Every year, millions of pilgrims from around the world visit the foothills of the French Pyrenees to walk in the footsteps of Saint Bernadette at Lourdes. It's one of the world's busiest Catholic pilgrimage sites with around five million pilgrims visiting each year. It's estimated that over 200 million people have visited the Marian shrine and sanctuary since 1860.

Why do they come? It's a common misconception that most pilgrims visit Lourdes to experience a miracle. However, many are searching for strength and guidance in times of difficulty or distress. For many sick pilgrims, Lourdes offers the opportunity to bathe in the healing waters of the spring and to find peace with their prognosis rather than to seek a miraculous cure.

They also come to walk in the footsteps of a poor 14 year old girl, named Bernadette Soubirous, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in a series of 18 apparitions at a Grotto on the banks of the river Gave between February and July 1858.

Hers is a remarkable story that led from suffering and surrender to sainthood. We can take solace and draw closer to the Lord and His Blessed Mother through Bernadette's story.

In this audiobook, produced in partnership with the Catholic Truth Society, we listen to the message of St Bernadette - a message that is as clear today as it was in the 19th century.

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This book, written by Vernon Johnson, was published by the Catholic Truth Society (CTS). The text was revised and updated by Donal Foley in 2008. You can listen to this audiobook version for free. Read by Pierpaolo Finaldi.

Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes