Our Lady of Laus

Marian title of Saint-Étienne-le-Laus (Provenza-Alpes@-@ Costa Azul)

Las apariciones de Our Lady of Laus (Notre-Dame du Laus, "Refuge of sinners") are linked to the young shepherd Benoîte (Benedict) Rencurel (1664-1718), in the Alpine village of Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, diocese of Gap, in the Alps, France. These apparitions developed between 1664 y 1718, with almost all the adult life of Benoîte. On 4 May 2008, Mons. Jean-Michel of Falco Léandri, Bishop of Gap and Embren, officially recognized the supernatural character of the apparitions, an act that places Laus among the Marian shrines approved by the Church in recent times.

Main data

Origin and history

Las apariciones de Our Lady of Laus (Notre-Dame du Laus, "Refuge of sinners") are linked to the young shepherd Benoîte (Benedict) Rencurel (1664-1718), in the Alpine village of Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, diocese of Gap, in the Alps, France. These apparitions developed between 1664 y 1718, with almost all the adult life of Benoîte. On 4 May 2008, Mons. Jean-Michel of Falco Léandri, Bishop of Gap and Embren, officially recognized the supernatural character of the apparitions, an act that places Laus among the Marian shrines approved by the Church in recent times.

According to historical documentation and ecclesiastical processes, Benoîte was a simple and illiterate young woman, dedicated to grazing, who claimed to see first a "beautiful child" and then a "Lady" who expressed herself as Mary, Mother of Jesusinviting her to prayer, penance and to promote the frequent confession and conversion of sinners. The Virgin would have indicated to Benoîte a small chapel in Laus and asked for the construction of a sanctuary where many sinners would find reconciliation. The spiritual tradition of the place highlights, in a documented way, the dimension of confession and reconciliationwhich marked the pastoral of the sanctuary deeply over the centuries.

As regards elements of tradition or legend, various pious narrations collect details not always historically verifiable, such as certain very concrete descriptions of the "good smell" associated with the presence of the Virgin, or very extensive and detailed dialogues with Benoîte. Although the "good smell" of Laus is also mentioned in recent sources as a characteristic feature of the devotional memory of the sanctuary, the Church, in approving the apparitions, does not canonize every detail of these traditions, but the whole message of conversion, reconciliation and mercy, as it is derived from documentation and pastoral discernment.

The image and the sanctuary

The main imagen Our Lady of Laus es una sculpture of the Virgin Mary with the Child, traditionally described as a marble image who presides over the sanctuary. This image was the subject of special veneration and officially recognized by the Holy See through a canonical coronation (see next section). The concrete iconography (gestures, specific colors, etc.) varies in later representations and devotional prints, but the advocation is identified in a stable way as "Refuge of sinners", stressing Mary's welcoming attitude for those who seek God's mercy.

The place of worship is the Santuario de Notre-Dame du Laus, sito en Saint-Étienne-le-Lausin the region of Provence-Alpes- Costa Azul (Altos Alpes, France). The sources consulted mention it as Marian sanctuary recognized by the diocese, with an important flow of pilgrims, especially after the official recognition of the apparitions in 2008. It is not found in the revised sources that the main church has been elevated to the range of minor basilicaor having a National sanctuary; is usually present as Diocesan/Marian shrine de Laus. The whole includes the church, the chapel of the first apparitions and spaces for the reception of pilgrims, setting up a small village-sanctuary in an alpine valley.

(The proposed document mentions "Colombia"; however, the historical and ecclesial sources find this sanctuary in a unanimous way. France, in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, without reference to a location in Colombia. All the information provided refers to this French sanctuary.)

Sponsorship and coronation

The devotion to Our Lady of Laus is expressed in a particular way under the title of "Refuge of sinners", which gives him spiritual patronage over those who seek reconciliation and conversion. Some sources also point out that the advocation has a patronage linked to the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and to various geographical and corporate areas, including Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (EMU) and the town of Saint-Étienne-le-Laus itself. However, the specific document for the proclamation of these patronings and their date are not detailed in the sources consulted; it is collected as devotional data and of recent tradition.

As for the canonical coronationclear data: papa Pío IX concedió una canonical coronation a la marble image of Our Lady of Laus el 23 May 1855. This coronation officially recognizes the antiquity, extension and spiritual fruits of Marian devotion in Laus, and is part of the coronations of Marian images of great popular roots in the 19th century. There are no later canonical coronations on the same image.

Party and devotion

Various sources point out that the main festival of Our Lady of Laus se celebra en Maywith special emphasis on the 4 Maythe day close to the date on which the apparitions were officially recognized (4 May 2008) and which many devotional publications collect as liturgical feast or memory of the advocation. A devotional sheet in Spanish explicitly indicates “Fiesta: 4 de mayo” for this advocation. In the sanctuary are also celebrated other dates related to the history of the apparitions and the seer, but the documentation available highlights as a central Marian reference the time of May, month traditionally dedicated to the Virgin.

El Santuario de Notre-Dame du Laus is a place of pilgrimages from the 17th century, with a strong insistence on the sacrament of confession and spiritual direction. After the diocesan recognition of the supernatural character of the apparitions in 2008, Catholic media have noted a significant increase in pilgrims and the celebration of Jubilee years (for example, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the first apparitions), with programs of masses, Marian processions, Eucharistic worship and catechesis on the message of Laus. Devotion is characterized by:

– La búsqueda del "shelter" in Mary para recibir la misericordia de Dios, especialmente mediante la confesión y la Eucaristía. – La práctica de la penance and reparation, en continuidad con las llamadas de la Virgen a Benoîte. – Tradiciones populares, como peregrinaciones a pie, vigilias, y la veneración de lugares ligados a las apariciones (iglesia de Laus, cruces, parajes señalados por la tradición).

No precise and recent official figures of annual inflow are available in the sources consulted, but the sanctuary is described as one of the main Marian centres in the French Alpswith great influence in the region and international eco from 2008.

Link to the Rosary

The specific sources about Our Lady of Laus focus above all on the message of conversion, confession and mercyand do not explicitly detail a particular message about the Rosary prayer comparable, for example, to Lourdes or Fatima. The information available does not contain a specific request from the Virgin in Laus to pray the Rosary, nor a related exclusive practice.