How the Virgin asked for the celebration of her birthday

Béhuard is a village located on a small island of the Loire River, not far from Angers in France. The devotion to Our Lady of Béhuard goes back to Saint Maurilius, disciple of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop of Angers, who erected a statue of the Virgin on the volcanic rock of Béhuard to honor her nativity, in 431—the year of the Council of Ephesus (present-day Turkey) where Mary was proclaimed "Mother of God" (Theotokos in Greek).

A year earlier, in 430, the Virgin had appeared to Saint Maurilius, asking him to establish in the diocese of Angers a solemn feast for the day of her holy birth, on September 8th.

This apparition occurred in a poplar tree near the monastery of Mont-Glonne (Saint-Florent-le-Vieil) at a place called "La Croix Pichon" (today the Shrine of "Marillais"). According to tradition, this statue replaced pagan idols, making Béhuard one of the oldest places of the Christianization of Anjou.

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