16/07/2026
The Eighteenth Apparition
Bernadette Says Farewell
16th July 1858
On 4 June 1858 Bernadette receives her First Holy Communion. When asked whether communion or the apparitions were more special, she replies, “The two things go together, but cannot be compared. I was very happy in both.”
It is now time for Bernadette to grow smaller and for the miracle of Lourdes to grow bigger, with hundreds of thousands of people coming in pilgrimage, obeying the commands of Our Lady.
But she does say goodbye to the Holy Virgin. On the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, she feels the Virgin calling her. This time, to avoid the crowds, she goes by a different route, one which takes her onto the meadow on the other side of the river from the Grotto.
It is evening. The Grotto is boarded up by order of the prefect. Bernadette is disguised and hidden. They light a candle. Bernadette is pale and in ecstasy. She kneels and says the rosary.
This is the last time Bernadette sees Our Lady on this earth.
While there is sadness in this final apparition, Bernadette’s life in the other world of grace and sanctity, that promised to her by Our Lady in the third apparition, is now firmly established.
“Mary never looked more beautiful” says Bernadette after the apparition.
“But how were you able to see at such a distance, and with the barrier?”
“I saw neither the planks of wood, nor the River Gave. It was as if I was in the Grotto, at the same distance as the other times. I only saw the Holy Virgin.” Bernadette
Through Bernadette, we were offered a new moment of salvation – on her "yes" hung the whole divine plan to bring renewal to the Church. She brings a gift to the Church in the same way as St John the Apostle did. From the Cross, Jesus gave Our Lady to St John, telling him “to make a place in his home for her.” Because of the apparitions in Lourdes, Our Lady is honoured throughout the world – there are churches dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in every corner of the globe.
