Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, Hautes-Alpes, France · 1664–1718
Of all the Marian apparitions in Church history, the longest belongs to a poor French shepherdess named Benoîte Rencurel, in the high alpine valleys of Hautes-Provence. The Mother of God appeared to her, in conversation, for fifty-four years — from 1664 until Benoîte’s death in 1718. The shrine that grew there has been called by Pope Saint John Paul II “the Refuge of Sinners,” for that is what it has been from the beginning: a hidden valley where Mary herself promised the conversion of hearts.
Benoîte and the Long Conversation
Benoîte Rencurel was sixteen years old, an unschooled shepherdess in a small Alpine village, when in May 1664 the Virgin Mary began to appear to her on the hills above Saint-Étienne. Day after day Benoîte saw her, prayed the Rosary with her, and was taught by her in conversations that lasted for hours. Mary was always tender — never frightening — and called Benoîte “my child.”
In September 1664, the Lady asked Benoîte to come to a small valley called Laus — “the lake” — where a chapel would be built and where she promised “the conversion of many sinners.” There, four months later, Benoîte met the Lady again, who told her: “I have asked of my Son this place for the conversion of sinners, and he has given it to me.”
Benoîte Rencurel served the pilgrims at Laus for the rest of her life. Mary appeared to her, advised her, comforted her, instructed her — for fifty-four years. Pilgrims came in their thousands, and many returned to the practice of the faith they had abandoned. Benoîte died at Laus in 1718; she was declared Venerable in 2009. The shrine, after long ecclesiastical study, was the first to be approved by Rome in the twenty-first century, in 2008 — making Laus the most recent of the historic apparitions to receive formal recognition.
The Sanctuary Today
The Sanctuary of Notre-Dame du Laus sits in a high alpine meadow at the head of a quiet valley. The original chapel has grown into a modest basilica; pilgrims walk the hills Benoîte once walked with her sheep. The shrine is famously a place of confession — the prayer Mary asked of it has never lapsed.
Pope Saint John Paul II, who had a particular love for the hidden Marian sanctuaries, called Laus “the most beautiful Marian secret in France.” Pilgrims today come not for spectacle but for the long, faithful presence Mary herself promised. The Mother of God has, in some real sense, been speaking at Laus for three hundred and sixty years.
A Prayer at Laus
Refuge of sinners, Lady of Laus,
you who walked with a poor shepherdess for fifty-four years —
walk with us as patiently.
You who promised here the conversion of hearts —
convert ours.
Let our long road back to you
be accompanied at every step
by the same gentle voice you gave to Benoîte. Amen.
Live from Laus
The Sanctuary of Notre-Dame du Laus broadcasts the Holy Mass and the Rosary daily, and gathers pilgrims from across France and Europe particularly during the great pilgrim weeks of summer.
Visit & Learn More
- Sanctuaire Notre-Dame du Laus: www.sanctuaire-notredamedulaus.com
- Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Laus
Journey with Mary: A Path to Jesus 