"In 1858, four years after the dogma of the Immaculate Conception
was proclaimed, Mary appeared to a very poor young girl, Bernadette
Soubirous, eighteen times between February 11 and July 16, 1858.
On March 25, 1858, on the feast of the Annunciation, Our Lady
revealed to the uneducated Bernadette, 'I am the Immaculate
Conception.' Because the dogma had been officially proclaimed less than
four years earlier, and Bernadette could not even have know of its
existence, great credibility was given to Bernadette by her repetition
of the Blessed Mother's word. It was an affirmation from Heaven of the truth of the dogma. In addition, Bernadette was told by Mary to
begin digging in the ground; she obediently did so, to the townspeople's
scorn. water immediately began flowing from the spot where
Bernadette dug, a tiny stream that since has grown to the size of a
small river. Thousands of healings have been reported as the result of
bathing in or drinking this miraculous water. The walls of the grotto
where the Blessed Mother appeared are lined with the crutches of the
lame who have walked away from the waters, totally healed."