A missing child found safe through Mary’s protection

There have been countless miracles attributed to Our Lady of the Magi of Embrun (France). One is this: In 1639, a 2½ year-old child of Réallon, a small French town, had wandered off. The search for the missing child went on for several days, along with prayers to Our Lady of Embrun and a barefoot pilgrimage to her shrine. However, after 3 days and 3 nights without eating or drinking, in March’s cold weather and amid the wolves and bears then roaming the region, the child was miraculously found safe and sound.

The Bishop of the time, Mgr. Guillaume d'Hugues, recorded this miracle of Mary's marvelous protection on his registers, stating that "since the heresy (of the Reformation) has left this city (in 1599), the blessings of heaven and the miraculous graces of past times have returned.”

It should be noted that less than a hundred years after the devastating episode of the Reformation, the Virgin appeared a few miles from Embrun, to a poor shepherdess named Benedicta Rencurel, in the locality of Laus, today the famous Shrine of Our Lady of Laus. The crowds that first came to Embrun started making the pilgrimage to Laus instead, where many miracles were granted and are still occurring today.

Father Marcellin Fornier

In Histoire des Alpes Maritimes, published by Father William, vol. 2, 1892