THE EIGHT APPARITIONS OF BANNEUX N.D.

– (Belgium)
15th January to 2nd March 1993
Banneux Notre-Dame, a tiny hamlet in the rural district of Louveigne, Belgium, is
situated high up in the Ardenes on a plateau some 1,000 feet above sea level. It is
flanked by the beautiful valleys of the Amvieve, Vesdre and Hoegne and lies fifteen miles
distant from the important industrial town of Liege which is both the capital city of the
province as well as the center of the diocese. The Village of Banneux encircles the
church. There are some small industries scattered round about. However the region
taken on the whole is poor. A little less than a mile from the church, on the left of the
road from Louveigne to Pepinster, stands a simple working-class home in which the
Beco family live. This marshy place is known as “The Swamp.” On the opposite side of
the road stretch the great pinewoods which cover the whole of this eastern region of
Belgium and which meet the Eifel forests. In front of the house there is a small garden
plot containing a few cabbage stumps. In 1933, the family is made up of father, mother,
and seven children, four more will follow later. Mariette, the oldest of them, was born
on Friday 25th March 1921, Feast of the Annunciation and which that year happened to
be Good Friday, the day when the Cross is given solemn veneration. But there is no
Cross in the Beco’s home…In this rather rough place there is very little room for
religion. They have broken off practicing their religious faith and Mariette is no
exception to the indifference shown by the rest to the family.
FIRST APPARITION. On Sunday, 15th January 1933, snow and ice have covered the
Swamp. The wind whistles harshly. It is 7 o’clock in the evening. Mariette, leaning on
her elbows, is at the kitchen window that looks on to the garden with the road and
pinewood beyond. She wathces awaiting the return of her brother Julien who had left
that morning with some friends of about his own age. At the same time she keeps an eye
on the youngest baby lying fast asleep in the cot. Suddenly, just a few yards from her, in
the little garden, she sees a shining figure of a lady standing motionless bent slightly to
the left. “Oh! Mama,” she cries out. “There’s a beautiful lady in the garden! … I think
it’s the Blessed Virgin. She’s smiling at me. She’s so beautiful!” Mariette takes out a
rosary she had found before on the way to Tancremont and says it as she gazes
enraptured at the vision. The lady now beckons her. Marriete grasps the meaning of the
invitation and leaving the window, wants to go out. Her mother fears it might be some
kind of ghost, forbid this, lock the door and remove the key. Mariette returns to the
window but the beautiful Lady has vanished.
SECOND APPARITION. Three days later, on Wednesday 18thJanuary, at about 7
o’clock in the evening, Mariette overcoming her usual fear of the dark, leaves the
house. She kneels on the pathway which leads from the front door to the gate. She
prays quietly and looks at the spot where on the previous Sunday, the shining lady had
appeared, raised slightly from the ground. All of sudden, she stretches out her arms- the
Virgin appears to her above the woods, quite a tiny figure in the distant sky. As she
draws nearer, she increases in size, and passing between the crests of two tall firs, comes
to rest above the frozen ground, a few steps away from the child. A sort of grayish cloud
separates her from the ground.
Mariette prays quietly, rosary in hand, looking upwards. She gazes upon the smiling
Lady whose lips move as if in prayer. This silent prayer lasts about twenty minutes. The
Lady beckons and moves backwards. Marietta follows, leaves the enclosure and steps
out into the road. She suddenly stops, falls on her knees and remains in this posture a
while reciting “Hail Mary’s” then she rises and continues on her way. A little further on,
she drops to her knees a second time. The she stand up obeying the signs of the Virgin
who has resumed her gliding again. Quite abruptly she turns at right-angles towards a
spring which trickles down the bank at the road-side. She knees at the side of the ditch
whilst the Virgin places herself at the top of the bank. The virgin says to her: “Push
your hands into the water.” Without a moment’s hesitation, the child obeys: the rosary
slipping from her hands as she unclasps them and bathes conscientiously. The Virgin
speaks again, “This spring is reserved for me.” She then takes her leave
saying: “Goodnight. Au revoir” and rises up above the fir trees close by the spring,
keeping her face turned towards the child. She seems to grow smaller as she withdraws
into the distance.

THIRD APPARITION. At 7 o’clock in the evening of Thursday 19thJanuary, Mariette

accompanied by her father, leaves home with her head covered with an old overcoat to
protect her against the cold. A few steps on her way, she falls upon her knees even
though the ground is covered with snow, and prays quietly. Shortly after, she stretches
out her arms and cries out. “Oh! Here she is.” A moment of silence, then she asks. “Who
are you beautiful Lady?” The Lady replies: I am the VIRGIN OF THE POOR.‖ The
Virgin thereupon leads the child to the spring. Mariette walks calmly going down on her
knees at the two sports where she had halted the previous evening. At the spring she
kneels, her gaze fixed upon the top of the bank where the Virgin is standing. Once more
Mariette puts a question. “Beautiful Lady, you said last night: “this spring is reserved
for me.” Why “for me”?” and she points to herself, laying her hands on her breast. The
Lady’s smile turns to a gentle laugh. She explains that the spring, reserved for herself,
is “For all nations … for the sick.” Mariette repeats these words in a firm, clear voice and
adds, “Thank you, thank you.” The Virgin quietly continues: “I will pray for
you (personally). Au revoir.” She departs as on the evening before becoming smaller
and smaller high above the fir trees.
FOURTH APPARITION. Fiday 20th January, Mariette is unwell but this does not
stop her from going out at about 7 o’clock in the evening. Kneeling in the garden she
says her rosary. Two minutes later she cries out” “Here she is.” After a while, she asks
in a clear voice, “What do you want, beautiful Lady?” The virgin replies” “I would like a
little chapel.” Then she unclasps her hands and spreads them horizontally without
moving them from her breast. With her right hand she makes a sign of the cross to bless
the child and then disappears. At this, Mariette faints. Her distraught father helped by
a neighbor carries her home. She soon regains consciousness and falls peacefully
asleep.
From the 21st January to the 11th February each evening at 7 o’clock, Mariette comes to
pray in her usual place. Often it is bitterly cold, but Mariette persists. In these
uneventful days, she alone truly believes in the Virgin of the Poor whom she wants to see
again. See her again she does.

FIFTH APPARITION. On Saturday 11th February, Mariette is kneeling once again in

the garden. A few people are present. At the end of the second rosary sorrowful
mysteries) Mariette gets up in a hurry and makes her way to the garden gate. She
proceeds towards the spring, kneeling at the same places as before. Coming in front of
the bank she knees, leans forwards, plunges her hands into the water and then crosses
herself with the cross of her rosary beads. The Virgin confides to her: “I comes to
alleviate suffering, au revoir.” Then she leaves in her usual way.
SIXTH APPARITION. The Virgin does not return until Wednesday 15th February.
This evening she presents herself once again to the enraptured gaze of the child who
addresses her: “Blessed Virgin, the Chaplain told me to ask you for a sign.” The Virgin
replies: ―Believe in me, I will believe in you.‖ Then she entrusts the child with a
secret. When about to leave, she adds: ―Pray hard. Aux revoir.‖
SEVENTH APPARITION. On Monday 20th February it snows, it is very cold. At the
end of the second rosary, Mariette suddenly stretches out her arms and her prayer gets
more rapid. The beautiful Lady has come become customary, leads the child to the
spring. Mariette kneels in the same places and prays at each stop. At the spring, the
Virgin smiling as usual, tells her: “My dear child, pray hard.” After this she ceases to
smiles and before leaving says in a serious voice: “Au revoir.”
EIGHT APPARITION. Thursday 2nd March, the rain pours down in torrents. At the
beginning of the third rosary, quite suddenly the rain stops, the sky grows clear, the
stars sparkle. All of a sudden the child falls silent, stretches our her arms. The virgin
appears to her for the eight and last time. She looks grave and does not smile. She
says: I am the MOTHER OF THE SAVIOUR, MOTHER OF GOD.‖ Then with a
certain look of sadness in her face, the Virgin gives her final advice. ―Pray
hard. Adieu.‖ In the course of these eight apparitions, the Blessed Virgin wishes to
remind us of her special role in the mystery of salvation. It is she who conducts us to
Jesus the Source of grace, arousing in us those dispositions of faith and prayer which are
indispensable if we are to be united to HIM.
OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF THE APPARITIONS
Twice, first in 1942 and then in 1947, we have officially recognized, though with certain
reservation, the reality of the Apparitions at Banneux. Today, after further two years of
prayer and careful investigation, we believe in conscience, that we can and must
recognize without reservation this reality, that is, the reality of the Eight Apparitions of
the Blessed Virgin to Mariette Beco, which took place on the 15th, 18th 19th and
20thJanuary, the 11th, 15th and 20th February and the 2nd March, 1933. (Pastoral letter of
Mgr. L.J. Kerkhofs, Bishop of Liege, 22nd August, 1949)

REFLECTIONS ON THE APPARITIONS

The apparitions at Banneux N.D. and the message of the Virgin Mary, seem to us to fit
in, in a most extraordinary manner, both with the Gospel and with the life of the Church
today.

The choice of a child from a very poor family, the location-the tiny unknown village of
Banneux, above all the title given us by Our Lady herself ―I am the Virgin of the
Poor,‖ reveal this poverty, this simplicity, presented in such an astonishing way in the
Gospels, and desired so ardently in the Church today, which loves to call
herself ―TheChurch of the Poor‖ and which always, in some part of the word, is in
fact truly poor.
The insistence on frequent prayer (the thrice repeated ―PRAY HARD‖) repeats the
recommendation of Jesus-Christ as emphasized above all in the Gospel of St. Luke. The
church at the moment is questioning us on our prayer. Researches on the subject are
being carried our in many dioceses. Our Lady’s simple request ―I would like a little
chapel‖ is a concrete expression of her stressing the value of deep prayer.
The Message is an invitation to universal love. ―The spring is reserved for all
nations.” In this post-conciliar Church, the spirituality of Banneux finds an echo of a
fraternity extending to all nations to which the good news of salvation should be
announced.
“This spring is reserved for all nations to relieve the sick.” “I come to alleviate
suffering.” The sick and the suffering are the constant companions of Jesus in the
Gospel. In all ages the Church has instituted works to come to their aid. Today, when
other needs pre-occupy her, the church is called upon to examine in depth her mission
with regard to them in the context of the mystery of Christ our Savior, of whom she is
the messenger.

―Believe in me, I will believe in you‖ reechoes the words of Our Savior: ―Abide in
me and I will abide in you.‖ (John 15:4)
Meditating upon the words of Mary, we must give our attention to the invitation
repeated four times, when she led the child to the spring and says to her: ―Push your
hands into the water; this spring is reserved for me.‖ Is not this gesture an
allusion to the ―Living water,‖ symbol of Jesus Christ, such as He disclosed to the
Samaritan woman: ―The water, which I will give you, will become a spring of
water welling up into eternal life. (John 14:1), Paul VI (21/11/64) said: ―The
Virgin, who has given Christ, the source of grace, will know how to give to
the Church a new force for the realization of her mission and for
the salvation of the world.‖ Let us reflect upon the words which the Virgin said in a
more serious voice” ―I am the Mother of the Savior,Mother of God.‖ In this not
the signature of the whole Message of the Virgin of the Poor? (Mgr. Kerkhofs – Notre-
Dame de Banneux). We would not want to forget the loving words of the Virgin
addressed to the child: ―I will pray for you (personally) — goodnight – au
revoir … adieu (goodbye)‖ – The Virgin also confided a secret to her.
Finally, the Virgin blessed the child on two different occasions. We can see in this
gesture of Our Lady a sending forth on mission: go and proclaim to the whole world
what I have confided to you.