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Our Lady Of
Good Hope Catholic Church
The story
of the Apparition at Pontmain, France
Story of "Our Lady of Hope"
BACKGROUND
In the tenth century, a wave of barbarism had spread across Europe after the
break-up of the Empire of Charlemagne. Constant warfare menaced the life of
the average Christian. Yet in the year 930, Confidence in Mary, Mother of
God, triumphed over pessimism in a little town of Northern France. At
Mezieres, the first known shrine was erected in honour of Our Lady of Hope.
The next two centuries saw numerous sanctuaries dedicated to Mary under the
same or similar titles. In face, throughout the Middle Ages and even down to
the 17th Century, the  erection of new shrines to Our Lady of Hope proved the widespread
popularity of this devotion. Devotion to Our Lady of Hope was gradually
eclipsed by the newer and better publicized devotion of modern times.
The revival of devotion to Our Lady of Hope in modern times was due to the
zeal of a young Breton priest, Paul-Marie Prud'homme, later Canon of the
Cathedral of St. Brieuc. When a seven-year-old child, hopelessly ill of
typhoid fever, was cured through her intercession, the young priest threw
himself wholeheartedly into the Apostolate of Hope. That was in February
1848, and the revolution, which broke out later in the same month
providentially, aided his cause. The chapel of Our Lady of Hope became the
centre of a crusade of prayer for France.
The Apparition at Pontmain
My Son will let himself be moved with pity . . . 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. 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.'
+
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.
Visit the excellent web page from Pontmain and read about the 5 stages of Our
Lady’s visit. Double click the picture.
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