Mary of Heaven

One summer evening in 1859, near the Picheloup Woods in Arnaud-Guilhem (France), four girls aged 8 to 9, met a little girl between the age of 4 or 5, who was sitting on a tree stump, crying. Thinking that she was lost, the children asked her what her name was. She answered, "Mary of Heaven." At first the Virgin Mary appeared to the four girls every evening looking like a child. As time went by, she appeared at regular intervals for several years, until the girls entered the convent.

Several miracles were recognized, some by the priest of Arnaud-Guilhem.

The apparitions of Our Lady of Arnaud-Guilhem are more numerous and more documented than any other apparition, but unlike Lourdes or Fatima, Church officials ignored them because the Blessed Virgin had asked for a chapel to be built in Picheloup.

Fifteen years later, Pope Pius IX gave his consent for the chapel, entrusting the project to the Archbishop of Toulouse, who chose to bury the whole affair. Yet the interest and fervor have never been extinguished, and for 160 years there has always been someone to carry the torch.

Today, the Friends of Notre Dame de Picheloup Association continues to make this place live. "All who want to join us are welcome," says Marie-Claude Gilard, coordinator of the association. "Our goal is to one day build the chapel that the Virgin asked for."

La Dépêche du Midi