After several meticulous investigations conducted by Msgr. Casimir Wicart, the Bishop of Laval, the Apparition of Our Lady in Pontmain was approved on February 2, 1872, feast of the Purification of Mary. “We judge that the ImmaculateVirgin Mary, Mother of God, truly appeared on January 17, 1871, to Eugene Barbedette, Joseph Barbedette, Françoise Richer and Jeanne-Marie Lebossé, in the hamlet of Pontmain. “We authorize devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in our diocese under the title of Our Lady of Hope of Pontmain. In answer to the wishes expressed to us from every quarter, we have formed the plan to raise a sanctuary in honor of Mary on the very ground above which She deigned to appear.” Today, pilgrims to Pontmain will find a magnificent Gothic basilica there. In this blessed shrine, our good heavenly Mother continues granting Her benevolent protection to Her children of the earth. On the esplanade in front of the basilica, a pillar surmounted by a large statue of the Virgin marks the place where Mary appeared. Sources: Anne Bernet, Notre‐Dame de France ‐ 52 pèlerinages (Éditions de Paris: Paris, 2010), pp. 391‐401; Fr. A. M. Richard, L’événement de Pontmain (Laval, 1871); Fr. Joseph Barbedette, O.M.I., Pontmain le 17 janvier 1871 – Récit d’un voyant (L’œuvre de Saint‐Paul: Bar‐le‐Duc, 1896); Marquis de la Franquerie, La Vierge Marie dans l’histoire de France (Résiac: Montsûrs, 1994); J. M. de Gaulle, Apparition du Pontmain (J. Lefort: Paris, 1873); Arthur Loth, Le miracle en France au dix‐neuvième siècle (Desclée de Brouwer: Lille‐Paris, 1894), pp. 227‐258; Louis Colin, Notre‐Dame de Pontmain et Son message à la France (Bloud & Barral: Paris, 1894); Fr. P. Ferrand, Manuel de l’Archiconfrérie de Notre‐Dame des Victoires (Tardy‐Pigelet: Bourges, 1895); Fr. B. Bion, Mais priez!... (Dudragne‐Bordet: Château‐Chinon, 1877); DomAntoine du Bourg, Du Champ de bataille à la Trappe, le Frère Gabriel Mossier (Perrin: Paris, 1914), p. 53; Lucien Misermont, Sœur Catherine Labouré et la Médaille miraculeuse (Lecoffre: Paris, 1931); The Apparition of the Most Blessed Virgin on the Mountain of La Salette (Magnificat: Mont‐Tremblant, 1989 – new ed.); Rev. Can. Foisnet, Notre‐Dame de Pontmain, (Fleurus: Paris, 1995 – new ed.); Official website of Abbé Michel Guérin: www.abbemichelguerin.fr; Histoire, Patrimoine et Noblesse de Bretagne: www.infobretagne.com; Father Paul‐Marie Prud’homme; “M. Dufriche des Genettes, curé de Notre‐Dame des Victoires,” Les Contemporains, No. XX (Bonne Presse: Paris, 1892); Fr. Anselme Longpré, Pontmain et notre temps (Montreal, 1983 – brochure). had become a Coadjutor Brother with the Jesuits, a missionary in China from 1897 to 1945, “admirable for his regularity and discretion.” A final witness was a little girl aged two years and one month, AUGUSTINE BOITTIN. Her mother, intrigued by the noise of the comings and goings and the exclamations of the crowd, took her in her arms and went out to see what was going on. When she arrived at the barn, Augustine cried out in her childish speech, clapping her hands joyfully: “The Zesus! the Zesus!” – the Jesus, the Jesus. A shiver of excitement ran through the crowd. Her mother tried in vain to distract her by showing her various other objects, but nothing helped. The child’s eyes remained stubbornly turned to theVision and she continued clapping her little hands. Augustine was very young at the time of the Apparition and soon forgot both what she had seen and Our Lady’s message. She stopped going to church and lived in religious indifference. But Mary was watching over Her privileged one: before her death, Augustine asked to go to confession and received the sacraments. She died on May 8, 1942.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4MjU1NQ==