The five Marian apparitions that traced an "M" over France, and its new pilgrimage route

In the 19th century, the Virgin Mary visited France on five occasions: at the Rue du Bac (1830), where the famous Miraculous Medal" was given to St Catherine Labouré; La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858), Pontmain (1871) and Pellevoisin (1876). Linked together, these places of apparition form an astonishing "M" over France, a symbol that can also be found on the back of the Miraculous Medal given in 1830. From 1 June to 12 September 2020, the Association du M de Marie organised a major pilgrimage that retraced the "M" over France in a vibrant display of popular piety.

Setting off from Lourdes and La Salette, two Marian carriages drew crowds of pilgrims in their wake, touching the hearts of many French people they met along the way. Today, the M de Marie association is developping of a new pilgrimage route modelled on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. To mark out the route and give it a visual identity, 180 oratories to Our Lady of France are being built every ten kilometres. These oratories are being set up along the route, on private or parish land, in close collaboration with the parishes. They will become stopping stages for pilgrims.

To date, around twenty oratories have already been set up, and on Sunday 26 May 2024, Mother's Day, the project will be officially launched at an extraordinary national event during which the 2000 kilometres of Mary's "M" will be retraced in a few hours. The route has been divided into two hundred 10-kilometre sections. Two hundred teams of pilgrims will each walk ten kilometres from one stage to the next, collectively retracing Mary's "M" across France on a special day. This is a concrete and symbolic way of telling the Virgin Mary that we need her more than ever, and of reminding her that our country is dedicated to her, as she herself recognised when she made her mark on it.

M de Marie

Les raisons d'y croire :

From the outset, according to an old adage, "the kingdom of France is the kingdom of Mary". From the earliest times, this country has had a special bond with the Mother of God, who was venerated in Gaul even before the coming of Christ as "the Virgin who was to give birth". In the 17th century, Parliament ratified Louis XIII's vow to consecrate France to Mary and made it a fundamental law of the kingdom. It is hardly surprising, then, that in response to all this, the Virgin Mary came to make her mark on this country.

Over a period of 36 years, the series of five major Marian apparitions recognised in the 19th century traced a 2000-kilometre "M" across France, using the symbol of the Virgin Mary drawn on the Miraculous Medal, shown by the Mother of God to Saint Catherine Labouré during the 1830 apparitions at the Rue du Bac in Paris.

The gigantic distribution of this Medal, in hundreds of millions of copies, and the countless graces it has obtained, have brought to light this symbol of the "M" of Mary, given by Heaven, associated with this magnificent prayer, which in 1830 prepared and announced the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, proclaimed in 1854: "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you!"

Synthèse :

The Association du M de Marie is now building a new pilgrimage route: "le chemin du M", a Marian and French pilgrimage route.

On Sunday 26 May 2024, Mother's Day, this project will be officially launched at an extraordinary national event, during which the 2000 kilometres of the "M" of Mary will be retraced in just a few hours! The route has been divided into two hundred 10-kilometre sections. Two hundred groups of pilgrims will each walk ten kilometres from one stage to the next. In this way, pilgrims will collectively retrace Mary's "M" across France in record time! This is a concrete and symbolic way of telling the Virgin Mary once again that we need her and to remind her that our country is dedicated to her, as she herself recognised when she made her mark on it.

In the 19th century, the Virgin Mary visited France five times: at Rue du Bac (1830), at La Salette (1846), at Lourdes (1858), at Pontmain (1871) and finally at Pellevoisin (1876). Linked together, these places of apparition form an "M" over France, a symbol also found on the back of the Miraculous Medal given by Mary to the Rue du Bac. From 1 June to 12 September 2020, the Association du M de Marie organised the great pilgrimage that retraced the "M" of Mary in a vibrant display of popular piety. Setting off from Lourdes and La Salette, the two Marian carriages drew crowds of pilgrims in their wake, touching the hearts of many French people they met along the way.

In the wake of this pilgrimage, and in response to the ever-increasing numbers of pilgrims who set off on this route, alone, as a couple or with friends, on foot or by bike, the M de Marie association is developing this new pilgrimage route on the model of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. The "M" de Marie will thus join the list of these emblematic routes.

To mark out the route and give it a visual identity, 180 oratories to Our Lady of France are being built every ten kilometres. These oratories will be set up along the route, on private or parish land, in close collaboration with the parishes. They will become stopping stages for pilgrims. To date, around twenty oratories have already been installed.

To mark the official launch of the project, we are launching an appeal for public donations on the CredoFunding platform for the creation of this Chemin du M.

Our ambition is then to create a "turnkey" experience for pilgrims: a registered and marked national trail incorporating local chapels, shrines and oratories, a pilgrim's booklet, support for pilgrims in preparing their pilgrimage, suggestions for accommodation, and so on. As they walk along the route and visit the shrines on the Chemin du M, pilgrims will also be able to discover and reflect on the messages left by Mary at these five places of apparition.

Mary is our heavenly Mother, and we want to give her this gift, which she will be able to admire from Heaven. To make this event a resounding success and cover the two thousand kilometres, we are still looking for a few stage leaders.

Please contact us at mdemarie.fr
Louis-Frédéric Pernod - lf.pernod@kintsuki.fr - 06 66 90 64 59
Aude-Claire Brocard - audeclaire@mdemarie.fr - 07 66 03 91 18

Olivier Bonnassies

Au-delà des raisons d'y croire :

Through the mark of this "M", at a time when we do not know how to stop the fall of Christianity, we should invoke Mary with confidence, in imitation of St Bernard: "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen."
The pilgrimage of the "M" of Mary was a great moment of faith that can only be extended by your own pilgrimage in the footsteps of Mary (see the YouTube video of the M de Marie channel: Final of the M of Mary at Pellevoisin).