About

*Welcoming – We see Jesus in all who we encounter
“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Romans 15:7 
 
*Prayerful – We begin all we do in prayer with and for each other
“I call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God; incline thy ear to me, hear my words.” Psalm 17:6
 
*Moved by the Spirit – We listen and respond to the Holy Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22
 
*Family-Focused – we are part of the body of Christ and we nurture each member’s vocation – married life, single life, priesthood and religious 
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NRS
 
*Community Outreach – A faith-filled passion to generously be God’s hands and feet
“And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”  Matthew 25:40
 

St. Bernadette was born Marie Bernarde Soubirous (her nickname was Bernadette) on January 7, 1844.  Her family was very poor and Bernadette was in poor health all her life.  When she was 14 Bernadette began to have visions of Mary at a grotto beside a river.  Mary instructed the young girl to have a chapel built where people could wash in and drink from a spring, which appeared when Bernadette began to dig.

The visions Bernadette had totaled 18; during one of the visions she asked Mary her name and she responded, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”   Bernadette joined a convent in 1864 where she lived a happy and humble life before dying of tuberculosis.  Before her death the Basilica at Lourdes was begun and the healing waters are still something people seek each year.  Bernadette became a saint on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

St. Bernadette of Lourdes was best known as a saint who received visions from the Virgin Mary in a cave near Lourdes. Pope Pius XI canonized her as a saint in 1933. Her feast day is April 16th.