Mary "Abandoned Mother" appears in a working-class district of Lyon, France

Anne-Marie Coste (1861 - 1924) was a modest, pious and self-effacing woman from Lyon, France. She worked as a linen maid and lived under the roof of a building in the Croix-Rousse district. She left an account of several apparitions to the Virgin Mary between November 6, 1882, and September 22, 1883. Mary presented herself as an "abandoned mother" and asked that she be invoked under that name. Anne-Marie later became a nun and took the name Sister Mary of the Eucharist.

The Saône side of the Croix-Rousse at the beginning of the 20th century / © CC0/wikimedia

Reasons to believe:

During the first apparition, the Virgin Mary called Anne-Marie Coste by her baptismal name, known to very few people, and not by the nickname Annette used by everyone at the time.

Anne-Marie suffered from cervical arthritis that forced her to wear a corset. She went to the Croix-Rousse hospital several times between 1879 and 1882 because of her illness. At the beginning of January 1883, after the end of the series of apparitions, the doctors confirmed that she had recovered. The Virgin had said to her: "You are suffering a lot, so I have come to console you."

The doctors also verified the inexplicable healing of a blind man who regained his sight after praying at Anne-Marie's side.

The messages she received are entirely consistent with Christian tradition: prayer, penance and conversion. "I am an abandoned mother! The cause of my sorrow is the ingratitude of my people [...] My people must convert, do penance and pray more fervently."

Anne-Marie had little religious education: many of the expressions used by the Virgin were unknown to her (for example "the arm of my Son").

The spiritual fruits of these apparitions were significant: Anne-Marie joind the community of the Sisters of St Joseph at Saint-Priest-en-Jarez.

After the apparitions, Anne-Marie never again had mystical experiences. She led the ordinary life of a nun. Her behaviour was exemplary in every way: humility, selflessness, charity, contemplation and obedience.

Anne-Marie has always been remembered by the entourage of Blessed Father Chevrier, founder of the Prado Institute.

Summary:

Anne-Marie Coste (1861 - 1924) had a difficult early life. Born into a poor family in Lyon's Croix-Rousse district - her father was a stone mason and she was the eldest of ten children - she became ill in her teens. Suffering from cervical arthritis, she was in excruciating pain - but never complained.

On November 6, 1882, she was admitted to the hospital with terrible pain. The young woman prayed unceasingly. Suddenly, she heard an unknown, very sweet female voice: "Anne-Marie, Anne-Marie...". She lifted her head with a great effort and there, two metres away, in an extraordinary light, she saw a person whose features she had difficulty grasping at first. She explained that at first she saw a shadow. Then the shadow became a woman... The Virgin Mary stood before her and said: "I am appearing to you in the form in which you most like to pray to me!" "Our Lady of Fourvière!" the visionary exclaimed.

That evening, Mary left her a prophetic message: Lyon would suffer severe punishment if its inhabitants did not convert. Suddenly, the Mother of God disappeared and Anne-Marie felt an unusual warmth in her body: she had just been cured of her arthritis.

Other apparitions followed, including one on January 2, 1883, in the loft of Anne-Marie's small flat. The same ineffable light, the same supernatural gentleness, the same royal clothes... "I am an abandoned Mother," Mary said in a sad voice, then in a firm tone: "What causes me grief is the ingratitude of my people. Pray novenas in all the parishes, in all the religious houses."

In 1883, Mary appeared sixteen more times. Healings were reported, such as that of a blind man who recovered his sight after praying with Anne-Marie. Mary was sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus, and she asked for a medal bearing her effigy to be struck, as at Rue du Bac (with the Miraculous Medal).

The diocesan clergy were open and paid attention to the apparitions and messages. Fathers Carillon, chaplain to the nuns of Saint-Charles, Deflotrie and Louis Deguery visited the visionary ans asked her questions. They passed on their information to the archbishop, Louis Caverot. On the advice of the superior of the major seminary of Saint-Irénée, he decided not to conduct a canonical investigation, which in no way implied a negative opinion. The prelate appointed a spiritual director for Anne-Marie, and helped her discern her religious vocation.

Ane-Marie took the habit in 1891 with the Sisters of Saint-Joseph of Saint-Priest-en-Jarez (France, Loire).

Patrick Sbalchiero

Beyond reasons to believe:

Anne-Marie Coste's selflessness proves that she genuinely loved God and others.

Going further:

Louis de Cissey, LesApparitionsdelaViergeàLyonen1882et1883, Cîteaux, Imprimerie Saint-Joseph, 1884.

More information:

RenéLadous, "Coste (Anne-Marie)", in DictionnairedumondereligieuxdanslaFrancecontemporaine, t. 10, Paris, 2001, pp. 61-63.
The Musée du Diocèse de Lyon website on Anne-Marie Coste.
Relation des Visions d'Anne-Marie Coste par elle-même, 22 handwritten pages, Archives du diocèse de Lyon.
Lameire Gilles, La croix brisée sur le globe : apparitions de la sainte vierge à Lyon et principalement à la Croix-Rousse en 1882 et 1883, Résiac, 1997.