Our Lady of Hope, Pray for Us!
I wanted to share this story really quickly with all of you. This is a very inspiring and thought provoking apparition. It is a great example of the power of prayer, especially children's prayers.
May Our Lady of Hope bless and protect our nation!
God bless you all! <3
Our Lady of Pontmain. In 1870 France was at a low ebb. The country was at war with Prussia and the Church was in decline. The news, particularly from Paris, was ominous. Prussian troops had surrounded the capital and the sound of shells and cannon-fire was heard every day. Thousands of young Frenchmen had been conscripted into the army, including forty from the little village of Pontmain. The Barbedette children-----Eugene, aged twelve, and Joseph, ten-----were altar boys at the parish church and got up early every morning to serve at Mass. Their elder brother, Auguste, was away fighting.
On the morning of January 17, 1871 old Abbe Guerin prayed for penitence and courage, and for the special help of the Blessed Virgin in the face of an imminent Prussian attack.
Later that day, just after five in the afternoon, Eugene and Joseph were helping their father with his cows. The three were startled by the sudden appearance of Jeanette Detais, a woman who fulfilled the role of parish messenger but also dressed the dead in their shrouds for burial. Happily, she brought news that Auguste was still alive.
+ THERE IS A CHARMING LADY!
Much cheered, Eugene went and frolicked in the snow for a while. The sky was like a velvet cloth, covered with stars like pearls. But the boy noticed one completely black area in the sky which he later described as 'like a hole in the heaven'. As he stared at the blackness it filled with a dazzlingly beautiful young woman about seventeen years old, wearing a blue dress and a golden crown.
Joseph looked up, saw the vision too and cried out, 'There is a charming lady!' The boys' father and Jeanette Detais came running to see what the commotion was all about, but saw nothing. Monsieur Barbedette, a kindly man, had no desire to disbelieve his sons; he was mystified and called his wife from the house. Madame Barbedette, less tolerant than her husband, gave them a slap and told them to stop telling lies. But the tearful boys insisted. So she sent for Sister Vitaline, a teacher at the local convent school.
The Sister was prepared to believe the boys' story even though she did not see the apparition herself. 'Sometimes the Blessed Virgin appears only to children,' she said. 'Remember Lourdes. I'll go and fetch some of my girls from the school.' She returned in a few minutes, bringing with her
eleven-year-old Francoise Richer and Jeanne-Marie Lebosse, nine. The girls were told nothing but saw the vision at once and corroborated what the boys had said.
eleven-year-old Francoise Richer and Jeanne-Marie Lebosse, nine. The girls were told nothing but saw the vision at once and corroborated what the boys had said.
A small crowd gathered around the Barbedettes' barn. The adults could see nothing remarkable, but the children joined the visionaries. A babe-in-arms lifted her hands towards the Glorious Mother, as if she wanted to be taken to her breast.
Jeannette Detais went to fetch Abbe Guerin, who stared into the starry night but confessed he could see nothing. The children began to report changes in the apparition: a blue circle around her, a triangle of stars like a medallion, and then a red Cross. Abbe Guerin took out his rosary and instructed the people to pray with him. Young Joseph called out, 'The Lady can hear our prayers. She's smiling. There is a banner by her feet!' Slowly and hesitantly, the four children read aloud the words which were being written on the banner: 'Say your prayers, my children. God will soon hear you. And my Son will let Himself be moved With pity.'
+ A CATASTROPHE AVERTED
The villagers fell to their knees and began to sing the Passiontide hymn 'My Sweet Jesu'. At this the Blessed Virgin appeared sad, and the children reported that she now held a larger red Cross with the figure of the crucified Savior upon it. Four candles appeared around the figure, and the people recalled the memorial candles that were lit every Sunday in church for the men of the village who were away at war: After three hours, during which the form of the vision went through many colorful changes, each one full of biblical symbolism, a veil seemed to cover the Virgin and she vanished.
The following day, news reached Pontmain that the Prussian general had canceled his attack on their region and withdrawn his troops. Reports declared that some of the Prussian soldiers had been seized with fear because they too had seen the vision. One said, 'A Virgin is shielding the town. We can go no further.' Within less than a fortnight the Prussians withdrew completely, an armistice was signed and the war was over. Nevertheless it had been a defeat for France. The Emperor Napoleon III was a prisoner and great tracts of eastern France were surrendered to the invaders.
+ PONTMAIN TODAY
Eugene later entered the priesthood and his brother Joseph joined the Order of the Immaculate Mary. In 1872 the diocesan bishop proclaimed that 'The vision of the Blessed Virgin bears all the marks of a supernatural and Divine event', and authorized the building of a shrine. The Barbedettes' barn was converted into a small church, while plans were put in hand for the building of a larger one. When the latter was completed it was declared a basilica and dedicated to Our Lady of Hope. Thirty thousand pilgrims and visitors are drawn to Pontmain every year by the story of the lady who appeared in 'the hole in heaven'.
The basilica is a vast, imposing building with tall towers at the west end. It dominates the little town and can be seen from a great distance around. In front of Our Lady of Hope is a statue of the apparition and to the rear, on the edge of the Park of Calvary, is a museum which tells the story of the events of January 17, 1871.
A most attractive sight is the Chapel of the Lights. The mortal remains of the visionaries and the Abbe Guerin are interred in the cemetery nearby.
In 1996 Our Lady of Hope shrine celebrated the 125th anniversary of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thousands of pilgrims visit each year to pray to the Queen of Peace and Unity.
I found this account from Regina Magazine. Please go and check them out as well for more Catholic inspiration and truth!
God bless!
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