Fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous (Later St. Bernadette) claims to have seen the Virgin Mary on February 11, 1858 in a small town located near Lourdes in the foothills of the Pyrenee mountains. in southern France. This was the first of 18 reported encounters, the last one took place on July 16, 1858.
The "Lady" identified herself as the "Immaculate Conception" and directed Bernadette to a, now-famous, miraculous spring, known as the Massabielle Grotto. The Catholic Church officially recognized these apparitions ,as "worthy of belief" in 1862. leading to the creation of the major pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lourdes. Bernadette was canonized as a saint in 1933. The Massabielle grotto is visited by millions of pilgrims each year. More
