inquiry, she referred to the vision with a cautious word from her dialect: Aquéro, meaning “that” (René Laurentin, Vie de Bernadette, p. 56). She then took up her rosary — the prayer that tells dozens of Ave Marias — and the Lady let her pray in silence.
This first encounter set the tone for all the others. The Lady did not impose herself, did not yet name herself, and chose as her witness a poor, uneducated child. To learn more about the visionary herself, you may read the life of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
The course of the 18 apparitions: the fortnight and the spring
The eighteen apparitions unfolded over five months, from 11 February to 16 July 1858. Between 18 February and 4 March, the Lady asked Bernadette to come for fifteen days in a row: the “fortnight”.
After 11 February, Bernadette returned to the grotto. On 18 February, at the third apparition, the Lady spoke to her for the first time and asked her to come back for fifteen days (Laurentin, Récit, p. 251). During this period, known as the fortnight, the crowd around the grotto grew day by day, while Bernadette kept coming to pray.
Not all the apparitions were alike. Some were silent; in others, the Lady spoke and entrusted requests. The available sources do not allow us to reconstruct an identical account for each of the eighteen days, so we keep here to the best-established milestones.
The spring of 25 February (ninth apparition)
The 25th of March was not the only significant day. On 25 February, at the ninth apparition, the Lady asked Bernadette to drink at the spring and to wash there. As no spring was visible, Bernadette scratched at the earth on the floor of the grotto; little by little, water began to flow from the mud (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes).
This is the origin of the spring water of Lourdes, at which pilgrims today are invited to make the water gesture. One point must be precise: this is a gesture of faith, and its value is spiritual and sacramental, not medical. What this gesture represents is developed on the page devoted to the spring water of Lourdes.
The message entrusted to Bernadette: prayer, penance, conversion
The message of Lourdes rests on three words: prayer, penance and conversion. The Lady asked Bernadette to pray for sinners and repeated this call to penance.
Through the successive encounters, the Lady entrusted a simple message, one that aims first at the heart. She asked for prayer and penance, summing everything up in these words reported by Bernadette: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners” (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes).
The word “penance” can be misunderstood. The Sanctuary of Lourdes clarifies its meaning: by penance, one should understand above all conversion, that is, turning one’s heart towards God and towards others. The Lady also asked that people come in procession to the grotto and that a chapel be built there.
This message was not reserved for Bernadette alone. Through her, it is addressed to all who come to pray at Lourdes. That is why it has crossed the generations without losing any of its simplicity.
”Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou”: the name of the Lady
On 25 March 1858, at the sixteenth apparition, the Lady finally revealed her name. She said it in Bernadette’s dialect: Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou — [I am the Immaculate Conception — Pyrenean Gascon, 25 March 1858].
For weeks, Bernadette had been asking the Lady for her name, without reply. On 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation, the Lady answered at last. Bernadette repeated the phrase without understanding it, all the way to the parish priest of Lourdes, so as not to forget it (Laurentin, Récit). The fact that an uneducated child reported a theological formula she did not grasp was taken, at the time, as a sign in favour of the apparitions’ authenticity.
The phrase points to a truth of faith proclaimed shortly before. On 8 December 1854, through the bull Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX had defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception: Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception (CCC § 491). The CCC is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the reference text of doctrine.
A frequent confusion must be avoided. The Immaculate Conception concerns the conception of Mary, not the virginal conception of Jesus: these are two distinct truths (CCC § 490-493). The link between the dogma of 1854 and the name given at Lourdes in 1858 deeply impressed contemporaries.
What the Church officially recognises
The Bishop of Tarbes, Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Laurence, recognised the authenticity of the apparitions on 18 January 1862. For the Church, Lourdes is a private revelation: it helps the faithful to live the faith, without adding anything to Revelation.
After 1858, a diocesan commission of inquiry examined the facts and Bernadette’s depositions at length. At the end of this work, through an episcopal decree of 18 January 1862, Bishop Laurence declared that the Virgin Mary had truly appeared to Bernadette and authorised the devotion (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes). It should be noted that the visionary did indeed see the “beautiful Lady” eighteen times: the exact figure is eighteen, not seventeen as is sometimes read.
This recognition does not carry the same weight as a dogma. The Catechism recalls that no private revelation belongs to the deposit of faith. Their role, it states, “is not to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history” (CCC § 67). Believing in the apparitions of Lourdes is therefore not required of Catholics.
Saying this takes nothing away from Lourdes; it places the apparitions in their proper light. The detailed account of each encounter lies beyond this page; for the visionary herself, see the life of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
Frequently asked questions
How many apparitions did Bernadette have at Lourdes?
Bernadette Soubirous had eighteen apparitions, from 11 February to 16 July 1858, at the grotto of Massabielle. They unfolded over five months, including an intense period known as the fortnight. “Seventeen” is sometimes read in error: the figure recognised by the Church is indeed eighteen (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes).
What does the word “Aquéro” mean?
Aquéro means “that” in the Bigourdan dialect, the local speech of Lourdes. It is the cautious word Bernadette used to refer to the vision, before the Lady revealed her name on 25 March 1858 (Laurentin, Vie de Bernadette, p. 56).
What did Our Lady ask for at Lourdes?
She asked for prayer and penance — that is, conversion of the heart — and for prayer for sinners. She also asked that people come in procession to the grotto and that a chapel be built there (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes).
Why is the Immaculate Conception associated with Lourdes?
Because the Lady named herself so on 25 March 1858: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The phrase points to the dogma defined by Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854, four years earlier: Mary was preserved from sin from the moment of her conception (CCC § 491).
Are the apparitions of Lourdes recognised by the Church?
Yes. The Bishop of Tarbes, Bishop Laurence, recognised their authenticity on 18 January 1862, at the end of a diocesan inquiry. It is a private revelation: recognised as worthy of belief, it helps the faithful live the faith, but is not imposed as an obligatory article of faith (CCC § 67).
Sources and references
Magisterium
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), editio typica, 1997 — § 67; § 490-493 (vatican.va; accessed 16 June 2026)
Bernadettine corpus
- René Laurentin, Lourdes, récit authentique des apparitions, p. 251 (course of the apparitions, the fortnight)
- René Laurentin, Vie de Bernadette, p. 56 (Aquéro, Bernadette’s depositions)
Online sources
- Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes — lourdes-france.org (the message of Lourdes; the spring of 25 February; the episcopal decree of recognition of 18 January 1862) (accessed 16 June 2026)