Facts by Loublande and Claire Ferchaud

Marian devotion

Where is he?

The facts of Loublande are located in Loublande, an integrated town in Mauléon, Deux-Sèvres department, New Aquitaine region, France. The point of the map corresponds to the Great croix des Rinfillières, a place cartographed by OpenStreetMap within the pilgrimage set. It is a reference to the sanctuary and memory of Claire Ferchaud; it does not appear as the exact coordinate of each alleged vision.

Documented history

Claire Ferchaud was born in 1896 and spent part of his childhood in the surroundings of Loublande. The website of the sanctuary states that during the First World War he carried out a spiritual retreat in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre and that, from 1916, he understood his mission as a call to the conversion of France and to devotion to the Sacred Heart. The same source notes that in 1917 he wrote to President Raymond Poincaré and was received by him on March 21 of that year.

The institutional history distinguishes the foundation of a community of "atone virgins" on Christmas 1917, with the blessing of the Bishop of Poitiers, Monsignor Humbrecht, from the chapel of the house of the Sacred Heart on June 12, 1918. These authorizations refer to a community and a place of prayer; they do not amount to approving as supernatural the visions and revelations attributed to Claire.

The sanctuary retains a historical calendar in which a decree of the Holy Office of March 1920 appears, the subsequent changes in access to the chapel and its reopening as a public prayer in 1964. It also maintains Claire's memory, which died on January 29, 1972, and a tour of the Rinfillières with the home, the way of the crosses and a small chapel. The whole works today as a place of prayer and pilgrimage.

Tradition

The tradition of Loublande attributes to Claire visions of Jesus Christ and of the Virgin from childhood, and later messages related to the conversion of France, reparation and the Sacred Heart. The fact sheet retains these accounts as statements attributed to the seer and as part of the history of the movement, without presenting them as Mary's words verified by the Church.

Legend

The prophetic content, the providential interpretation of political events and the promises associated with the visions belong to the field of the alleged revelations. The existence of letters, meetings, a community, a chapel and a sanctuary is documented by the institutional source; the supernatural origin of the messages cannot be proved. The subsequent opening of the oratory also does not make the decree of the Holy Office an approval.

Ecclesial State

The institutional source of the sanctuary records a decree of the Holy Office of March 1920. The research report used for this document identifies this act as the statement that Loublande's visions, revelations, prophecies and writings could not be approved. It is therefore recorded, rejected for the alleged supernatural facts. The existence of the sanctuary and the possibility of praying there should not be confused with the approval of visions.

Anecdotes and stories

One of the most well-known episodes of Claire's biography is the audience with Poincaré, whom he asked to incorporate the Sacred Heart into the French flag. The sanctuary also preserves the memory of the community founded in 1917 and the way of the crosses built after his death. The home and chapel allow you to approach the social and religious history of the movement without turning every memory into a supernatural test.

Prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, intercedes before Jesus Christ for those who seek the truth in the midst of religious experiences difficult to discern. It gives the families of Loublande and all pilgrims a humble heart, obedient to the Church, attentive to the poor and willing to live the Gospel with charity. Amen.

A story marked by discernment

The chronology of the sanctuary makes it possible to distinguish several stages. In 1916, during the war, Claire interpreted his experiences and his mission in relation to the conversion of France. In 1917 he wrote to the President of the Republic and in 1917- 1918 the community of women was formed who lived a spirituality of atonement. The blessing of the chapel by the Bishop of Poitiers documents the ecclesial support for a work of concrete prayer, but does not resolve the judgment of revelations by itself.

The same chronology shows that in September 1918 the outer religious manifestations ceased. It also recalls changes in the local clergy, the project of a trip to Rome that did not come as planned and the closing of the chapel to the public in 1940, with specific exceptions. The reopening of 1964 as a public oratory explains the current situation of the place: it can be prayed there, but the space of veneration does not erase the negative assessment of the alleged visions.

The story of Loublande is mainly related to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a call for reparation. The tab includes it on the Marian map because the narrations also attribute to Claire visions of the Virgin, but it does not confuse both devotions or transform the claims on the French flag into the doctrine of the Church. The path of the Rinfillières, the home and the chapel allow us to approach a religious history of the twentieth century that must be read with prayer, prudence and obedience to the truth.

Sources

• Loublande Sanctuary: history of Claire Ferchaud and chronology of the place.
• Loublande Sanctuary: the shrine and the road of the Rinfillières.
• OpenStreetMap: Big Cross of Rinfilières.