Espace Bernadette Soubirous Nevers is a former

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

and the

motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

of the

Sisters of Charity of Nevers The Sisters of Charity of Nevers ( French: ''Congrégation des Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers''), also known as Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction, is a Catholic convent founded in 1680 in Nevers, Nièvre department, France, at the ins ...

Nevers Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and is where the body of Saint Bernadette Soubirous is enshrined. In 1970, it was converted into a sanctuary run by volunteers and a few sisters who tend to pilgrims and manage the complex.

History

In 1853,

Dominique-Augustin Dufêtre Dominique-Augustin Dufêtre (Lyon, 17 April 1796–Nevers, 6 November 1860) was the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nevers from 1842 to 1860. Born in Lyon, Dufêtre entered the seminary of Saint Irene and then entered the monastery of th ...

bishop of Nevers The Diocese of Nevers (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Nièvre, in the Region of Bourgogne. Suppressed by the Concordat of 1801 and united to the See of Autun, it was re ...

, assigned the Church of Saint Lupus and Saint Gildard in Nevers to be rebuilt as a religious house for the

. By that time, not much was left but a rectangular building; the remains of the thirteenth-century building were used to build the Saint Gildard Convent, which was officially consecrated on 15 July 1856. It became the

of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers, where in 1866,

Bernadette Soubirous Bernadette Soubirous, Sisters of Charity of Nevers, SCN (; ; ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Bernadette of Lourdes (religious name, in religion Sister Marie-Bernarde), was a miller's daughter from Lourdes ( in Occitan), in the Dep ...

entered for her

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

following the

apparitions Apparition may refer to: Supernatural *Apparitional experience, an anomalous, quasi-perceptual experience * A vision, something seen in a dream, trance, or religious ecstasy *Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear ...

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is one the Marian devotions, devotional names or titles under which the Catholic Church venerates the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary. The name commemorates a series of Lourdes apparitions, 18 apparitions reported by ...

, and where she died on 16 April 1879. Her body was initially buried in a special crypt, separate from the graves of other sisters. In 1970, the convent was changed into a sanctuary and now the cells are used as hotel rooms. The chapel was also significantly transformed, changing its Tridentine altar into a freestanding, plain

Novus ordo The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or , is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and its liturgical books were published in 1970; those books were then revised in 19 ...

altar following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, with the

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

moved to a

side altar A side-altar or bye-altar is an altar that is subordinate to the central or high altar in a church. The term is generally applied to altars situated in bays of the nave, transepts, etc. Side-altars may be recessed in a side-chapel, or simply bu ...

. Saint Bernadette's glass sarcophagus lies to the right of the main altar.

Facilities

The convent was transformed into a sanctuary, which significantly changed the interior. The monastic cells of the nuns became lodging rooms for pilgrims, the cloister and its huge glass windows overlooking the flowerbeds. Its sunlit corridors lead to lounges, reading rooms, conference rooms, and dining rooms, as well as multipurpose rooms with professional equipment for up to 250 people. Located in a unique setting in the town centre, Espace Bernadette provides accommodation for up to 200 guests, in bedrooms on the first and second floors. The novitiate room was converted into a chapel, and is where in July 1866, Bernadette in her traditional Pyrenean garb recounted the apparitions for the last time to 300 Sisters. The infirmary, where Bernadette died at the age of 35, is now the Holy Cross Oratory. During her 13 years at Saint Gildard, she served as assistant nurse, head nurse and

sacristan A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretal ...

during which time she was often ill. Additionally, food is served in the dining rooms seven days a week, where up to 200 people can be catered for daily. Espace Bernadette rooms

Museum

In 1958, the Sisters of Charity built a museum to teach pilgrims about the life of Saint Bernadette, especially her sufferings. The museum highlights various key places in Saint Bernadette’s life: the village dungeon her family lived in, the Grotto of Massabielle, the Hospice of Lourdes, and the convent at Nevers. Photographs and artefacts on display also help visitors understand her daily life.

Bernadette's Chapel

Bernadette’s body, when exhumed for the process of

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

, was found to be

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness. I ...

to the surprise of those present. On 3 August 1925, following her beatification by

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

, Bernadette’s body was moved to a glass reliquary in the convent chapel. Built on the ruins of Saint Gildard’s Abbey, the simple and bright chapel was consecrated in 1856 when the community of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers moved into the building, and later changed its name to Bernadette's Chapel when the convent was converted into a sanctuary.

Grotto

A replica of the Grotto at Massabielle was created in 1884, five years after Bernadette’s death, as demanded by Marie-Thérèse Vauzou, the mother superior of the convent who was also Bernadette’s

mistress of novices In the Christian Church, a novice master or master of novices (), is a member of an institute of consecrated life who is responsible for the training and government of the novitiate in that institute. In religious institutes for women, the novice ...

. It was built to resemble the Grotto in Lourdes as it would have looked in 1858, and it carries a piece of the rock the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

stood on in the upper alcove. The Grotto also has an altar and a rack where pilgrims may light and offer candles with an image of Saint Bernadette, sold on site.

Saint Joseph's Chapel

Bernadette was interred in Saint Joseph's Chapel for 40 years. The chapel is located in the middle of the sanctuary gardens, at the end of an avenue lined with lime trees. This chapel retains its Tridentine altar, unlike the main, former conventual chapel. A stained image of Our Lady of Lourdes shines above the altar, while nearby is a statue of Our Lady of the Waters. The paths which cross the large gardens lead to this statue in front of which Saint Bernadette often prayed. She would say: “It is she who reminds me most of the Lady I saw.”

References

{{coord, 46.9923, 3.1519, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title 1856 establishments in France Religious buildings and structures completed in 1856 Christian buildings and structures in France Convents of the Catholic Church in Europe Convents in France Nevers Sisters of Charity of Nevers