Product Description

Following up the acclaimed best-selling movie, Bernadette, the story of the apparitions of Our Lady in Lourdes to Bernadette Soubirous, this beautiful Jean Delannoy film tells the rest of the story of her life after the Marian visions- the life that made Bernadette a saint. The grotto at Lourdes is flourishing with many pilgrims, and Bernadette leaves to enter the convent of the sisters of Nevers to dedicate her life to God. Under the harsh rule of the Novice Mistress who "doesn't believe in apparitions", Bernadette, now Sister Marie Bernard, begins her life of achieving sanctity through prayer, faith, suffering, and deep charity toward all. With another moving performance by actress Sydney Penny, this film reveals incessant illness and suffering that St. Bernadette patiently, even cheerfully endured throughout her life in the convent, often repeating her prayer to "suffer and offer it to God." She went to her eternal reward in 1879, at the age of 35. When her body was exhumed many years later, it was found to be incorrupt. Today she lays in rest in a glass case in the chapel of the Sisters of Nevers, where millions have come to see "the little saint of Lourdes."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30963 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-01-01
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Review
On the whole, though, the story of Bernadette's passion is not dominated by her previous life as a visionary. The film is instead a story of a soul, a portrait of a young woman becoming a saint. Given the inherently less dramatic structure, The Passion of Bernadette doesn't tell a story the way the original film does, but the portrait of Bernadette's unassuming heroic sanctity and occasional tart rejoinders remains moving and worthwhile. --Steve Greydanus

Customer Reviews

How Bernadette Became a Saint
Countless people know the story about the famous apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes in 1858, and the shrine that millions now visit in Lourdes every year because of those apparitions, and the miraculous stream that Bernadette discovered at the direction of Our Lady. But not many people know about the "rest of the story", the story about Bernadette's life after those apparitions - the story of how she became a saint.

This well-made feature film tells that story, which in some ways is even more compelling than the first part of her story, the apparitions. Because it shows how she lived out the rest of her young life in a spirit of deep faith, charity, and humility, and how much suffering she endured with heroic virtue and courage. She suffered greatly both physically and spiritually, and thus the title of this film "The Passion of Bernadette." French filmmaker Jean Delannoy has a deep love and respect for Bernadette (even though he himself is not a Catholic) and wanted to tell the whole story of her life in film, a story of heroism in the small things of her daily life that inspired him to show why Bernadette really was such a great woman. (He also made the first film, "Bernadette".) Just seeing the Mother of God does not make someone a saint. Delannoy shows how this simple peasant girl had to struggle greatly with the fame and constant harassment those apparitions brought upon her, even in her own convent, and how she dealt with all that as well as her serious physical sufferings.

Actress Sydney Penny is even better in this sequel to her first film, BERNADETTE, as she captures the true spirit of Bernadette's kindness, strength of character, courage, humility and enduring faith in daily life. She shows how Bernadette was very similar to Therese of Lisieux in becoming a great saint through the "little way" of practicing heroic virtue in the many little things that make up our daily lives.

This unsung film on the "passion" of St. Bernadette is a powerful story and cinematic gem about what it means to become a saint through the ordinary events of everyday life. Bravo Bernadette!

Passion of Bernadette
A Ryan's review is very accurate. I would add for family viewing that there is one scene where Bernadett is administering medical care to an old nun with an advanced breast tumor (that is visually depicted) that may scare or put off younger kids. They depict a postulant getting sick at the sight of it. My 9 year old who has a weak stomach was a little put off by it, but the scene is not done in an inappropriate way as they treat the subject matter very respectfully. This incident is cited in one of the more thorough books about Bernadette's work, and i can see why they put it in. I enjoyed this movie even more than Bernadette.

"I Too Need Peoples Prayers ~ To Be Worthy Of Heaven"
Released in '89 'The Passion of Bernadette' begins where the film 'Bernadette' '88 ends. When her visions of the "Lady of White" come to an end the young seer decides to become a "Bride of Christ' and enters into a convent to dedicate herself to her Catholic faith and live the rest of her life as a nun. Since the film deals with Bernadette's life behind convent walls the non-Catholic viewers will probably find this film rather slow and mundane. By its very nature the life of a nun is one of prayer, humility and self-sacrifice, all of which do not translate well into an entertaining, cinematic format.

Having that said it is still a moving portrayal of a saint-in-training beautifully played by Sydney Penny. It's more than worthy of a watch or two for Catholics and seekers alike.