Imagine being deaf all of your life and the first sound you hear is the voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is what happened to Jeanne Courtel, a 12 year old sheperdess who had been deaf and unable to speak her entire life until August 15, 1652, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her in Querrien, Brittany, France.
Mary appeared to Jeanne , who was tending to her familiy’s flock of sheep. Mary appeared to her in a manner strikingly similar to how she would appear two centuries later to St. Bernadette Soubirou, in Lourdes, France. Jeeanne reported feeling the wind, and then seeing a beautiful young lady of about 12-15 years of age dressed in white. The first thing that happened was that Jeanne was cured of her deafness and inability to speak; for she heard the Lady speak:
“I choose this place to be honored. Build for me a chapel in the middle of this village and many people will come.”
The Lady continued, “Charming shepherdess, give me one of your lambs.”
Jeanne replied, “These are not my sheep. They are my father’s. If he wants to give one to you, I am happy to agree.”
The Lady pressed on: “Return to your parents and tell them that I require a lamb.”
Jeanne asked Our Lady, “But who will keep my herd?”
Mary replied, “Myself. I will keep your sheep!”
Jeanne returned to her parents who were astonished when the little girl told them, “A Lady came to see me, and she asked me for one of your lambs.”
The father, overjoyed at his daughter’s miraculous recovery, replied, “Ah, my daughter. Because this Lady has made you speak, we will give her all the flock.”
Her father asked Jeanne if the Lady told her who she was.
“She said that she was the Virgin Mary, and we need to build a chapel in the village so many pilgrims will go there to honor her.”
The father agreeably replied, “If this is true, we will ask the bishop to allow us to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary.”
The next day, Jeanne sees the Virgin again, who tells her: “I am the Virgin Mary. I chose this place to be honored. I want you to be built a chapel in this village. I want you to see the rector and ask him to work towards building a sanctuary for me here in Querrien.”
Mary also said, “To prove that the message that comes from heaven’s command, I tell you that you will discover a few steps from the fountain of Saint-Gal an image that was honored in ancient times.”
In the year 610 A.D., St. Gall had visited the region to erect a hermitage. He had personally sculpted a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, which was eventually lost when the chapel was destroyed. However, on August 20, 1652, it was found to be exactly where Our Lady said it would be: buried beneath a pond and in a miraculously preserved in excellent condition.
On September 11, 1652, Msgr. Denis de La Barde, the bishop of Saint-Brieuc, visited the area and was told all about the events. After investigating the happenings, he formally recognized the validity of the apparition on September 20th. He also blessed the first stone to be used in constructing the chapel. Construction soon began and it was completed in 1656. It was enlarged in 1759 to accommodate the crowds of pilgrims visiting the chapel.
Jeanne Courtel was entombed within the shrine after she died in 1703 at the age of 63. All in all, Mary appeared to her 15 times during the period of August-September 1652.
The title of Mary in this apparition in French is “Notre-Dame de Toute-Aide,” which in English is “Our Lady of All Help” or “Our Lady Who Helps in All Things.” It is also often known as “Our Lady of Eternal Aid,” which is nice, but inaccurate, as it gives theologians who prize accuracy and precision in such matters the heebie-jeebies.
Mary was known by this title from the Querriens apparition because it denotes her motherly care for people. Consider: Mary cured a young girl of her deafness and speech defect, without having been asked. Only a loving, tender Mother who loves her children so much would do this. That a statue was found, still in excellent condition despite being buried for nearly a millennia, also harkens to her ability to care for ‘all things.’
Sources: Divine Mysteries: Our Lady of Eternal Aid, Querrien, France, 1652
Miracle Hunter: Querrien, Bretania, France (1652)
Sanctuary Our Lady Of All Help (In French, but translatable in many browsers.)
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