In 574, the Virgin Mary appeared in Querrien in Brittany.

Querrien, in France's Côtes d'Armor region, is a recognized place of Marian apparitions in Brittany, France. In 574, Saint Columban and twelve of his Irish companions landed on the Breton coast and established numerous hermitages and abbeys. Other evangelizers followed, including the Irish monk Saint Gall. In 610, the same Saint Gall made a spring flow in the village of Querrien "so that people could make bread." He built a chapel and sculpted a statue of the Virgin and Child. During a period of adversity, the chapel collapsed and the statue was lost.

That was until Thursday August 15, 1652, when the Virgin Mary appeared to Jeanne Courtel, a deaf and mute 11-year-old shepherdess tending her sheep in the Fontenelles meadow. The first conversation Mary had with Jeanne went like this:

" Kind shepherdess, give me one of your sheep.

-These sheep are not mine... they belong to my father.

-Go home to your parents... and ask for a lamb for me.

-But who will tend my flock?

- I will look after your sheep myself!"

Jeanne ran to her parents' home, where everyone was stunned to hear her speak for the first time in her life:

"Father, a lady came to see me and asked for one of your lambs.

-Ah! my daughter, if this Lady has given you back your speech, we'll give her the whole flock!

-She also said we should search the pond to find her image, buried and lost centuries ago. She said she was the Virgin Mary, and that a chapel should be built for her in the middle of the village so that pilgrims could come in great numbers to honor her."

The devotion to the Virgin of All Help took root in Querrien. Thousands of pilgrims began to flock there. On August 14, 1950, Archbishop Clement Roque of Rennes solemnly crowned the statue. In 2002, the chapel of Our Lady of All Help (Notre-Dame de Toute-Aide) became a diocesan shrine by decision of Bishop Lucien Fruchaud, of the Saint-Brieuc diocese. Between 70,000 and 100,000 pilgrims visit the shrine of Querrien every year to venerate the Blessed Mother and to seek graces.

Adopted from: breish-info.com