Mary appears to Mariette Beco
In 1933, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared eight times to Mariette Beco, a twelve year old girl who had ceased going to Catechism classes and had not yet even made her First Holy Communion.
The winter of 1933 had turned extremely bitter. The eerie sounds of the wind wailing through the trees. bending thebbranches in a contest of strenght, created a deafening din inside the house. Drafts blew through the open cracks under the doors and in the window frames.
The flames in the fire place flickered wildly, as they battled the cold winds blowing down the chimney. It was dark, around 7 in the evening, on this freezing night. Mariette sat by the front window of her house, looking into the dark of night for some sign of her brother Julien, who was late returning home. As she opened the curtain to look out, she saw a Lady standing in their front yard, surrounded by a bright light.
The Lady was exeptionaly beautiful, Mariette had never seen anyone so lovely before. She was not dressed like any of the ladies from the village.
She wore a long white gown with a blue sash. One of her feet could be seen . She was barefoot, with just a gold rose in betwween her toes. In this kind of weather, she should be freezing. Mariette noticed that she stood just above the ground, sort of an a cloud. She didn't to be cold at all .
Mariette had a very logical mind, even at age 11. The scene she saw before her eyes didn't make sense. It was probably the refletion of the oil lamp. She took the oil lamp from the table, and put it in another room. Then she went back to the window and looked out. The Lady was still there. She resorted to the next natural course of action.....she called her mother. Mariette explained what she was looking at, to her mother. Louise beco responded in a natural way also.
"Rubbish", she said.
Mariette was a very persistent girl. She described what the Lady looked like. her mother replied jokingly,
"Perhaps it's the Blessed Virgin."
The child was insisted that her mother come over the window and see for herelf. After much persuasion, but feeling very foolish, Louise went over the windos and looked out. She did indeed see something, a white shape, but she couldn't make out any figures.
"It's a witch," she said, and let the curtain fall, blocking the image from Mariette's eyes. The child open the curtain again.
"She's beautiful, mama. She's smiling at me." The mother ignored her eldest daughter.
the child noticed that the Lady had a Rosary, hanging from the blue sash. The cross was the same colour of gold as the rose between her toes. Mariette went to a drawer, and rummaged through, looking for a Rosary she found outside on the road. When she found it, she began to pray. The Lady's lips moved, but she didn't say anything that Mariette could hear. After a few decades , the Lady raised her hand, and motioned with her finger for Mariette to come outside. The young girl told her mother what the Lady had wanted, and asked permission to go outside.
"Lock the door," her mother replied.
By the time Mariette returned to the window, the Lady had disappeared. She could not get the vision out of her mind. She keept going back to the window to see if the beautiful lady had returned, but she had not. Pretty soon, her brother Julien came back home. She told him what happened while she was waiting for him at the window. His reaction was similar to that or his mother's, only a little move vocal. His comments ranged from "You're a fool" "You're crazy".
Her father too had some reservation about the child 's report but didn't discourage her by any comment.
Following the first encounter with Our Lady of Banneux, Mariette narrated the extraordinay phenomenon to her friend, Josephine Leonard, who in turn reported things to Fr. Jarmin.
The priest was sure Mariette was influenced by the recent apparitions in Beauraing , and paid no attention to it. He cautioned the girl friend, however, that one visit had a deep effect on Mariette's spirituality. She returned to her Catechism class on Wednesday, embracing the material with a renewed enthusiasm. She new her lesson perfectly. This amazed Fr. Jamin, because Mariette had always been the worst student in the class.
After class , Father asked her why she had run away on Monday without telling him what she had seen. By this time , the child had had time to reflect on the possibility of what had happened anymore. She spoke very calmly to the priest, telling him exactly what she had seen. He, for his part , did not treat her as a child, or belittle what she claimed. He only told her to pray to Our lady for guidance.
The second apparition of Our Lady of Banneux to Mariette occured three days later, on the 18th of January. Our Lady of Banneux, bathed in light , descended between tha tops of two tall pines and, floating on a cloud, beckoned Mariette to follw her. She led the child to the spring and told her, "This stream is reserved for me."
That night, Wednesday , January 18, was the first time Mariette actually had contact with the Lady. it was cold, well below freezing. The ground outside the house was frozen like rock. Mariette knelt down at around 2 o'clock, and began to pray. Her father watched her from inside. Then after the time, she opened her arms. The Lady returned like a shooting star, appearing at first very small off in the distance. As she moved through the sky, she became larger, the closer she got to Mariette. She moved silently between two trees and came to a halt in front of the child. A dazzling brilliance emanated from her. Mariette could feel the warmth of it from where she knelt, a distance of about 5 feet from the Lady.
The father came outside, and tried to speak to yhe child, but she did not seem to hear him. When she opened her arms, Julian Beco realized she was having another apparition.
Mariette knelt a few times on her way, and then went over the stream. She knelt in front of iy. The Lady stood opposite her on the other side.
"Plunge your hands into the water." Our Lady requested.
After the child had obeyed, Mary spoked again.
"This spring is reserved for me, Goodnight. Au revoir."
Our Lady rose into the air, and proceeded to return to heaven. She became smaller and smaller, until finally she disappeared out of sight. Her eyes never left the child the entire time.
On the third apparition , asked by Mariette who she was , the Lady answered : "I am the Virgin of the Poor." She also clarified her previous statement regarding the spring: :This spring is reserved for all nations --- to relieve the sick."
On the fourth apparition of our Lady of Banneux, the Virgin made a request : "I would like a small chapel." The fifth appariton of Our Lady of Banneux took place on 11 February, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the 75th anniversary of the apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous. The following day, Mariette recieved First Communion from Fr. Jamin who had to be prodded on this matter. He was still sceptical over the whole thing despite the apparent positive changes shown by Marriette and especially her father Julien,who, touched by the whole thing, asked the priest to hear his Confession after the second apparition.
On the sixth apparition of Our Lady of Banneux, Mariette relayed Fr. Jamin's request for a sign. This was met by silence on the part of the Lady until she finally said, "Believe in me, I will believe in you. Pray much. Au revoir,"
On the seventh apparition, after descending on the pine trees in front of their yard, our Lady of Banneux again beckond Mariette to the stream, some 325 feet away. She was grave and serious and told Mariette, "My dear child, pray much."
The eight and last apparitionof Our Lady of Banneux took place on March 2. The lady said, :I am the Mother of the Saviour, the Mother of God. Pray much," She strech forth her hands, blessed Mariette and said, "Adieu --- till we meet in God." And Mariette understood this would be her final appearance to her. Heartbroken, the child bowed to earth in heart-rending sobs.
An Episcopal commission investigated the Apparitions of Our Lady of Nanneux from 1935 until 1937. A cult was being born which would come to be known as 'The Cult of the Virgin of the Poor."
The Manifestation of Our Lady of Banneux were approved fully by the church in 1949 by Bishop Kerhofs of Liege and the Holy See.
Monsignor Kerhofs, the bishop of Liege, Belgium where the manifestations took place was qouted as saying "Nevertheless, in the whole village she was the child who seemed to be the farthest from God, and the least prepared for any kind of mystical manifestation."
