Our Lady of the Founders, Constantinople The Abbot Orsini tells us the Empress Saint Pulcheria had this church built, and gave to it the girdle of Our Lady. A feast of this relic is kept at Constantinople, under the title of the Deposition of Our Lady’s girdle. The French having taken this city, this precious…
Our Lady of Carquere, Portugal According to tradition, Our Lady of Carquere, on the river Douro in Portugal, is associated with the miraculous healing of Prince Afonso Henriques, who was to become the first King of Portugal. Prince Afonso Henriques had been born a cripple, paralyzed from the knees down. The knight Egas de Monis…
Our Lady of Clermont, Poland (1380) The Abbot Orsini states that Our Lady of Clermont was located ten leagues (perhaps 30 miles) from Cracow, Poland. At some point in the Middle Ages there was a picture of the Blessed Virgin believed to have been painted by Saint Luke that was displayed there and annually taken…
Our Lady of Kiev, Russia (1240) “Where there is a large image in alabaster, which spoke to St. Hyacinth, in the year 1241, and told him not to abandon it to the enemy who was besieging the city, but to carry it off with him, which he did without any difficulty, the image having lost…
Our Lady of Moustier, France Eight or ten leagues from Sisteron, in the direction of Marseilles, France, is the shrine of Our Lady of Moustier, known in the native French as Notre Dame de Beauvoir at Moustiers. The chapel is some 800 meters above the town nestled in the rocky peaks, and there are 262…
Our Lady de la Treille, Douay, France (1543) There was a church known as Saint Peter’s at Douai, France, which was dedicated in the year 1066 by Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. It was a very important religious center even in that century, as the collegiate church had forty canons and a prosperous school attached…
Our Lady of Rossano, Calabria, Italy It is said that the Saracens had come ashore with a raiding party near the Italian town of Rossano, probably in the year 981. Seeking to surprise the slumbering inhabitants of the town, they snuck up to the walls and silently placed their ladders against them and began to…
Our Lady of Benoite-Vaux, France The shrine of Benoite-Vaux (Blessed Valley, or Valley of Blessing) is located in the town of Rambluzin and Benoite-Vaux nestled in a valley and surrounded by the Souilly forest. It is thought that it was originally a place of worship in Christianized Gaul as early as the 5th century. In…
Our Lady of Victory of Valois, France (1328) The feast of Our Lady of Victory of Valois has to do with Our Lady’s intercession in the Battle of Cassel, which was fought between the French, under Philip of Valois, and the Flemish near Mount Cassel on August 23 in the year 1328. Philip of Valois,…
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Since Our Lady’s whole life was a life of her Heart, the Immaculate Heart represents her life, her love, herself. From the moment of Conception, Mary offered acts of faith, hope, love, praise, adoration, and thanksgiving to the God who created her. Her one ambition was union with…