I. Introduction: Our Lady of the Poor

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bannux, in the village of Bannux-Notre-Dame, municipality of Sprimont, in the province of Liège (Belgium), is the main Marian sanctuary in Belgium and one of the most important in Western Europe. Every year it is visited by more than half a million pilgrims from all over the world, attracted by the simple and deeply human message of the Virgin who was identified as "the Virgin of the Poor": the Mother who comes to comfort those who suffer, to heal the sick and to be a refuge for all the peoples of the earth.

The apparitions of Bannux are the most recent of the great Marian shrines recognized by the Church: they occurred in 1933, just 16 years after Fatima. They are produced in the heart of the industrialized Europe, in a working people of the Altos de Liège, in the garden of a family of workers. The seer is Mariette Beco, a 11-year-old girl of non-practising family, who had not received any religious instruction.

The message of Bannux is specific and universal at the same time: specific, because it is specifically addressed to the poor, the sick and the suffering; universal, because the Virgin declares her message to be "for all peoples of the world," without exclusion of race, religion or nationality. At a time when the world was heading towards World War II, Nazism grew in Germany and anti-Semitism spread throughout Europe, the Virgin of the Poor announced that her maternal love reached all human beings without exception.

II. The context: Belgium in 1933

Belgium in January 1933 lived in the confluence of several crises that made it particularly vulnerable. The Great Depression started in 1929 had devastated the country's industrial economy: the factories in the Liège basin had fired tens of thousands of workers, and mass unemployment had added many working families to the indigence. The family of Léon Beco, Mariette's father, was a typical example of this situation: unemployed worker, with five children, living in a single-floor house on the outskirts of Bannux.

On the political level, 1933 was the year of Hitler's rise to power in Germany (January 30, 15 days after the first apparition of Bannux). Nazism was becoming the greatest threat to peace in Europe. Anti-Semitism, which in 1933 was already an official ideology of the German State, was a phenomenon of concern to the Church and many lucid observers. In this context, the statement of the Virgin in Bannux - "for all the peoples of the world" - acquired a particularly urgent resonance.

The village of Bannux was in 1933 in a semi-rural area of the Altos de Liège: a mixture of small farms and working families working in the valleys factories. The Beco family was semi-practitioner: the father did not go to mass; the mother, Louise Léon, was a believer but not a regular practitioner. Mariette, the eldest daughter, had been baptized but had barely received catechesis and had not yet made her first communion.

III. Mariette Beco, the vident

Marie-Louise Beco, named Mariette, was born on March 25, 1921 in Bannux, daughter of Léon Beco and Luisa Léon. She was the eldest of six brothers and sisters. He was 11 at the time of the first apparition (January 15, 1933). Described by those who knew her as an "ordinary" girl, not especially devout or especially reflective, with little religious instruction and vivid and direct character.

Mariette's life after the apparitions was deliberately discreet. He completed his religious instruction, made his first communion and confirmation, worked as a home employee, married Camille Charlier in 1956 and had four children. He lived until 2020, dying at the age of 90 on 2 December. During his long life, Mariette was faithful to his testimony: he maintained the consistency of his account, never sought to take the lead or personal benefit of the apparitions, and always rejected any form of publicity or devotion addressed to his person. "I'm no one," he said. "I'm just the instrument the Lady used."

The figure of Mariette Beco has a special theological dimension: it was exactly the kind of person the Virgin said came to help. She was not a pious or educated girl; she was a poor, working-family girl with little religious formation. The fact that the Virgin chose that girl - in that family, in that people, in that context - to convey her message is in itself part of the message: the Virgin of the Poor does not seek the rich or the wise, but the poor and the small.

IV. The eight apparitions (January - March 1933)

V. The runaway of Banneux

The source pointed out by the Virgin to Mariette was in fact a small water crest - almost a waterfall - that ran through the garden of the Beco house. I had nothing extraordinary from a natural point of view. Analysis by independent laboratories confirmed that its chemical composition was that of normal rainwater, without any special minerals.

However, from the first months after the apparitions, unexplained cures attributed to this water began to be documented. The number of pilgrims coming to seek it grew so quickly that it was necessary to build facilities for its collection and distribution. Today, the Bannux fountain is locked in a specific chapel, and pilgrims can drink its water, take it away and use it to pray over the sick.

The Bannux Medical Institute, created by the sanctuary, has documented the cases of cures attributed to the source since 1933. At the time of writing, the Institute has examined thousands of testimonies, of which a significant number did not find satisfactory medical explanation. The sanctuary does not formally proclaim official miracles, as Lourdes does with its International Medical Committee, but maintains a rigorous archive of the testimonies of grace received.

VI. The message: for all peoples

Bannux's message is short, simple and universal. It can be summed up in three phrases that Our Lady spoke during the apparitions:

"I am the Virgin of the Poor"

This title is the heart of Bannux's identity. The Virgin is not presented with an exalted theological title - Immaculate Conception, Queen of Heaven, Mother of God - but with a title of proximity and humility: the Virgin of the Poor. The poor are not only the economically disadvantaged, although the context of the Great Depression makes that meaning the most immediate; the poor are all who suffer, all who are in need, all who feel the fragility of the human condition.

"This source is reserved for all nations"

The universality of the Bannux message is explicit and emphatic: "for all nations." Not for Belgians, not for Catholics, not for Europeans: for all peoples. The moment this word was spoken - January 1933, the same month Hitler came to power in Germany - its political and prophetic scope is eloquent. The Mother of God claims as her children all human beings, without distinction of race or religion.

"To relieve the sick"

The declared end of the fountain and sanctuary is "to relieve the sick." This therapeutic purpose links Bannux to Lourdes and all the great Marian healing sanctuaries. But Bannux's formula has a specific nuance: it says not "cure," but "relieve." Relief is broader than healing: it also includes comfort in suffering that does not cease, peace in incurable disease, the strength to endure the cross. The Virgin of the Poor does not promise to heal all, but to accompany and relieve all.

VII. Church research and recognition (1949)

The process of ecclesial recognition of the Banneux apparitions was long and cautious, which was seen by many as a sign of the seriousness and rigour of research.

• 1933: The Bishop of Liège, Mons. Kerkhofs, order an immediate investigation. The interrogations of Mariette and the witnesses to the apparitions reveal a remarkable consistency of the testimonies.
• 1935: Private veneration in the place of apparitions and the construction of a chapel are provisionally authorized.
• 1937: First official diocesan pilgrimage to Bannux, presided over by the Bishop of Liège.
• 1942: During the German occupation of Belgium, the Bannux shrine is still open and the pilgrimages continue, which bears witness to the spiritual resistance of the Belgian people.
• 1 August 1949: The Bishop of Liège, Mons. Kerkhofs, issue the decree of official recognition. The text states that the apparitions are "worthy of faith" and that devotion to Our Lady of Bannux can be freely practiced.
• 1985: Pope John Paul II visits Bannux during his pastoral journey to Belgium (18- May 21). Pray to the fountain and chapel of the apparitions.
• 2020: Mariette Beco's death (2 December), at the age of ninety-eight, in her hometown.

VIII. Curations and graces documented

The Bannux shrine has since 1933 collected an extensive archive of testimonies of healing and thanks attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of the Poor. Without following the rigorous medical protocol of Lourdes - which requires prior diagnosis, post-healing and evaluation by the International Medical Committee - the Bannux file documents thousands of testimonies, many of them with medical support.

Physical disease cures

Among the documented cures are cases of blindness, paralysis, incurable chronic diseases and medically diagnosed tumors. The usual pattern is the same as in other Marian shrines: a pilgrim who comes seriously ill, who prays before the fountain or chapel, who bathe in the water of the source or drink it, and who experiences an improvement or unexplained healing from a medical point of view.

Spiritual Conversions and Graces

The sanctuary archive also documents a large number of religious conversions attributed to the pilgrimage to Bannux. Among the most striking cases is the conversion of Mariette's own father, Léon Beco, who was unbeliever at the time of the apparitions and who after seeing them turned to Catholicism and lived a deeply religious life until his death.

IX. History of the Sanctuary

The Bannux shrine was literally born in the garden of the Beco house. The first element built was a small wooden oratory (1933), raised in response to the request of the Virgin ("I would like a chaplite") of the fifth apparition. The present sanctuary was gradually built around this oratory.

The development of the sanctuary (1933-2000)

In 1933-1934, a first stone chapel replaced the provisional oratory. As the number of pilgrims grew, it was necessary to expand the facilities. In 1938 the first basilica was built, which was extended and renewed several times throughout the 20th century. In 1954, the Marian Year, the sanctuary received one of its largest historical pilgrimages: over 300,000 people in a single year.

During World War II (1940- 1944), when Belgium was under German occupation, the Bannux shrine remained open and was a place of spiritual comfort and resistance for the Belgian people. Many soldiers and prisoners entrusted their lives to the Virgin of the Poor during those dark years.

The visit of John Paul II (1985)

On 18-21 May 1985, during his second pastoral trip to Belgium, Pope John Paul II included in his program a visit to the Bannux shrine. He prayed before the fountain and the chapel of the apparitions, and directed a word of encouragement to the sick and pilgrims gathered together. He declared that the message of the Virgin of the Poor was "a message for our time": in a world of growing inequalities and widespread suffering, the call to care for the poor and the sick was more urgent than ever.

The sanctuary in the 21st century

In recent decades, the Bannux shrine has done an important work of renovation and modernization of its facilities, while maintaining the intimate and welcoming character that distinguishes it from the great mass sanctuaries. The chapel of the apparitions, the fountain and the path of the Beco garden have been preserved with care. The sanctuary now receives pilgrims from more than 80 different countries each year.

X. Data from the present Sanctuary

XI. Prayer to Our Lady of Banneux

"Virgin of the Poor of Bannux, pray for us and for all the peoples of the world.

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Related: Dossier Knock · Dossier Lourdes · Fátima file · Pray the Rosary