The thirty-three apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Beauraing

Beauraing is a village in southern Belgium, near the French border. It was there, from 29 November 1932 to 3 January 1933, that five children from the village were given to see the Blessed Mother on numerous occasions. The thirty-three apparitions were recognised in 1949 by the bishop of the diocese of Namur. Here are some excerpts from Mary's message: "Pray always"; "I am the Immaculate Virgin"; "Let people come here on pilgrimage"; "I will convert sinners"; "Do you love my Son? Do you love me? Then sacrifice yourself for me". Every year since then, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have come to this place of hope.

Statue of the Virgin with a Heart of Gold / © CC BY-SA 4.0/Donarreiskoffer

Reasons to believe:

Questioned separately on numerous occasions by experts, who tried everything to test them, the children never contradicted themselves, or each other.

During the apparitions, medical doctors carried out tests (such as pinching, pricking, burning, etc.) on the visionaries. The visionaries did not react at all, being too absorbed.

As soon as the Virgin appeared, the five children fell simultaneously and brutally to their knees on the cobblestones, without any pain. "It was as if the cobblestones were cushions," they said.

Asked to choose the colour closest to a reflection of Mary's dress from among forty-four shades of blue, they all chose the same shade without consulting each other.

If an object (a hat, for example) was placed in front of their eyes while they were seeing, they immediately put it aside because it prevented them from seeing. This fact clearly indicates that they had an "external" vision and not "internal" vision.

So how can people continue to talk about hallucinations? Can one argue that five children's brains went 'haywire' at the same moment, in the same way, on thirty-three occasions, while perceiving the same thing? No psychiatrist would support such absurdity.

During the apparitions, the nuns at the boarding school had let intimidating dogs loose to keep the crowds at bay. But the moment Mary appeared, the dogs would suddenly fall silent, only to start barking again when the Virgin had disappeared. This surprised those around the visionaries, but not the visionaries themselves. One of them declared: "The first people to believe us were the dogs ".

Throughout their life, all five children remained totally faithful to what they had experienced. Not for a minute did they question the grace they had been given. "I miss her. I'm only waiting for one thing: to see her again!" ; "When you've seen a corner of Heaven, it's very difficult to stay in the haze of this world," they often said.

In the summer of 1933, the unexplained healings of two Flemish pilgrims at the Beauraing shrine were officially declared miraculous.

Summary:

29 November 1932, Beauraing.

Fernande (15) and Albert (11) Voisin, accompanied by Andrée (14) and Gilberte Degeimbre (9), went to pick up Gilberte Voisin from the Sisters of Christian Doctrine boarding school. It was 6.30pm on a misty fall evening. After ringing the bell, Albert suddenly noticed a glowing white figure of a woman hovering in the air nearby. He shouted to the other three: "Look, there's the Virgin Mary walking on the railway bridge!" Turning around, the others also saw the beautiful luminous lady, as did Gilberte Voisin, who had just come out to meet them.

The next day, the same thing happened. In all, thirty-three apparitions took place, until 3 January 1933: the first days above the bridge, then beside a hawthorn tree in the sisters' garden. On 28 December 1932, the Virgin Mary declared: "This will soon be my last apparition." At the end of her apparitions, Mary showed them her heart of gold: bright rays of golden light emanated from all sides of her heart.

During the visits of the Queen of Heaven, the nuns at the boarding school let loose ferocious dogs to keep the crowds away. Immediately, when Mary appeared, the dogs would lie down on the ground and stop barking.

What can we learn from Mary's visits to this place? A chaplain from Beauraing gave the following answer to the question: ".The fact that she appeared is proof that God exists and that there is eternal life after death." Gilberte Degeimbre - whose testimony can be heard on the Internet - was no different: "After death, in the afterlife, we know that immense happiness awaits us."

These apparitions were approved on 2 July 1949 by the bishop of Namur.

Among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have come to Beauraing every year since 1932 is Saint John Paul II, who visited the shrine in May 1985.

Belgian author Jean-Pierre Snyers publishes numerous articles on his blog. He knew three of the Beauraing seers well.

Beyond reasons to believe:

We have to guard against two possible excesses: believing all alleged supernatural apparitions, and claiming that they are all false: we might as well say that miracles do not exist and cannot happen! Beauraing is among the most credible apparitions there is.

Going further:

Our Lady of Beauraing, Queen of the Golden Heart: The Complete Story of Our Lady's Thirty-Three Apparitions at Beauraing, Belgium by Donald Sharkey & Joseph Debergh O.M.I., Independently published (June 24, 2024)