APPARITIONS 1 TO 18
THE FIRST APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
THURSDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 1938 - FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE SEVEN DOLOURS (1)
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning. As usual Jeanne-Louise was tending her cows in a meadow behind her house. She was seated on an embankment while knitting and watching the animals. She was 28 years old.
Suddenly a very bright light appeared in which a very beautiful Lady was standing. Jeanne-Louise was very frightened and fell on her knees. The apparition said to her :
"Do not be afraid at all. 1 do not wish you any harm. You will see Me at different times in the coming years and then 1 will tell you who 1 am and what 1 request.
A new war is threatening Europe. 1 shall delay it by a few months (2) because 1 cannot be deaf to so many prayers being offered to Me for peace, down at Lourdes."
The Blessed Virgin was inexpressibly beautiful and seemed to be about 17 or 18 years old. Here is the description that Jeanne-Louise gave of Her :
"The Blessed Virgin came down to about 6 or 7 metres above the ground. She was dressed in a blue gown, bordered in white, which reached to below Her feel Her belt, cloak and veil were white. She stood upright with Her head slightly inclined to the left, Her hands joined in front of Her breast and a Rosary on Her right arm. She was surrounded with light. "
The Blessed Virgin had appeared above a small rocky prominence where only gorse and brambles grew. Here for many years the apparitions would continue. After each apparition an indefinable perfume remained and even flowers such as camellias and chrysanthemums were impregnated with it.
(The various descriptions we have just given about this first apparition apply to all the others. When new details occur, they will be related in the appropriate place).
(1) The first apparition took place on the day following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14th September), the Pardon of Lochrist (A Pardon is a special pilgrimage day in Brittany).
(2) After the failure of the meeting at Gothenburg between Chamberlain and Hitler on 22nd September 1938, France ordered a general mobilisation However the war was temporarily pushed back by the Munich Accord, signed on 29th-30th September 1938.
THE SECOND APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
SATURDAY 7th OCTOBER 1939 - FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
For a year, Jeanne-Louise continued with her everyday life without making anything known. On Saturday the 7th October she felt urged by an interior call to return to the place where she had seen the Blessed Virgin for the first time. From this day all the apparitions were preceded by this same interior call which prepared her for the coming of the Blessed Virgin.
"The World continually offends God by very grave sins, especially sins of impurity, whence comes this war for their punishment(1). But Heaven is not insensitive to so many miseries and comes to provide you with a solution. You will soon obtain peace if you know how to acquire it, which is that thepeople must lead a life of prayer, sacrifice and penance and that above all the children be gathered together very frequently to pray and to recite the Rosary followed by the "Parce Domine" for sinners. Speak about this to your Director(2) and ask him to publish this Message(3). 1 will give a supernatural force to his words to touch hearts.
Continue every day reciting your own Rosary but give more attention to meditating on the mysteries because without doubt the Rosary without mysteries is like a body without a soul".
(1) On Sunday 3rd September 1939, France entered into war against Germany (the second mobilisation).
(2) In obedience to the Blessed Virgin, Jeanne-Louise made known to her confessor the heavy secret which she had guarded for one year. He obliged her to silence and she always observed this.
(3) The Message was not made public.
THE THIRD APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
THURSDAY 7th DECEMBER 1939 - EVE OF THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
"Increase the fervour of your prayers and sacrifices as Christmas time draws near and Jesus will bring you a year of peace as you all desire. Arm yourselves therefore with prayer and sacrifice while your soldiers use material arms. That is what is necessary to obtain a rapid victory. If My requests are listened to, the war will end about mid-October 1940".
THE FOURTH APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
SUNDAY 24th DECEMBER 1939 – CHRISTMAS EVE
The Blessed Virgin gave a Message and then concluded :
"You will Keep this Message secret" (1) .
(1) This Message was kept secret and was only known by Jeanne-Louise. It is to be noted that secrets have also been given in other places of apparitions : the Rue du Bac, La Salette, Lourdes and Fatima. Some were later made known, for example, La Salette in 1879, while others were not (Lourdes).
THE FIFTH APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
TUESDAY 2nd APRIL 1940
"The prayers are much less numerous than in the first months of the war. This negligence will bring suffering for you ail, but principally for your soldiers. Many of them will become prisoners, others will die from starvation and hardship on enemy soil. Later, what a lot of innocent blood will be shed there(1). The war will be harsh and long if people do not pay attention to the Messages 1 have brought you."
(1) In Europe, ten million Jews were deported and six million of these perished in the camps, including many children.
In France, deportations began in May 1942 (Raid at Hiver Velodrome, 16th July 1942). The approximate number of French deported were :
about 1 00,000 on racial grounds (less than 5000 returned)
about 100,000 from the resistance movement (about 30,000 returned).
THE SIXTH APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MAY 1940 (1)
"Children of France, soon grave hours will sound for you. The danger which threatens you is the invasion of your country by the enemy (2) but 1 will intervene in time - if you all, more united than ever, shout out your hope to the One who alone can do everything, who holds the World in His Hands and has control over the destiny of nations and the minds and wills of their leaders, if you all join together in praying to the God of Mercy to hasten the end of this terrible storm with His mighty Hand.
Because of these apparitions you will have a lot to suffer. Some will doubt you but you will find on your path friends who will understand and guide you, and even follow you. You can do a great deal for sinners by accepting your sufferings and troubles with resignation and without complaining. You have in the parish a priest who is a great and faithful servant of God, a humble and mortified man."
(1) It is worth noting in this present context that the special Feast of Our Lady of the Armies took place at Plounevez-Lochrist on the 24th May.
(2) From the 12th to the 15th May, invasion at Sedan. From the 24th May to the 3rd June, the encirclement of Dunkirk. The front was breached et the Somme on the 6th June 1940, at the Aisne on the 7th June. The Germans entered Paris on the 14th June 1940.
THE SEVENTH APPARITION
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MONDAY 7th OCTOBER 1940 - FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
"I am the Mother of Christ, this Christ so dearly loved in your Parish.(1) I wish to be honoured and invoked in this place under the title of OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY." (2)
(1) The Blessed Virgin speaks here of the village of Lochrist (7 kilometres from Kerizinen)-where a monastery dedicated to the Holy Cross was erected at the beginning of the 5th century (400 A.D.).
Later on Lochrist became an important place of pilgrimage, now forgotten. The principal special feasts were those of the Discovery of the Holy Cross (3rd May) and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14th September). Today Plounevez-Lochrist (which in Breton means 'The new village of Christ') has become the centre of the parish.
(2)&<#9;In 1635 the Dominicans from Morlaix founded a Rosary Confraternity in the parish. Each Sunday before Vespers the Rosary was recited at Plounevez-Lochrist up to the beginning of the 1 939-45 war. Jeanne-Louise was enrolled in this Confraternity on the day of her baptism, like the other children of the parish.
THE EIGHTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
TUESDAY 5th MAY 1942
"Soon Russia will make a helpful contribution to the war and this will come as a great shock to your enemies (1) but from that stage pray, pray a great deal, 0 Christian souls, for this vast country hostile to the Church. Otherwise the Communists will infiltrate almost everywhere after the war, even in France, and the Church will be severely harassed by them. Ask Jesus through My Immaculate Heart for the return of sinners and the conversion of Russia. (2)As often as possible, go to Communion on the first Saturday in honour of My Immaculate Heart, something which 1 have asked for many years without anyone paying attention. " (3)
(1) Hitler attacked Russia on Sunday 22nd June 1941. On 16th October 1941, he declared "Soviet Russia is liquidated as a military force". But on 3rd February 1943 - this was the "great shock" - the German disaster at Stalingrad occurred. The repercussions of this first German defeat were considerable throughout the whole world.
(2) This Message about Russia coincides exactly with the beginning of the Secret of Fatima (given to Lucy on 13th July 1917) which, at the direction of His Holiness Pius XII, was made known on June 12, 1942 through Cardinal Schuster (Archbishop of Milan). Jeanne-Louise could not have had any knowledge of this in May 1942. On October 31, 1942, Pius XII consecrated the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with a veiled reference to Russia.
(3) On December 10, 1925 Our Lady asked Lucy of Fatima to make known and have practised the devotion of "the Five First Saturdays of the Month".
This request met with many contradictions and was not made public until September 15, 1939, nine days after the start of the war. Refer to the list of requests (Appendix 1).
THE NINTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
SUNDAY MAY 2, 1943 - EVE OF THE FEAST OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY CROSS
The first silent apparition of the Blessed Virgin. (1)
(1) Jeanne-Louise's confessor may have been taken aback by the silent apparition of Our Lady since from that date he asked her to write down all the Messages received in a notebook. The result was one of total precision "since –said Jeanne-Louise- the worlds of the Blessed Virgin remained engraved in my mind".
THE TENTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 1944 - FEAST OF THE PURIFICATION OF OUR LADY
"However much 1 ask for prayers and sacrifices, 1 am not listened to.(1) Nevertheless look at the horizon, well beyond the big clouds and you will see a dim light which will shine out on a day not too far distant ; this will be your deliverance, (2) leading to the end of the war,(3) but if the world does not do penance and return to God, fresh and more severe punishments are to be expected. A tremendous storm will break out over sinful humanity. You can mitigate it by doing your daily tasks for Christ, all united through the meditated Rosary offered for sinners.
0 lust and upright souls, have compassion for this multitude of souls who lose their way each day in worldly pleasures without any thought about their eternal destiny.
0 pure and generous souls pray, pray a great deal for the legion of souls which unceasingly offends My Son cruelly by very grave sins against purity.
Let every Christian become an apostle for their sinful brothers, seeking out and bringing back to the fold the souls that have gone astray so that all united may live with and for Christ.
Only then will humanity-today so hideous under the leprosy of sin-see the commencement of the era of peace which will last until the end of time.
You should all recite the meditated Rosary very frequently to ward off from France revolution and religions persecutions. Everyone should do what they can and 1 will do the rest. 1 will intervene, but if My advice and requests are rejected, as happened in 1939, convulsion would be inevitable."
Then the Blessed Virgin gave Jeanne-Louise this prayer, to be recited often
"O Jesus, 1 entrust myself to you, through the Sorrowful and immaculate Heart of Mary, to be the consolation of Your Sacred Heart for ever.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, may Thy Kingdom come through the Sorrowful and immaculate Heart of Mary, to be the consolation of Your Sacred Heart for ever.
(1) It would soon be five years since Our Lady had asked that the Messages be made public, but nothing had been done yet.
(2) 6 June, 1944 - The landing in Normandy
15 August 1944 - The landing in Provence
19/25 August 1944 - Paris is liberated
(3) The Armistice is signed et Rheims on Monday 7 May, 1945.
On May 8, Germany capitulates.
THE ELEVENTH APPARITION
SUNDAY, 1st MAY 1944 (1)
At the place of the apparitions, Jeanne-Louise saw : "a large picture divided into two parts. The first part showed men trying to raise flags everywhere. Some priests were trying to stop them but they were being threatened, insulted, stoned. In a corner the devil was merrily trying to incite them... In another corner the Blessed Virgin was crying sadly. Nearby, an inscription read : "Image of Communism."
The second part showed a group of girls dressed in blue and white who were reciting the Rosary constantly. Nearby, an inscription read "Salvation against Communism"."
(1) In 1955, Pope Pius XII gave a religions character to the Workers holiday. He named the 1st May "The Feast of St. Joseph, Patron of the Worker."
THE TWELFTH APPARITION
MONDAY OCTOBER 7, 1946 - FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
In the sky, surrounded by a bright light, Jeanne-Louise saw : "At the place of the apparitions, a Rosary with the crucifix and the chain golden and the beads white. This Rosary was encircled by an inscription :
TAKE COURAGE,THE FAITHFUL DEVOTEES OF THE ROSARY WILL ONE DAY DEFEAT COMMUNISM THROUGH THEIR PERSEVERANCE."
THE THIRTEENTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4, 1947 - THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH
The Apparitions have not yet been officially revealed. The Bishop of Quimper and Leon, Monsignor Yves-Marie Duparc died in 1946 after an episcopate of 38 years, leaving behind him the reputation of saintliness.
It seems that he was never told about the apparitions at Kerizinen. Monsignor André Fauvel succeeded him up until 1968.
However it is generally believed that Jeanne-Louise's confessor did not remain completely silent. He spoke of these matters not only to the priests of nearby parishes but also at other meetings, giving cautious indications without any names.
Jeanne-Louise:"Following the advice of a saintly person (1), 1 dared to ask for a miracle to authenticate the apparitions. The Blessed Virgin smiled at my request and said":
"I bless the person who advised you to ask for this because, while remaining very prudent, she did not suspect the apparitions. 1 offer you a return to full health" (2)
Jeanne-Louise :" l refused, hoping instead through my sufferings to help in saving sinners (3); when 1 suggested to her other sick persons, She replied ":
"There are not sufficient prayers".
Then Our Lady gave Her Message :
"Listen and remember carefully what 1 am going to tell you for you must pass it on immediately to M.B...... your original Director whom 1 ask to guide you spiritually here below, from now on. Tell him that he should, at My request, make the necessary request to his superiors so that he may succeed your pious and zealous rector in this parish, since in a while he will be unable to continue. (4) Oh! It will not be an easy matter to revitalise this parish which has slid down a dangerous slope misled by atheists, but 1 hall be with him. Let him begin by improving this devotion which u all have here for Christ, My Son and then he should establish in he parish the Association of the Children of Mary, chosen from the weaker sex and under your direction. (5).
These associates will recite their meditated Rosary daily. heir motto will be : "ALL FOR JESUS THROUGH MARY". Their aim 111 be to console the Heart of Jesus through My Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, practising in particular the three great virtues of HUMILITY, SWEETNESS and MERCY. Then 1 will bless this parish and the miracle which you have asked from Me today will be realised for you will have the joy of seeing a great conversion, especially among the distracted youth who think only of pleasure and diversion. You will have the joy of seeing this parish flourish again with virtues and piety as it used to be, gathered around its priests to love and serve God as befits good Christians.
Include in your prayers a special intention which is for the young people of France.
You will see Me again on Tuesday, 7th October."(6)
(1) This was a priest. Subsequently, Jeanne-Louise was asked by the pilgrims to put many questions to the Blessed Virgin. But she said that once she was in the presence of the Blessed Virgin, she could not remember what questions she was to ask ; "In fact 1 could only ask the questions that Our Lady wished."
(2) During her infancy and childhood, Jeanne-Louise suffered from poor health (Poliomyelitis). She had wanted to become a nun with the Sisters of Saint Thomas of Villeneuve, a nursing Order which Jeanne-Louise was familiar with because she had been for treatment there on numerous occasions. Her reception had been turned down because of her health. In 1936 she was taken to Lourdes as a sick person by the parish. She asked for an improvement in health of Our Lady there so as to be able to do the farm work. She came back from Lourdes in better health but not cured, so we understand why Our Lady now offers to cure her completely.
(3) Was this not what Our Lady had requested of her earlier (6th Apparition, May 1940) ? "You can do a great deal for sinners by accepting your sufferings and troubles with resignation and without complaining."
(4) In 1952, Father A. retired as parish priest of Plounevez-Lochrist due to poor health.
(5) In accord with the request of the Blessed Virgin, Jeanne-Louise wrote to Father B...... who had been transferred in 1 945 from Plounevez-Lochrist to South Finistere. In due course he replied. "I have left Plounevez-Lochrist and no longer have the necessary grace to direct the souls of that parish. Go to your new confessor."
Jeanne-Louise also gave the full hand-written Message to the clergy at Plounevez-Lochrist, as almost always, on the day after the apparition. She received no reply.
A very important fact in relation to the transmission of this Message is as follows : It was handed in on Sunday October 5, 1947, after confession - the latter was overheard by a little girl who then told the whole village that Jeanne-Louise saw the Blessed Virgin.
(6) In spite of the announcement of the next apparition, the clergy did not come to Kerizinen on that October 7, 1947. This was all the more regrettable since it was the only time that Our Lady announced the date of the next apparition in advance.
THE FOURTEENTH APPARITION
(1) Unlike the previous Messages which are the spoken words of the Blessed Virgin, this paragraph has been written by Jeanne-Louise. She herself explained that she did not write the very words of the Blessed Virgin because Our Lady made it known that She did not wish it so.
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1947 - FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
Jeanne-Louise :"The Blessed Virgin spoke to me once again about all the chastisements and trials which will rain down on France and Europe and She encourages us more and more to pray a lot and to do penance to avoid these chastisements or at least to ameliorate them(1) Then She taught me how to say the Rosary of the Holy Wounds of Christ (2)and said :
"At each word which you will pronounce of this Rosary, Jesus will be moved and will let a drop of His Blood fall on the soul of a sinner. Meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries."
"Then taking Her own Rosary, the Blessed Virgin taught me how to recite the Rosary of the Holy Wounds of Christ."
"O Jesus, Divine Redeemer, have mercy on us and on the whole world, Amen.
Mighty God, Holy God, Immortal God, have pity on us and on the whole world, Amen.
Grant Grace and Mercy, 0 My Jesus, through the present perils. Cover us with Your Precious Blood, Amen.
Eternal Father, have mercy on us, through the Blood of Jesus Christ, Your Only Son ; have mercy on us, we beseech you, Amen, Amen, Amen.
On the large beads : "Eternal Father, 1 offer You the Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to heal those of our souls."
On the small beads : "My Jesus, pardon and mercy through the merits of Your Holy Wounds."
At the end of this apparition, Jeanne-Louise noted down on her exercise book : "Christ Jesus, may Your Kingdom come through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary."
This passage is therefore a summary, quite incomplete, of the Message received on Tuesday, October 7, 1947. The complete Message remains unknown to this day and could be considered as another secret given et Kerizinen.
(2) In 1867 the devotion to the Holy Wounds of Christ was revealed to a nun of the Monastery of the Visitation et Chambéry, Sister Marie-Marthe Chambon. The Holy Father Pius IX was informed of these revelations and expressed the strong wish that the life of Sister Marie-Marthe be widely diffused. Unfortunately this devotion fell gradually into oblivion - this is undoubtedly why the Blessed Virgin reminds us here et Kerizinen about the essentials of this devotion, using the very same words that wore revealed to Marie-Marthe Chambon ; Jeanne Louise was unaware of this devotion.
THE FIFTEENTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1947 - WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
"Why do you doubt, why do you worry ? What do you fear ? Continue to believe firmly in me. 1 warned you that you would have plenty of problems because of My apparitions, but am 1 not with you ? (1)
0 France that 1 love among all the Nations ! (2) 0 France that 1 wish to save ! (3) Why do you remain deaf to My appeals ?
Do you prefer to see your fields and your land become a veritable field of battle, trampled upon by adversaries leaving behind them nothing but corpses and reddened earth ? Do you prefer to see your towns destroyed, wiped out, swallowed up ? (4)
0 France, your life is in danger!
1 cannot save you without your co-operation. 1 know quite a number of fervent souls who pray and sanctify themselves in accordance with My desires and requests. With them 1 can still hope for your conversion, but your faults are so grave and your sins so serious, especially your sins against purity, that all must pray and pray ceaselessly without growing tired.
Christians, wake up ! Amongst yourselves there are apostates who have overcome many souls with their lying propaganda. To ward off this apostasy which will last only for a while and will be conquered by the triumphant Reign of My Son, 1 recommend to you yet again the Rosary. It is a terrible weapon against the enemy of your souls. Whoever makes use of it will come out victorious, because 1 will be their support and their strength.
Speak to your Director, bring him My Message.(5) Tell him that it is a Mother who is speaking to him, a Mother who cherishes the well-being of Her children. Let him send everything that concerns Me and this place to his Bishop ; if matters are set in motion in accordance with My requests, 1 will demonstrate My power and inundate this land which 1 have chosen with graces.
While apostasy is spreading in the Word, over in Russia there are the beginnings of a return to Christianity, and there are conversions. ".(6)
(1) For two months now the villages in the area knew about Jeanne-Louise seeing the Blessed Virgin. Inevitably many contradictions arose : This new difficulty came on top of repeated rejections by the parish clergy.
(2) An Allusion to the title of "Eldest Daughter of the Church given to France since the year 496, the year in which Clovis was baptised. Pope Anastasius Il wrote to the first French King telling of his immense joy that God had at last found a country to protect the Church, and through the Pontiff, the Church exclaimed "Here is my Eldest daughter". (Canon Cerf in "Christian Rheims", November 15, 1895).
(3) In December 1947 France was on the brink of civil war, there were riots everywhere inspired by communist elements. Then the Blessed Virgin appeared et L'île Bouchard (Indre-et-Loire) from December 8 to December 14, 1947. "My children", She said to four young girls, "you must pray a lot for France because in these very days it is in great danger." At Kerizinen, thirteen days later, Our Lady revealed that the victory obtained through the prayers at L'île Bouchard was only a reprieve and that it was still necessary to pray a lot for France.
(4) "Paris will be burned and Marseilles swallowed up. Cities will be shaken and inundated by earth tremors." (Apparition of Our Lady at La Salette, 19 September 1846 - extract from the "Secret", published in 1879).
(5) In accordance with the request of the Blessed Virgin, Jeanne-Louise wrote to Father B...... a second time but she received no reply.
(6) This is what people read in the March / April 1977 issue of "Notre Dame des Temps Nouveaux" magazine "More and more young people between the ages of twenty and thirty coming from atheistic backgrounds are converting to Christianity According to an official survey in the Moscow area, "about 40% of the inhabitants have their children baptised."
"The number of seminarians continues to grow. Already the promise of Mary at Fatirna is being accomplished : "Russia will be converted."
THE SIXTEENTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1948 - FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH
The Blessed Virgin :"In the tempest which is approaching, My protection will cover those who believe in Me".
Jeanne-Louise :"What is an apostate (1)"
The Blessed Virgin :"An apostate ? Any Christian who renounces Christ. Speak to your Director ; even if he rejects you, persist one last time for 1 cannot believe that he will neglect My graces and not profit by them. His devotion towards Me was always of so tender a kind that 1 wanted to entrust him with the delicate task which a cause of apparitions is and it was to make this task easier that 1 wished to have him in charge of this parish, as 1 indicated to you recently. Let him deliver then to his Bishop, without delay, all that pertains to this place as far as 1 am concerned. (2)This is the third place in Brittany where 1 have come down to visit in the last twenty years with My hands full of graces, wishing only to distribute them. 1 suffer from the indifference shown towards Me."
(1) Here Jeanne-Louise asks the Blessed Virgin about the meaning of the rarely used word "apostate", which Our Lady had used in the course of the preceding apparition. It is worthy of note moreover that some words which were either incomprehensible to Jeanne-Louise or rarely used do occur phonetically in her note-books. Besides, the French language was less familiar to her since her mother tongue was Breton.
(2) For the last time Jeanne-Louise will write to Father B..... but she will receive no reply. Later on, this priest asked to return to a neighbouring parish - he was originally from the area - but his request was refused.
THE SEVENTEENTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1948 - FRIDAY OF EASTER WEEK AND FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH
From the beginning of the war, four floats each carrying a statue of Our Lady of Boulogne criss-crossed French territory, initiating everywhere a great surge of popular piety in support of Peace.
In December 1944, the float carrying Our Lady of Boulogne passed through Plounevez-Lochrist. As was the custom, Herveline Le Bras, a young neighbour of Jeanne-Louise of twenty years of age, had joined the procession with other young people and helped to pull Our Lady's float. She had remained bare-footed on the pavement of the Church throughout the ceremonies. Was she already threatened at that time by a slowly developing malady, or was she taken ill that v@ evening ? Whatever the reason, from that date her health began to decline and she had to take to bed. Doctors came and went but gave little cause for hope to the family. Treatment was continued nevertheless. Jeanne-Louise was called upon since she lived close by and knew how to administer injections.
In 1947, the young woman had become virtually an invalid. On the fifth of October of that year, the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin became common knowledge through an indiscretion. The news spread like wild-fire. At the beginning of 1948, Madame Le Bras, desperate because of Herveline's deterioration, asked Jeanne-Louise to intervene by asking the Blessed Virgin in Her next apparition if She would cure her daughter.
When Our Lady appeared on April 2, Jeanne-Louise asked :
"Would You cure my little neighbour Herveline ?"
The Blessed Virgin replied :
"Your little neighbour will not recover. Such is not the Will of My Son. 1 am reserving for her a more beautiful grace - that of Heaven. Her deliverance will take place on the first Feast which the Church will celebrate in My honour after the month of the Sacred Heart, but you will not make that date known until ten days beforehand so as not to upset the family."
The secret was heavy to carry for Jeanne-Louise, who alone knew the fatal outcome. She continued to nurse the sick girl.
On the evening of the 23rd June, Jeanne-Louise went as usual to Herveline's room to give the injection. When she was leaving, Madame Le Bras accompanied her as usual and said that she intended bringing her daughter to Kerizinen. Jeanne-Louise replied that it was useless to move her and she then made known to the mother the Message which she had guarded now for almost three months. Madame Le Bras began to cry but she believed completely. She immediately told her sister who then shared tearfully in her sorrow. But when the other members of the family were told, no one wanted to believe.
Madame Le Bras asked a dressmaker from Lanhouarneau to make a white shroud for her daughter's burial. The dress was delivered on the day before Herveline's death.
The young woman was informed of the Message about herself. After hearing it she began to cry saying : "Ah ! if only 1 were sure of going to Heaven !"
On the morning of July 1, Madame Le Bras sent a telegram to her son, who was doing his military service in Germany, worded as follows : "Sister Deceased". She did the same for her nephew who was following an officer's course in Paris. He telephoned the town-hall at Plounevez-Lochrist to find out the time of the funeral. He was told that the death of his cousin had not been notified yet. A local person who overheard the telephone conversation went to find out at the local church. He was told exactly the same. So he went directly to the house of Madame Le Bras to find out for himself. She told him about the Message from Our Lady prophesying her daughter's death on July 2 and resulting in her sending the two telegrams on July 1 so that the soldiers could be there for the burial.
At the same time, the postmen who were at the post office when the telegrams were being sent told everyone on their rounds that Herveline was dead. All this resulted in some painful misunderstandings. As was customary people from the area came for the wake but Herveline was still alive.
She died the following day at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon ; it was July 2, 1948, the first Friday of the month and the Feast of the Visitation, as the
Blessed Virgin had indicated.
Herveline was twenty-four years old. She was born on the 25th March 1924, Feast of the Annunciation.
Today her body rests in the cemetery at Plounevez-Lochrist.
THE EIGHTEENTH APPARITION
OUR LADY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
SATURDAY MAY 29, 1948 - OCTAVE OF THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI AND EVE OF THE FEAST OF SAINT JOAN OF ARC
"There will be another war heavy with consequences. France is to be invaded and occupied by a Russian army and then the Church and the good will suffer persecution from the atheists.(1) But if only people would lend attention to My requests 1 would preserve you from those terrible enemies, since 1 come down to save you from so many sorrows and to sweeten so many harmful things.
1 come down to save France and raise her up again. Presently 1 shall give her a great Leader, a King. (2) She will then experience such a restoration that her spiritual influence will be predominant throughout the world.
But 1 come down especially for your souls and for sinners and it is by means of Brittany, which has remained most faithful (3) to Me, that 1 wish to rechristianize France. Once she has returned to Christ, she will be so deeply religions that she will become the light for the pagan peoples.
Some years after this next war you will meet with another one, but after that the faithful servants of Christ will rejoice in a sweet and just peace - that will be the reign of Jesus through My Immaculate Heart.
However these wars can be avoided if a repentant world turns back to God."
(1) The "atheists" is the usual expression chosen by the Blessed Virgin to indicate the communists.
(2) "Towards the end of Time, a descendant of the French Kings will reign over the whole of the ancient Roman Empire. He will be the greatest of the Kings of France and the last of his race. He will arrive as if by "a miracle". (St. Remy, Bishop of Rheims, Christmas Night,496). "Tell the French people that they must keep as their treasure the testaments of St. Remy, Charlemagne and St. Louis." (Acts of St. Pius X, Book V, p.204, edition 1908).
(3) The great faithfulness of Brittany consisted in the tact that during the French Revolution, the Bretons fought and were massacred in defence of the Catholic Faith. (Read "The Battle of Kerguidu", By Lan Inizan, priest of Plounevez-Lochrist, Editor Robert Laffont).