The Relics of Saint Bernadette: What They Are and Why They Travel

In a glass reliquary in a quiet chapel in Nevers, France, the body of Saint Bernadette Soubirous has rested since 1925. She died in 1879. And yet — her body shows no signs of decomposition. For Catholics, this is a sign of holiness. For scientists, it remains an unexplained anomaly. For the millions who have made the journey to see her, it is simply overwhelming.

What are relics?

In Catholic tradition, relics are physical remains of saints — their bodies, bones, or objects they used during their lifetime. They are venerated as points of contact with the holy, and the practice dates to the earliest centuries of Christianity. The Church distinguishes between first-class relics (parts of the body), second-class relics (objects the saint owned or used), and third-class relics (objects touched to a first or second-class relic).

Bernadette's primary relics

The body of Saint Bernadette is the most significant relic. It lies in the Chapel of Saint Gildard at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Nevers, where Bernadette lived from 1866 until her death in 1879. When her body was exhumed in 1909 — thirty years after her death — it was found to be largely intact. Two further exhumations, in 1919 and 1925, confirmed the same remarkable state of preservation.

Her body was then placed in the reliquary where it rests today: dressed in her nun's habit, hands folded, face serene. A thin layer of wax covers the face and hands, applied after some discoloration was observed — but the underlying preservation remains medically unexplained.

Why do relics travel?

The Diocese of Nevers and the Diocese of Lourdes have authorized several international tours of secondary relics — typically a fragment of bone in a small reliquary — to allow pilgrims around the world to venerate Bernadette without traveling to France. These tours have visited the United States, Ireland, England, Australia, and many other countries.

The logic is pastoral: not everyone can travel to Lourdes or Nevers, but everyone can be moved by a moment of encounter. When the relics arrive in a city, they bring with them the full weight of Bernadette's story — her poverty, her courage, her suffering, and her faith.

The connection to the musical

Bernadette, the Musical is another form of that same encounter. A way to bring her story to people wherever they are.