Our Lady of Pellevoisin

With Great Confidence and a Child's Simplicity

In 1875, Estelle Faguette, a 32-year-old woman suffering from an incurable disease, wrote a letter to the Virgin Mary, with great confidence and a child’s simplicity. She asked Our Lady to intercede with her Divine Son for her recovery, so she would be able to care for her elderly parents.

The Virgin Mary answered her letter by a series of fifteen apparitions, between February and December 1876, during which she gave Estelle a message of mercy and taught her what holiness was all about.

On February 19, 1876, Estelle completely recovered. In 1877, the Archbishop of Bourges authorized the public devotion to Our Lady of Pellevoisin, and Estelle's bedroom was transformed into a chapel.

In April 1900, Pope Leo XIII officially approved the Sacred Heart Scapular that Estelle had seen worn around the Virgin Mary’s neck, encouraging the faithful who chose to wear it. Estelle's recovery was officially declared miraculous in 1983 by Archbishop Vignancour, then Archbishop of Bourges.

In Honor of Sister Lucia

Even in old age, she remained

One of the little ones Jesus calls blessed.

She was a gift; a crystal fountain

That sang cheerfully in the midst of tears!

 

She suffered throughout her life the secret pain of

Exile from the Heaven

That she had once glimpsed!

She first had to become a child again,

As she was when she saw

Our Lady!

 

She was Heaven's faithful confidante, and

When at last she surrendered her weary body,

Her Mother came to take her home!

 

She will not forget us n Paradise.

She watches us with her smile,

She walks at our side!

Sister Maria Celina of Jesus Crucified
The Last Secret of Fatima

What the Virgin Mary taught Saint Joan of Valois

Saint Joan of Valois (1464-1505) was the second daughter of King Louis XI, King of France, and Charlotte of Savoy. At the age of 12, she was married to Louis, the Duke of Orleans, who never accepted this forced union. When he acceded to the throne in 1498, he asked Rome to annul his marriage. Free from her conjugal obligations, Joan founded the Order of the Virgin Mary in Bourges. The Virgin Mary taught Joan three things to help her advance on the road of pleasing God and achieving union with Christ: listening to God's Word, meditating on the Passion of Christ, and loving the Eucharist. Joan's confessor reported that the Virgin also asked Joan to be a peacemaker where she lived; to be her advocate through her words and conversations; to seek to establish peace among the people who lived close to her; to not say anything else than words of peace; to be concerned for the salvation of souls; not to listen to gossip or slander; to forgive always; and to always excuse others. Doing all this would lead her on the road to Life.

Sister Marie Emmanuel Monastery of the Annonciade

When the Holy Father and the President of Russia Venerate Mary Together

At the end of November, Vladimir Putin met Pope Francis at the Vatican. He gave him an icon of the Virgin Mary that they venerated together. “Who can measure the significance of that encounter between the Holy Father and the president of Russia? Vladimir Putin, giving an icon of the Blessed Mother of God to Pope Francis, and venerating her with respect and affection!” The requests and promises of Our Lady of Fatima come to mind: "A few days ago, " said Sister Lucia, "the Lord told me: ‘I ardently desire the propagation of the cult and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, because her Heart is the magnet that attracts souls to me, (…) the inexhaustible source which cause the living water of my mercy to gush forth on earth. (…) Pray very much for the Holy Father! He will perform it (the consecration), but it will be late. However, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save Russia; it is entrusted to this Heart. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and it will be converted, and the world will know a period of peace.’"