St. Gobnait Day & St. Bernardette....

Hello there, I hope you are well during this cold weather. Cornwall as yet has had no snow but parts of the UK has. I love snow, especially when it is falling and beginning to settle on the ground. It always reminds me of the magical times of childhood....but I am here today to remember two important female saints, St. Gobnait and St. Bernardette

Statue of St Gobnait at Ballyvourney County Cork Ireland ~ Taken by John Staats ~

St. Gobnait is a female Irish saint who was born in County Clare in the 6th century. February 11 is known as St. Gobnait Day and is still celebrated today in Ballyvourny, County Cork....

Having to flee Clare, Gobnait took refuge on the Aran Islands where she was visited by an Angel. The Angel told Gobnait to travel until she encounted nine white deer and when she did this would be where she would settle...

Gobnait travelled across the south of Ireland until she encounted nine white deer at Ballyvourney, County Cork, and it was here that she founded a woman's community.....

St. Gobnait Holy Well ~Curtsey of TravelHag~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinplaces/4719719464/

There are Shines and Holy Wells in Ireland dedicated to St. Gobnait, who was known for her care of the sick. One story relates that she saved the village of Ballyvourney from the Plague by designating it consecrated ground....

St. Gobnait also had a strong relationship with bees and used honey in her treatments for ailments and wounds....

There is also a stained glass window dedicated to St. Gobnait in Honan Chapel, Cork, Ireland, by artist Harry Clarke in 1916. The window, which lies in the north side of the chapel, was nearly destroyed in the Easter Risings.....

Bernadette uploaded on wikipedia by Adrian Michael

February 11 also celebrates the day that St. Bernadette of Lourdes saw her first apparition of Our Lady.....

Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was born 7 January 1844 in Lourdes and was the daughter of a miller and laundress. As a child she contracted cholera and suffered severe asthma for the rest of her life.......

Bernadette Soubirous in 1866

It was on February 11 1858 that Bernadette, aged 14, her sister Maria and a friend were out gathering firewood and bones at the Grotto of Massabielle outside Lourdes. While the other girls crossed the little stream by the grotto Bernadette held back and sat down in the grotto to remove her shoes so she would not get them wet. While sitting there she saw a small natural niche from which, she claimed, came a dazzling light and that she saw the apparition of ‘a small young lady’ who asked for a chapel to be built in a specific place in Lourdes. Until 16 July 1858 Bernadette reported eighteen apparitions in total. Local people and officials at first did not believe her and interrogated her but Bernadette remained calm and never changed her story. It was not until the 17th apparition that the 'White Lady' identified herself as "I am the Immaculate Conception". Bernadette described her as wearing a white veil, blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot. The townsfolk belived she was describing the Virgin Mary....

Blessed Virgin of Lourdes ~ Photographer: © Manuel González Olaechea y Franco ~

Bernadette disliked the attention she was attracting so went to the hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. At aged 22 she then joined the Sisters at their motherhouse at Nevers. She spent the rest of her brief life there, working as a infirmary assistant and later as a sacristan. She later contracted tuberculosis of the bone in the right knee. At aged 35 Bernadette died of her long-term illness on 16 April 1879, and her body lies in the Saint Gildard Convent......

Relic of St. Bernadette Soubirous. The rock next to the reliquary is a stone from the grotto where the Marian apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes is said to have appeared. ~ Photo by John Stephen Dwyer ~

Bernadette Soubirous was declared venerable by Pope Pius X and declared "Blessed" on June 2, 1925, by Pope Pius XI. On December 8, 1933 she was officially canonized a Saint by Pope Pius XI.....

Wax coverings on the body of Sainte Bernadette represent how her hands and face looked at the time of her death ~ Photo by Marina Genger ~

Bernadette Soubirous - sarcophagus in Nevers ~ Picture uploaded to wikipedia by Pjahr ~

I can remember as a child watching the film Song of Bernadette with my mother. I was so inspired by the life of St. Bernadette that I chose her for my Saint's name at my Confirmation. I still include the name Bernadette as my silent middle name....

Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy xx