Mary and Joseph obtain the grace of having children at this French Marian shrine

The Shrine of Our Lady of Graces in Cotignac (southern France) is a renowned Marian site where thousands of prayer intentions are deposited every year and hundreds of thousands of people come on pilgrimage. 

Anne-Sophie is a general practitioner, her husband an export sales executive. The couple have a 4-year-old son. Life seemed sweet. However, for the past two and a half years, they have been trying in vain to have a second child, and the pain of this wait was made even more acute after a miscarriage.

Originally from Besançon, Anne-Sophie prays a lot to Mary to share her desire for a child. "I've always been very attached to the Virgin Mary, and I pray to her a lot. But I don't have a Marian site nearby," she confides. So, in August 2020, the couple decided to go to the Shrine of Our Lady of Graces in Cotignac, where they stayed for two days. 

They placed their intentions before a statue of Saint Joseph, not only for themselves, but also other couples and friends in the same situation. They also prayed in the oratory of the shrine, and attended the office of Lauds with the brothers. It was a weekend retreat they wanted to repeat as soon as possible, not least because they hadn't had the opportunity to make the pilgrimage to the Bessillon spring (at the nearby Shrine of Saint Joseph).

But the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph did not mind. On October 28, Anne-Sophie sent two new prayer intentions to the shrine of Our Lady of Graces, both of which were prayed that very day at mass and during the Rosary! Two weeks later, during a novena, Anne-Sophie realized she was pregnant! The friends for whom the couple have prayed are not to be outdone either: 3 of them are also expecting, and are due this summer, just like Anne-Sophie!

"This baby is a gift from Heaven, a treasure entrusted to us," Anne-Sophie says.

www.frejustoulon.fr