The Apparitions at Banneux began almost to the second directly after those at Beauraing came to an end.
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.
Monsignor Kerhofs, the bishop of Liege, Belgium where the manifestations took place was quoted 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."
The Message of Our Lady of Banneux
The Blessed Virgin Mary said "I am the Virgin of the Poor." On other occasions, she gave special graces in the form of steam to Mariette and said that the steam was "for the sick."
As with most apparitions, she gave to Mariette a secret which has never been revealed.
Asking her to pray very much, she concluded by telling Mariette to always put her "Faith First."
Our Blessed Lady had asked for a chapel to be built on the location and also said several times, "I come to relieve the suffering." Mariette, being a simple girl, did not at the time understand the word 'relieve,' so she didn't understand until it was stated to her several times.
The Manifestation of Our Lady of Banneux
Our Lady appeared to Mariette in a long white robe with a white coverlet over her head. Golden light surrounded her head and body and a Rosary hung from small blue tie around her waist.
An Episcopal commission investigated the Apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux from 1935 until 1937. A cult was being born which would come to be known as the 'The Cult of the Virgin of the Poor."
The manifestations of Our Lady of Banneux were approved fully by the church in 1949 by Bishop Kerkhofs of Liege and then the Holy See.
Other manifestations of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurred in the apparitions of Our Lady of America and Our Lady of Beauraing.
Sources:
- Those who Saw Her: Apparitions of Mary - Catherine M. Odell
- Catherine Laboure and the Modern Apparitions of Our Lady - By Abbe Omer Englebert
- Miraculous Images: Photographs Containing God's Fingerprints - By Marilynn Hughes
- Medjugorje: Light for the World - By Pietro Jacopini
- Our Lady Comes to Garabandal - By Joseph A. Pelletier, A.A.
- The Wonder of Guadalupe - By Francis Johnston
- The Glories of Czestochowa and Jasna, To the Priests Our Lady's Beloved Sons - Marian Movement of Priests
- Our Lady of America - By Sister Mildred Mary Neuzil
- The Thunder of Justice - By Ted and Maureen Flynn
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