How Peter Julian Eymard came to know and love Mary

Peter Julian Eymard's love of the Blessed Virgin grew in his heart along with his love of the Eucharist (1). As a young man, he was devoted to her, and would often kneel before her altar in church. He also loved praying the rosary. But he had the burning desire to go on pilgrimage to Le Laus in the French High Alps, to the chapel of Notre-Dame de Bon Encontre, venerated throughout the region ever since Mary appeared to the shepherdess Benoîte Rencurel on September 29, 1664. (2)

La Mure was six leagues from Le Laus. Peter Julian, who was only ten years old, had to plead with his parents to be allowed to go. Finally, he was given permission to make the journey with a group of pilgrims and stay there for a week. 

He would later reveal about the graces he received at that shrine: "It was there that I came to know and love Mary for the first time." This secret and compelling attraction was to bring him back to Le Laus many times.

Thinking he was called to the priesthood, he received a blunt rebuke from his priest, who said: "You want to become a priest without knowing if you have a vocation!" Worried, Peter Julian decided to seek light and guidance from Our Lady of Laus herself.

He therefore went to Le Laus and made a general confession to Father Touche, who encouraged him in his desire to become a priest. From that time on, he felt a great gratitude to Mary: "Oh yes, if I'm a priest, I owe it to the Blessed Virgin; without her, I would never have been able to triumph over the obstacles that stood in the way of my plans". "The Virgin," he said later, "obtained for me a contrition of tears. I can still see the pillar against which I wept so much! I always lean against it when I return to Le Laus."

Robert Labigne, Recueil marial 1981 (Adapted)

(1) Saint Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868) was a French priest from the diocese of Grenoble.