Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
The lovely story of Our Lady of Bargemon, a forgotten Marian shrine which was later rediscovered, in the small village of Bargemon in southern France (Haut Var region), was clearly written by Mary. In the 17th century, the Virgin Mary appeared there as a beautiful pilgrim with long, wavy, golden hair, dressed in a green taffeta gown. This picture contrasts with her other apparitions at Lourdes and Fatima.
On March 17, 1635, the Virgin Mary visited Madame Caille, a resident of Bargemon suffering from severe pain that prevented her from walking properly, and asked her to accompany her to the church to pray to God. On her return, the beautiful lady promised that Caille would be cured, and asked her to make a dress to replace her damaged one.
Caille only realized the next day that she had met Mary, when she received a visit from six white penitents who came to ask her husband, a master glassmaker, to restore the green taffeta-covered shrine of a small statue of Our Lady of Montaigu, originally from Belgium, whose fabric she recognized as being of the same fine material as that of the beautiful pilgrim's dress! She instantly felt the pain leave her. The village witnessed her spectacular recovery, and the Bishop of Fréjus recognized the apparition in 1641 as “Notre-Dame de Bargemon”.
So many pilgrims flocked here from all over France, that King Louis XIII imposed a decree to regulate crowds. Miracles and special graces abounded, until the French Revolution forced the population to hide the statuette. Then the shrine gradually fell into oblivion.
What followed is just as astonishing: Father Philippe-Marie Métais-Fontenel, a priest of the diocese, has long been active on the airwaves as director of Radio Maria France. Wishing to slow down his busy life, he accepted a new assignment to this remote and quiet village in 2012. As if Mary had led him there, shortly after his arrival, he discovered the statuette of “Notre-Dame de Bargemon” in his rectory, and then a few months later he found the book “Le trésor inconnu” (the Lost Treasure) by Brother Raphaël, which recounts the many healings that took place between 1635 and 1640 as a result of Our Lady’s intercession!
A real awareness of the richness of Bargemon's message and its relevance to the 21st century was born. Here, the Virgin Mary invited everyone to conversion, by coming herself to pray to God in the local church. She shows us the way to Christ! And Mary's marvelous graces are pouring in again for pilgrims.