“The Blessed Virgin used me like a broom. What do you do with a broom when you have finished sweeping? You put it back in its place, behind the door!”
St. Bernadette Soubirous
When
September 19, 2026
Where
Washington, D.C.
When I saw this little girl venerating the relics of St. Bernadette, I couldn’t help but smile.
She was younger than Bernadette was during the apparitions in 1858, when she was just 14 years old.
The little girl was struggling to reach the glass reliquary so she could touch it with her prayer card. At the same time, she didn’t want to get off her knees!
She struggled a little, but in doing so, she brought smiles to so many faces around the shrine.
I couldn’t help but smile, too. And a little tear of joy came to my eye.
“That’s what holiness is,” I thought.
I just want to be like this little girl.
Like St. Bernadette.
I want to have this simple faith—the kind of faith that leads us to Heaven.
I want to go to Heaven!
St. Bernadette, pray for us!
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
