Our Lady of Laus
March 10, 2024
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
For all of Christian history, people have had apparitions of those in heaven: the Blessed Virgin Mary, various angels and saints, and even Jesus Christ Himself. Almost none of them ever rise to the awareness of the Church’s authorities, let alone formal approval of the apparition and veneration of it. You and I can have an apparition of someone from heaven and treasure that visit for the rest of our lives; but we’re not going to go to our bishop and tell him all about it, wanting him to verify that it happened, and that people should venerate the site where it happened. That almost never happens. Because of this, and the profound reluctance of the bishops to verify things of this nature, there are only ten apparitions that the Church has formally approved of for authenticity and veneration. Today I introduce perhaps the least known of them all, Our Lady’s visits to the young shepherdess Benoite Rencurel in southeastern France from 1664 to 1718.
These apparitions are interesting to me for all the normal reasons, but two things stand out for me. One is the 54 year duration of the apparitions, giving them the longest duration of any of the 10 formally approved apparitions. This is similar to the duration of apparitions at Medjugorje, which started in 1981 and continue to this day. The other is the opposition of Church authorities, bishops and powerful priests, who at first opposed the validity of the apparitions, then supported them, then a new bishop and cast of priests came along and opposed them, then they relented and approved of them. Imagine the distress this would cause Benoite and those who believed in her, the miracles, and the apparitions? It is so hard for many to believe, clerics included, even when the miracles are abundant, and the messages are all in line with the Church’s perennial teachings. Keep praying for our bishops and priests!
There is much more to this approved apparition on the internet, but here’s what I could fit in the few pages given to me. Enjoy.
May Almighty God Bless You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
The Catholic Defender: The apparitions of Our Lady of Laus
http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/laus.htm
Our Lady of Laus (French: Notre-Dame du Laus) or Refuge of Sinners, denotes Marian apparitions that took place between 1664–1718 in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, France, to Benoîte Rencurel, a young shepherdess. The apparitions were approved by the Holy See on 5 May 2008 [290 years after they ended!].
Benoite Rencurel was born on September 16, 1647, in Saint-Entienne d’Avencon to a family of modest means. After the death of her father at age 7, her family was thrown into debt and poverty, she was then constrained to work as a shepherdess. Since she didn’t earn much, she would work in the evenings at the home of a widow with several children. Before beginning to go all over the mountains with her flocks, she asked her mother for a rosary. Not knowing how to read and write, she prayed all day long, becoming in this way a true contemplative. Simple and full of life, she was close to the people of her village and did not hesitate to give her food to the children who were poorer than herself.
In morning of May 1664, while sitting in the ruins of an old building, once a chapel, to eat her lunch, she encountered an apparition of an elderly man, Saint Maurice, who tells her to take her flock of sheep to the valley above Saint-Étienne and pointed out a spring where she could get a drink of water, and told her to go to a certain valley in the mountains with her sheep and she will see the Mother of God.
The next day, Benoite did what St. Maurice instructed and there, for the first of many times, she saw a Lady who was to guide her for many years. She was a beautiful Lady, with a lovely Baby. Her smile was so heavenly that Benoite could not get it out of her mind. She could hardly wait to get back the next day. For nearly two months she met the Lady daily at the same site; the Lady did not speak, but her presence was so delightful that it made Benoite happy just to look at her.
When the affair became public, the magistrate was called in and he asked her who the Lady was. She did not know her identity. He told her to make a good confession, receive Holy Communion and to ask the Lady her identity. This she did and on August 29, 1664, the beautiful Lady revealed her identity: “I am Mary, the Mother of my dear Son Jesus.” She then later asked for prayers and processions to the valley which the villagers responded to enthusiastically.
At the end of September of 1664, after the absence of one month, Mary manifested herself again, but on the other side of the valley, in Pindreau: “Go to Laus, there, you will find a chapel which exhales good odors and there you will speak often to me.” This would be the formal phase where she would receive frequent apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary that would last for 54 years from 1664 to 1718.
The following day, Benoite went to the neighboring hamlet of Laus and found the old chapel of Bon-Rencontre through the fragrance inside, standing on the altar, Mary revealed her plan: “I have asked my Son for this place for the conversion of sinners and He granted it to Me.” She also confided to Benoite the mission of building a church and a house for the priests so that they receive and confess pilgrims.
Benoite began the repair work by herself, soon afterwards, the villagers began helping her in this task from the Queen of Heaven and after a long day of work, they would stay overnight in the open to pray to Our Lady and a beautiful large church was erected over the ruined chapel.
Throughout the winter of 1664-65, despite the four kilometers that separated the village of Saint-Étienne from the Laus chapel, Benoite went up to it every day. And there she often saw the Virgin.
Virgin Mary: “Pray continually for sinners.
Oftentimes, She would name those She wanted her to pray for. In this way the Virgin was forming Benoite for her mission, which was to help priests in the ministry of Confession and the conversion of sinners. As of 1665, the Blessed Virgin asked her to stop tending flocks to devote herself to her mission.
On September 14, 1665, Father Antoine Lambert, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Embrun and most unsympathetic towards the apparitions, came to Laus in the company of several eminent priests, equally unsympathetic to the events at Laus, hoping to put an end to “this sorcery,” prove Benoite guilty of a hoax, and shut down the chapel. However, a storm came, and as if the Virgin wanted them to stay, the group was stranded in the chapel for three days and in those three days, they witnessed miracles were indeed happening in the humble chapel. One of them that made an impression is that of a woman who had been dragging herself to Mass for a novena, a hopeless cripple at the verge of death, stood up and walked and was completely cured. From then, a change of heart took place and later assisted in the completion of the chapel.
The chapel was constructed between 1666 and 1669 and on the day of the blessing of the chapel, Benoite became a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic as part of her ministry to the pilgrims of Laus and she then became known as “Sister Benoite” which was conferred on her.
From 1673 or 1674, Benoîte took up permanent residence at Laus and remained there for the rest of her life. During those years, Our Lady continued to visit her regularly and witnessed numerous miracles occurring in the place. In one of her visits, Our Lady asked Benoite to admonish women and girls about living lives of scandal, especially those who commit abortion. She also encouraged priests and religious to be faithful to their vows.
Benoite fulfilled her pastoral work by receiving them, by praying and doing penance. She dedicated herself to preparing sinners to receive the sacrament. She encouraged priests at the shrine to receive penitents with charity and kindness to help them convert.
Having received the gift of reading into the consciences, she enlightened their steps to conversion and sent them to priests who marveled at the quality of their confessions.
Our Lady promised Benoite that her grace would always be there in the valley. More miracles of healing and conversions took place in the chapel. One of the most notable and prominent of the miracle is that of fragrance, which is said to occur when Our Lady performs a miracle in Laus. The perfume persists to this day; ordinarily it comes on feasts of Our Lady and sometimes becomes known when a miracle occurs at that time.
Another well-known miracle that is still happening in the chapel is the miraculous oil from the sanctuary where Our Lady promised that the oil of Laus, if applied with faith, is a source of many physical and spiritual healings. The oil became well known and it is being distributed to pilgrims not only in France but also in different parts of the world.
In one of her visions, Our Lady told Benoite this message: “Take heart, My daughter! Have patience. Do your duty cheerfully. Bear no hatred towards the enemies of Laus. Do not be troubled and sick over it if people do not profit from your advice. Do not be disturbed by temptations, visible or invisible spirits, or temporal affairs. Strive never to forsake the presence of God, for whoever has any faith will not dare to offend Him.”
For the duration of 54 years, the Blessed Mother continued to appear to Benoite to support her in her apostolate and in her continuing education.
In addition to the continuous Marian apparitions. She also experienced other mystical events that would leave a deep impression to her life. One of the most notable of them took place between 1669 to 1679 where she received five visions of the suffering Christ. On a Friday in July of 1673, the suffering Jesus told her: “My daughter, I show myself in this state so that you can participate in my Passion.” After these words were said to her, she received the holy stigmata. Every week from that day on, she suffered a mystical crucifixion between Thursday evening and Saturday morning. This weekly crucifixion lasted fifteen years, with a two-year interruption from 1677 to 1679, when Benoite served food to the workers who were building the priests’ residence; in November 1679, the mystical crucifixion was renewed at the Cross of Avançon.
Apart from these phenomena, she also received visions from the angels and several saints and had mystical experiences like the vision of Paradise. One notable vision of the saints took place on December 4, 1678, when the Virgin appeared to Benoîte accompanied by Saint Barbara and Saint Catherine of Sienna, one of whom wore a crown of flowers and the other a crown of thorns. “My daughter,” said the Good Mother, “if you would like to wear a crown in Heaven, you must wear a crown of thorns on earth.”
The words of Our Lady foreshadowed Benoite’s sufferings in the coming years where she went through other trials such as spiritual and physical attacks from the Devil or being put aside for 20 years by some priests who had Jansenist tendencies.
Such a case happened in 1672 where the Apparitions at Laus and Benoite were to meet with much hostility. The Bishop, now old and in a weakened, state appointed two chaplains who were not in favor of Laus, and turned the faithful away and for fifteen years Benoite was kept under house arrest, permitted only Sunday Mass. Benoite’s Angel comforted her by lifting a little of the veil that hid the future from her: “There will always be troubles at Laus until there are Religious established here”. The messenger’s fidelity triumphed over this long “eclipse of Laus.”
The “Eclipse of Lause” ended in 1712 when the direction of the pilgrimage was entrusted to some good priests, called the Pères Gardistes, “a deeply religious group of sound doctrine, moved by an ardent desire for the apostolate.”
After more than two decades of living near the chapel, the continual apparitions of the Blessed Mother, and the suffering she endured, Benoite received Communion on Christmas Day in 1718, after asking forgiveness of those who were present, for the bad examples she might have given during her lifetime, she requested and received Holy Viaticum. Suddenly the Virgin reappeared before her eyes, leaving behind a fragrance that pervaded the very poor chamber.
On December 28, 1718, she made a general confession, received the last rites and around 8p.m. Bidding farewell to those around her, Benoite then kissed a crucifix and passed away peacefully. She died in the odor of sanctity.
Eighty years after her death, because of a building accident, her tomb was opened and it was found that her body was intact. In 1872, Pope Pius IX declared Benoite Rencurel a “Servant of God.” The cause was halted for unknown reasons until it was re-opened in 1981 by St. John Paul II. In 2009, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI declared the “Shepherdess of Laus” Venerable. Miracles through the intercession of Venerable Benoite Rencurel were reported and these are now currently under investigation and study to move her cause forward.
