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Life Ways Our Lady of the Poor
Mariette Beco, age eleven, first encountered the Virgin Mary on the cold wintry night of Sunday, January 15, 1933, in Banneaux, Belgium, twelve days after the apparitions in Beauraing had ended. The girl looked out the window at 7:00 p.m. and saw a radiant young woman in the front yard of the Beco home. The woman looked like an image of light. She wore a dazzling white gown with a blue sash at the waist, and a transparent white veil covered her head and shoulders. A golden rose could be seen on her right foot, slightly exposed. Her right hand held a rosary of diamond-like brilliancy. She seemed suspended on a small cloud a foot and a half above the ground. "Mother! A woman is in our yard," Mariette shouted, but her mother ignored her story. The Lady beckoned the girl to come out but Mariette's mother stopped her at the front door. The mysterious visitor had disappeared when Mariette returned to the window. The next day at school, Mariette told the story to her friend Josephine Léonard, who then told Fr. Jamin, the young parish priest. He dismissed the story, thinking Mariette must have heard about the Beauraing apparitions. Mariette, however, now began to faithfully attend morning Mass and catechism class. Since she had been absent for the past several months, this astonished the priest. Three days later, Wednesday, January 18, Mariette saw the luminous Virgin Mary descend from between the tops of two tall pine trees at 7:00 p.m. Mariette got up and walked into the garden despite the intense cold. The Virgin came to rest about fifteen inches above the ground five feet in front of Mariette. The white rosary once again hung from Our Lady's right forearm. She beckoned, and Mariette followed the gliding apparition down the road. Mariette's father followed and saw his daughter praying in a state of ecstasy. He got on his bicycle to fetch Fr. Jamin, but the priest was still away at Liège. Julien Beco then returned home with a neighbor, Michael Charlesèche, and his son Louis. The three observers heard Mariette repeat the words of Our Lady but did not see the apparition. Suddenly, Mariette dropped to her knees in the snow by a ditch. "Put your hands in the water," the Blessed Virgin said. Mariette followed the instructions. "This stream is reserved for me," Our Lady said, then disappeared. The apparition had lasted almost an hour. Fr. Louis Jamin returned home later Wednesday evening and heard the story. He visited the Beco home, but Mariette was asleep. As he was leaving, Mariette's father asked to meet the priest the next day to return to the sacraments. This surprised Fr. Jamin because he had earlier prayed for a sign-such as the conversion of Mariette's father-to confirm the reality of the apparitions of Beauraing. At 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 19, Mariette and her father entered the garden, where eleven other people had gathered. Mariette knelt in the snow and began to pray. After reciting several decades of the rosary, she saw the apparition. "Who are you?" Mariette asked the Lady. "I am the Virgin of the Poor," she responded. Mariette returned to the spring, and Our Lady said, "This spring is reserved for all nations-to relieve the sick." This apparition was much shorter than the others, lasting about seven minutes. Mariette returned home with her father. During questioning, it became clear she did not know the meaning of the word "nations." Mariette saw the Blessed Virgin again in the front yard on Friday, January 20th. "What do you want?" Mariette asked. " A small chapel," Mary replied. The Virgin blessed Mariette with the sign of the cross, and the girl fainted. The Becos summoned Dr. Chaumont, who examined Mariette and found her pulse beating normally. Every evening Mariette went to the garden and prayed the rosary, but the apparitions had stopped. The Virgin did not appear for three more weeks. Mariette's classmates taunted her in catechism class during that time, calling her Bernadette and asking for her blessing. Some even struck her in the face. The Blessed Virgin appeared to Mariette again on Saturday evening, February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Mariette was praying the rosary when she saw the Blessed Virgin in the garden as during the previous times. "I come to relieve suffering," Mary said. During the sixth apparition, on Wednesday, February 15, Mariette asked Mary for a sign. The parish priest had told the girl to make this request. Our Lady replied simply, "Believe in me; I will believe in you. Pray much." She confided a secret Mariette never revealed. The apparition lasted only ten minutes. The seventh apparition occurred on February 20. Smiling, the Blessed Virgin led Mariette to the spring. There she told her, "My dear child, pray much." Then she stopped smiling. Rain soaked Mariette as she recited the rosary in the yard two weeks later, on Thursday, March 2. The downpour stopped and she saw the Blessed Virgin for the eighth and final time. Our Lady appeared sad. "I am the Mother of the Savior, Mother of God. Pray much," Mary said, then blessed Mariette as she had in the fourth apparition. Mary then bid farewell to Mariette: "Adieu-until we meet in God." Then the Virgin disappeared over the pine trees. Unlike other apparitions of Our Lady, those in Banneux never drew large crowds. Less than twenty people came when Mariette prayed in the garden each evening. After the apparitions had long ceased, Mariette married and raised a family. She avoided all publicity, seeing herself as a mere instrument of Our Lady, not a public attraction. She remained a firm proponent of the message of Our Lady. Go to Apparition Shrines: Places of Pilgrimage and Prayer in our online catalog.
Copyright © 1999-2003, Daughters of St. Paul. All Rights Reserved.
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