What’s the first apparition of Our Lady recognized by the Church?
It took place in France, in Le Puy-en-Velay, a small town in Haute-Loire in southern France.
According to tradition, Our Lady appeared to a woman sick with a high fever, and asked her to go up Mount Anis.
The woman lay down on what is now called “fever rock” and fell asleep.
The Blessed Virgin appeared to her, healed her, and asked her to build a church in her honor on that spot.
There rose the largest Marian shrine of medieval Christendom.
It was 430, one year before the Council of Ephesus, which would proclaim Mary the “Mother of God.”
According to a legend, the local bishop received a message from Our Lady with instructions for building the church.
When he went up the hill, the land was covered with snow, even though it was July. A deer walked through the snow, marking the floor plan of the cathedral.
Many miracles have taken place at Puy. Popes and kings have come here in pilgrimage, including St. Louis IX.
By the year 1000 Le Puy became one of the main starting points of the Camino pilgrimage to Santiago of Compostela.
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