Before Our Lady, two men decide to peacefully reconcile

In 1637, two prominent men of Marseilles, France, were locked in a long lawsuit. They decided to take their dispute to the court of Grenoble, where they would defend their positions to the bitter end if needed, in order to finally break the deadlock, even if it meant the financial and social ruin of the other party.

On their way to Grenoble, the men stopped for the night in the small town of Bargemon, in Haute-Provence. Having heard of the reputation of Our Lady of Bargemon, they went to visit her church. No sooner had they genuflected before the statue of Our Lady than they were filled with a common desire to end their dispute amicably and to return home without going to Grenoble!

Since Mary does not do things by halves, she arranged for them to providentially meet a certain monk, who in a short time was able to peacefully disentangle the legal dispute that had opposed them for years. The two men returned home as friends, to the joyous surprise of the other citizens and all those who expected the inevitable ruin of their families! Indeed, the Virgin Mary, venerated in her shrine of Bargemon, "doesn’t care any less about material goods than about those of the mind and the body," wrote Brother Raphael, a Discalced Augustinian priest in charge of the Chapel of Bargemon at the time.

From Le Trésor inconnu (Unknown Treasure) by Brother Raphael, Editions Bénédictines