Yes, Mary of Nazareth comes close to us - Far from the mundane circles where the law of appearances reigns. In accordance with the Gospel she shows us that God relies on the little ones and trusts them. "She was as young and as small as me..." Bernadette confided moreover, in relation to the Apparition.

All the "visionaries" who had the happy experience of meeting the Queen of Angels, and praying with her, high­light her spiritual proximity. She is particularly close to those who are joyful children of the father of Heaven, limpid and without pretension. Every time we say a Hail Mary in this spirit she is therefore there, she smiles at us even if we do not see her: this conviction of an invisible but real presence could lead us to change our manner of dealing with others. Our faith helps us to see what is beyond the surface.

In his eulogy of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus (270),
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (f394) tells us that, at the beginning of his episcopate in Neocaesaria, Gregory was disturbed in his faith when he studied the heresies. He was then granted an apparition of Mary with Saint John. Mary asked the Evangelist to unveil the mystery of faith to Gregory, who declared he was ready to conform to the desire of the Mother of the Saviour. John gave him a precise and complete formulary which Gregory put down in writing and preached in his Church from then on3.

Another example illustrated this time by Byzantine Art (6th century). In Constantinople, the Church of the Guides owed its name to a miracle which had taken place in Latin and Roman legends:
the Virgin Mary appeared to two blind men in Constantinople and took them to this church where She gave them back their sight. The Church is famous thanks to an icon attributed to Saint Luke which represents the Virgin Mary as a guide, the one who shows the way4.

In the Apophtegma of the Fathers, we find accounts of apparitions of the Lord, the angels, the prophets, and the saints to the monks of the desert, but rarely of apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

However it is when she raised her eyes full of tears to the picture of the Virgin Mary that Mary the Egyptian (5'h century) renounced her life of debauchery and promised to make amends to the end of her life.

The life of Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1833.)is full of Marian interventions: they began in childhood and accompanied him during his illnesses, his trials, the various phases of his spiritual warfare. On 25th March 1831, he had an apparition of the Mother of God sur­rounded -by celestial light and accompanied by John the Baptist, the apostle John and twelve martyred Virgins. This was a kind of vision of the triumphant.

Church, a foretaste of the Heaven which waited for saint Seraphim. In the prayers saint Seraphim wrote, the invocation to Mary is constant, particularly in the prayer of the heart, under the form of: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the intercession of the Mother of God, have mercy on me, a sinner"

The middle ages in the occident

If we are to believe the Life of the Saints, the accounts of miracles, of homilies, of exempla, the Virgin Mary appeared very frequently from the 12th  century onwards: "Image of the invisible, the Marian apparition gives a visual equivalent to the aesthetic contemplation offered to the eyes, in all the churches of God, through the light, the stained-glass windows, the statues"

During his spiritual conferences in the convent of Saint Jacques in Paris,
Saint Dominique liked to recall the exceptional grace Mary granted in the vocation of Reginald d'Orléans, an eminent lawyer and Dean of the Chapter Saint Aignan of Orleans.

The Order of the Trappists also enjoyed a few appa­ritions. Dominique Helion, as he was in a church during Lent 1407 in a vain attempt to deplore his sins, gave his last coin to an unknown woman with "a blue coat" who promised him, in exchange for these alms, the delivery from all his afflictions. He later understood that this beggar was none other than the Virgin Mary. In 1409 he entered the Trappe of Saint Alban near Treves.

Modern Era

- My son, the inhabitants of this region live in great sin. Hurry to Mariville and announce to the inhabitants that they are to examine their consciences, wipe away the stains of their past life and do penance for them. They must organise public devotion, implore mercy and announce divine justice. If they ignore my wishes then they must await the destruction of the fruit of their trees and their harvest.
- How will they believe me?
- These signs which you see in my hands will give credence to my wordsiy.
The apparition of the Virgin reminds us of prayers for the dead, Marian intercession, and pilgrimages: practices which Protestantism would ban.

Notre-Dame de Garaison, 1515

Towards 1515, a twelve year old shepherd, Anglese de Sagazan, claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary three times near the source of the river Cier. She asked for the construction of a chapel, which was finished in 1540.

Even if the cult here addressed a Virgin of pity, liaisons with the mystery of the Immaculate Conception appeared from earliest times. One could say that Garaison was, in the XVI'h and XVIIth centuries, one of the centres for the Catholic reconquest of South West France.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1531

On Saturday 9th December 1531, Juan Diego, an Indian, native of Cuathitlan, found himself on the hill of Tepeyac, north-west of the town of Mexico. The Virgin appeared to him and asked him to search out the bishop of Mexico so that a sanctuary should be built at that spot, so that, as she said,

"here, I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help, my protection, to the people... here I will hear their weeping, their sorrow, and will remedy, and alleviate, all their multiple sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."

The bishop asked for a_sign. Three days later the Virgin again appeared to Juan Diego and sent him to gather roses in a barren place. She spread the roses in Juan Diego's cape and sent him back to the bishop... When he opened the cape and let the roses fall at the bishop's feet an image of the Virgin was seen to have been imprinted on the cape.

 The bishop and all those present saw it and fell to their knees, contemplating it in amazement. The bishop begged the Virgin's forgiveness for not having immediately granted her wishes. He undid the cape from around  ]uan Diego's neck and installed it in his oratory provisionally.

The Apparition thereby moved the religious headquarters from the bishop's palace to the hill of Tepeyac, the area of the poor Indians where the requested Sanctuary was built. The bishop was "converted" to a new native perspective, more faithful to the Gospel. The Church found itself converted from the dominant to the dominated, in the spirit of the Magnificat, The Indian converted the bishop instead of being converted by him. The apparitions were the subject of canonical investigation only from 1665.

Spiritual centre of southern India, situated in the state of Tamil Nadu, and the diocese of Thanjavur, Vailankanni is a "Sanctuary for everyone", as described in an Indian national daily. The Hindu.

According to tradition a beautiful Lady carrying a baby appeared first to a young Hindu shepherd who was selling milk, asking him for a drink for her child. Some months later she cured the limp of a young orphan - also Hindu - sending him to ask for a chapel to be built.

The untouchables of India - the details or "oppres¬sed" - were touched by the account of these appa¬ritions. Very quickly, Christians and non-Christians alike crowded to this little fishing village. Portuguese sailors, saved from a shipwreck on 8"' September, four centuries ago, added to the notoriety of this Sanctuary today called "The Lourdes of the Orient".

18-19' July and 27 November 183

The apparitions of the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal.

Implicit gratitude
The place of the apparitions of the Virgin to Catherine Laboure in 1830 - 140 rue du Bac in Paris - has never received official recognition. Why? Catherine Laboure never wanted to officially declare that she was the visionary and there was therefore no canonical investigation. These apparitions remain therefore in the private domain. There has been, nonetheless, a recognition of the place -the Chapel-where the Miraculous Medal was revealed. From 1832, the Archbishop of Paris Mgr de Quelen gave authorisation for the Medal to be struck. Towards 1897 the Mass of the Miraculous Medal was recognised in Rome. Finally in May 1980 Pope John Paul II authentified the events himself by coming to the Chapel of the rue du Bac where he left his very beautiful "Prayer to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal" (31st May 1980).

Catherine Labouré was born 2nd May 1806 in Fain-Les-Moutiers (Côte d'Or) France. She entered the Order of the Daughters of Charity at the rue du Bac in Paris, was assigned to the Hospice of the rue d'Enghien in Paris from 1831. She died on 31s1 December 1876.

Her cause was introduced in Rome on 30th December 1907, Beatified on 28th may 1933, she was canonised on 27th July 1947.
During her novitiate at the rue du Bac Catherine had several apparitions. We normally remember only; those of the Virgin in July_and_November 1830. But they were preceded by visions of the heart of Monsieur Vincent (de Paul), and by that of Our Lord in the Eucharist.

On the night of 18th July 1830, the eve of the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, "she went to sleep thinking that St Vincent would obtain for her the grace of seeing the Virgin".

At eleven o'clock an Angel leads her to the Chapel where the Virgin Mary is seated in a chair in the choir.

Four months later, on 27th November, Catherine is again seized "with a great desire to see the Blessed Virgin". The apparition took place at half past five in the evening during prayer. She saw it from her place among the Sisters without anyone else noticing.

In December 1830 there was a third apparition of Our Lady.
The rays which shone from her hands filled the lower part of the vision so that the feet of the Virgin were hidden, a voice resounded in her heart: "The rays are the symbol of grace obtained by the Blessed Virgin for those who ask her. You will not see me again, but you will hear my voice during your prayers".

On 20th January 1842 in San Andrea delle Fratte in Rome, Alphonsus Ratisbonne, born jewish, so far an unbeliever, suddenly receives the gift of faith during an apparition of the Virgin Mary.

"I was in the church for a while when, suddenly, I had an indescribable feeling. I raised my eyes: the whole edifice had disappeared from my sight; just one chapel had, so to speak, concentrated all the light; and in the midst of this radiating light appeared, standing up on the altar, tall and bright, full of majesty and sweetness, the Virgin Mary such as She is on the medal; an irresistible force pushed me towards Her. The Virgin signaled me to kneel down; She seemed to say to me: "good". She did not speak to me, but I understood everything".

Alphonsus Ratisbonne was baptised in a Roman church known as Geùt, on 315t January 1842. He died in Ain Karem in the Holy Land (the presumed place of the Visitation) on 6'h May 1884, in the same year as his brother Theodore in Paris (10lh January).

The authenticity and the veracity of the conversion of Alphonsus Ratisbonne through the intercession of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal were officially recognised by Cardinal Constantin Patrizi, Vicar of Rome, in a decree on 3rd June 1842.

On 19Ih September 1846, two young shepherds, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Girard, aged 15 and 10, were looking after the flocks which had been entrusted to their care in La Salette (in Isére), in the French Alps at an altitude of 1800m. They suddenly saw a bright light, and approached.
A "beautiful lady" was sitting down in the light, her face in her hands. She stood up and invited them to come beside her. She spoke to them first in French, then
in the local patois. That evening they repeated what the Lady had said to their respective employers, then, on the next day, to the Parish Priest and the Maire of the village. In February 1847 they were again interrogated by the Abbe Francois Lagier, from Corps, who knew the local patois and on 22nd May 1847 by the tribunal of Grenoble. On 29"1 May, the Abbé Lambert obtained, in front of witnesses and from each child separately, an identical account to that of the Abbé Laeier.

Here are the main words of the Virgin Mary in La Salette:

Come closer my children, do not be afraid! I am here to bring you great news!
If my people do not wish to submit themselves, I shall be compelled to let go of my Son's arm. It is so heavy and weighs me down so much I can no longer retain it.

you will never be able to repay what I endured for all of you.
I gave you six days to work, the seventh I kept for myself, yet no one will grant it to me. This is what weighs down My Son's arm so much".

The diocesan enquiry ended by a statement from Mgr de Bruillard, Bishop of the diocese, on 9th September 1851, declaring that the apparition of the Virgin Mary in La Salette "bearing in itself all the criteria of truth, was sure and certain". On 1st May 1852, the Bishop founded a body of missionaries "to minister the sacrament of reconciliation". To the faithful, this straight away seemed to be the very purpose of the apparition of La Salette, which was very quickly named by popular acclaim as the "reconciler of sinners"

In a statement in 1854, Mgr de Ginoulhiac, the new Bishop of Grenoble, wrote: "These types of graces have not for direct consequence the sanctification of those who receive them personally, but they contain warnings and teachings which must be useful for everyone"

After difficult lives, but without ever denying the account, Maximin died in corps in 1875, and Melanie died in Altamara in the south of Italy in 1904.

Father Jean Stern, the historian of La Salette, places the message of the apparition as a follow up of biblical passages such as the reproaches to the seven churches at the beginning of the Book of Revelation:

"But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first" (2:4) to the church in Ephesus; "You tolerate that woman Jezebel" (2:20) to the church in Thyatira;

"You have a name for being alive, but you are dead" (3:1) to the church in Sardis; "I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (3:16) to the church in Laodicea - Wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16), but also gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42), prospect of judgement and fury of fire that will consume the adversaries (Hebrews 10:25-27). The sternness of the New Testament clearly goes beyond the words uttered by the Lady on 19th September 1846.

"If my people do not wish to submit themselves", Mary complains in La Salette in 1846. The Lady of the apparition reproaches her people for their lack of thanksgiving to God, and for blaspheming Christ when things go wrong. "If my people do not wish to submit, I shall be compelled to let go of my Son's arm. It is so heavy and weighs me down so much I can no longer retain it". Is it a vindictive arm destined to crush, or on the contrary, a saving arm like that of Moses in prayer who brought victory to his people (Ex 17:12)?

The Lady of La Salette explained. She said: "If I do not want my Son to abandon you, I must take it upon myself to pray for this continually". The occupation evoked by the Virgin Mary consists in protecting and saving. The disaster would come not from the presence of Her Son, but from His absence. A sentimental reading of the message understood it as if Mary had said: "If I wish My Son not to punish you". The saving dimension had disappeared.

This dimension also disappeared from the visual element. Attention will be drawn to the tears of Mary, but the crucifix will be reduced to an ornament, whereas it had great impact on Melanie and Maximin. Worse: it was sometimes completely removed to the point that the Virgin of La Salette was classified amongst the representations of Mary without Christ. If the crucifix was removed, it is probably because its salvific dimension was not understood.
Our Lady of La Salette carries the liturgical title of Reconciler of sinners. She gave us the Reconciler par excellence, Her Son. The reconciliation with God cannot ignore the integrity and the generosity in a mutual relationship. The pastoral liturgy of La Salette insists on reconciliation on a human level. However, in listening to Mary, the pastoral message of La Salette cannot ignore the submission to God and thanksgiving lived, in particular, on Sundays.

Eighteen apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous, born on 7th January 1844.The first two and the last two are in silence.

On 18th February, at the 3"' apparition, after asking Bernadette to come for fifteen days, a promise: "I do not promise you happiness in this world, but in the other".

Friday 19"' February: "get out of here, get out of here" shouts the devil. The Virgin Mary stares and puts him to flight.

Sunday 21st February, 6th apparition: a call which will be repeated in later apparitions: "Pray for sinners".

Wednesday 24th February, 8'1' apparition: "Penance, Penance, Penance".

Thursday 25'h February, 9th apparition. Two words from Mary: "Go drink at the spring and wash in it". "Eat the grass over there".

Saturday 27th February, 10th apparition: "Kiss the ground in penance for sinners".

Sunday 28th February, 11th apparition: Same exercise of penance. A word from the guard and the crowd imitates Bernadette: everyone kisses the ground.

Monday 1st March, 12th apparition: the crowd continues to pray and do penance.

Tuesday 2nd March, 13th apparition: a mission, "Go and tell the priests to have a chapel built here". The Virgin Mary also asks for people to come in pro¬cession.

Wednesday 3rd March, 14lh apparition: The Virgin Mary does not appear at the usual time, because of the presence of sinners; but when Bernadette comes later, the Virgin is here.

Thursday 4th March, 15th apparition: Large crowd, the Virgin Mary still does not give Her name despite the repeated request of Bernadette.

Thursday 25th March, 16th apparition: Mary reveals her name: "I am the Immaculate Conception".

Wednesday 7'h April, 17"'Apparition: miracle of the candle.Friday 16th July, 18th apparition.

There are therefore three progressive times between the appointment of 18"' February and the conclusion of 25th March.

Prayer (19-23 February).

Invitation to penance (24'h February) and peni¬tential exercises (25th February – 1st March) during Lent.

Message related to the creation of a pilgrimage {2nd to 4th March).

All the apparitions relating to penance occur during Lent. Three main gestures occur at each apparition of the Virgin Mary:

The recitation of the Rosary.

Smiles alternating with moments of sadness. Bernadette said that "She was sad when the Lady was sad, and she smiled when the apparition smiled". "I cry when the Lady cries".

Greetings. I do not know how I greeted, hut I under¬stand I must do everything as the Apparition does it".

"The Virgin younger than sin", contrasting with sin (4th apparition). The enemy of sin, Mary is the friend of the sinners. She calls for conversion. Two things are necessary to triumph over sin. The first comes from above: it is symbolised by the water. The second comes from men: it consists of prayer and penance. The sinless Virgin comes to the rescue of the sinners. To this effect, she proposes three ways which bring us back to the prolegomena of the Gospel: the spring of living water, prayer and penance.
A message in action: the water of purification and life; the pool where one bathes; the Way of the Cross in Christ's footsteps.

In the western part of France, in Mayenne, on the evening of 17lh January 1871, the Virgin Mary appears to seven children28, like an icon: Our Lady is dressed in a blue dress dotted with golden stars. Her head is covered with a black veil surmounted by a golden crown with a red border. In the upper part of the vision, there are three stars in a triangle. With outstretched hands and smiling, Mary looks at the children. Little by little the villagers gather and also see the three stars. When the Parish Priest Michel Guerin arrives, a little red cross appears on the left side of the Virgin's dress. A blue oval surrounds the apparition.

"Let us pray" says the Parish Priest. The parishioners recite the Rosary. During the incantation of the Magnificat, a scroll unfolds itself under the feet of the Virgin Mary. Golden letters appear on it one by one and are spelt out loud by the seers: "Pray, my children. God will soon grant your prayers. My Son allows Himself to be moved". The onlookers acclaim Mary as the Mother of Hope. "How beautiful She is", exclaim the children.

Suddenly a blood-stained crucifix appears before Mary. It is surmounted with the inscription "Jesus Christ". She shows it forth with sadness. Then the crucifix disappears, the Virgin stretches her hands out and smiles again. At the same time two little white crosses appear on her shoulders. During the evening prayer, a white veil begins to roll upwards and the Virgin Mary vanishes little by little.

The visual sign of Pontmain is destined for the children and for them alone. The picture is hidden from those over 13. The smile on the Virgin's face alternates with a look of "humility" according to the expression used by Joseph Barbedette. Humility represents the face of man falling to the ground and dirtied with soil, like that of Bernadette when she drinks at the murky spring on 25lh February 1858.

The reason for the alternating smile and look of humility is the situation of a people in distress and the presentation of the Cross of Christ which the Virgin Mary carries in her hands or on her shoulders; She invites everyone to carry it. Red crosses or white crosses, for the Cross lead from suffering to glory, from the Passion to the Resurrection.

The mystery of the Cross Is central to the message of Pontmain: The preoccupation of Mary is to point at it, to humbly pray to the Crucified with those who pray to Him. The apparition of the crucifix corresponds to the singing of the penitential song: "My sweet Jesus, here is, at last, the time to forgive our penitent hearts". The invitation to prayer is instantaneous. The Virgin takes part in it; she says the words of the prayer addressed to the Lord. The prayer in Pontmain is also that of a whole community. The parish group spontaneously comes together, even before the arrival of the Parish Priest. Despite the trial of the war, the improvised liturgy of 17"' January 1871 is mostly a prayer of praise and hope. It uses the prayer of the Church.

In September 1875, near Tours, in Indre, France, Estelle in Faguette (born in 1843) was gravely ill and, when she heard I there was no hope, she prayed to Our Lady to obtain a cure. On 15lh February 1876, she is dying. Mary appears to her and says: "Courage. My Son is going to help you''; on the 16th ; "You will be healed on Saturday". On that day, 19Ih February, Estelle is completely cured "against all the laws of nature", according to the doctors. Ten other apparitions follow. On 9"1 September, the ninth apparition, Our Lady gives Estelle the scapular of the Sacred Heart. On 8"' December, on her last visit, She asks her to spread the devotion. A shower of graces fall from her hands; "See all those graces, they come from My Son. I keep them in my heart". Estelle dies in Pellevoisin on 23rd August 1929 at 86 years of age. She is laid to rest in the cemetery of the village near George Bernanos (1888-1948) who, through his mother, had links with this village.
Mary is honoured in Pellevoisin under the title of "Mother of Mercy".