Françoise and Jeanne-Marie, aged 11 and 9 respectively, were two little Breton girls who were boarders with the nuns at Pontmain. On the evening of January 17, they were hastily fetched, along with a companion, to “see something beautiful.” Their little companion did not have the joy of “seeing,” whereas Françoise and JeanneMarie immediately exclaimed, “Oh, the beautiful Lady!” After the Event, many pilgrims wanted to question the visionaries. They lent themselves heartily to these demands, even if they sometimes regretted missing out on their recreations. “We have to speak,” said the girls with resignation, “it is the Blessed Virgin who wants it. One day, an officer passing through Pontmain asked Jeanne-Marie about her vision. Then, all of a sudden, putting his sword to her chest, he said to her in a terrible voice: “You lie! If you don’t want to confess it, I’ll kill you.” Trembling but convinced, the poor child answered, “I can’t say anything other than what I saw.” All her life, Françoise Richer remained what she had already been at the time of theApparition: a simple, deeply Christian soul, fulfilling her daily duty “to please the good Lord and the goodVirgin.” At first she devoted herself to teaching in several country schools. Later she came to work for Eugene Barbedette, the parish priest, to tend his rectory. She died in his home on March 28, 1915. Jeanne-Marie entered the Sisters of the Holy Family of TalenceBordeaux, where she received the name of Sister Saint-André. Like the other visionaries, she distinguished herself by her humility and her patience. Paralyzed for the last eleven years of her life, she accepted her ordeal with courageous resignation until her death on December 12, 1933. In addition to the four visionaries retained as official witnesses of the Apparition, three other children saw the Virgin on that memorable evening in January 1871. Little EUGENE FRITEAU, six and a half years old, was already very sick at the time of the event. However, at the invitation of Sister Marie-Édouard, his grandmother dressed him warmly and carried him to Barbedette’s barn. What a joy for the innocent child to contemplate his heavenly Mother! It was not long before he saw Her again... in Heaven. A little angel on loan to the earth, Eugene died on May 4, 1871, having had the good fortune to make his First Communion a few days earlier. His piety, his respect for the priest and the things of the Church, his eagerness to help, had given him the nickname “the little saint.” When AUGUSTE AVICE, five years old, arrived in front of theGuidecoq house, he exclaimed joyfully: “Oh! the beautiful Lady! She is looking at me and smiling at me!” But his father promptly imposed silence on him. Docile, the little boy did not speak of the event, but he never forgot the heavenlyVision. Years later he would declare on three occasions, including once on his deathbed, that he had seen the Virgin in Pontmain. In the meantime, Auguste Magnificat Vol. LVI, No 5 139
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