July 2: Feast of the Visitation of Our Lady, instituted in 1385 by Pope Urban IV

Mary’s first thought after the Archangel’s visit was to hasten to the
little city of Ain Kharin and congratulate her cousin Elizabeth on the
wonderful event about to take place. As Mary hastened along, those
who met her little realized that she bore the Son of God – outwardly
humble, sweet, and gracious to all.

So the little girl from Nazareth passed unobserved upon her way. But
as she raised her voice in loving salutation to Elizabeth, when
entering the house, a marvelous thing happened, for the unborn
infant in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy as he heard the voice of
God’s Mother sounding in his ears. Elizabeth, stricken with
amazement, cried out:

“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this
to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice
of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed
art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken
to thee by the Lord.”

July 3: Our Lady of la Carolle, Paris (1418)

A soldier of the Duke of Burgandy's troops, said to be a Swiss

soldier, came upon the shrine of the Blessed Virgin after having
left a tavern where he had gambled away his money. He was
probably intoxicated when he drew his sword and repeatedly
struck the statue of the Blessed Virgin with the weapon for no
known reason. The statue of Our Lady of Carole then began to
bleed profusely, as if made of flesh and blood, and wounded by
the blows.

The citizens who had observed the sacrilege were outraged, and
followed the soldier as he fled from the scene of his crime. The
man was eventually caught and apprehended, and then brought
before the Chancellor where he was sentenced to death for the outrage.

In remembrance of this incident, and in expiation for the crime, there was a popular
festival that took place on the Rue aux Ours every year. There were fireworks, and a wax
figure representing the sacrilegious wretch who had struck the image of the Blessed
Virgin was set ablaze. This festival continued until the French Revolution brought an end
to the traditional observance.
July 4: Our Lady of Miracles, Avignon, France, built by Pope John XXII 14th century

Tradition holds that on the 24th of March, in the year 1320, two
criminals were condemned to be burned to death for their crimes.
One of them, a youth, called on the Blessed Virgin Mary. After
invoking her name he stood in the flames and remained unhurt,
while the other was entirely consumed.

Pope John XXII was made aware of what had happened, and
recognized the miracle, and directed that a chapel known as Our
Lady of Miracles should be built at the execution site. During the
French Revolution the chapel was seized as state property, and
then sold. The church has now been made into an apartment
building “conducive to meditation and contemplation.”

July 5: Dedication of Our Lady of Cambray, Arras, France

1472

In the year 1472, the statue in the shrine of Our Lady of

Cambrai was dedicated by Peter de Ranchicourt, the
Bishop of Arras. The statue at the shrine is known as Notre
Dame de Grace et Cambrai, or Our Lady of Grace at
Cambray, and is a famous and popular image of the
Blessed Virgin. It depicts Mary standing atop a globe, with
her hands down at her sides so that grace can fall from her
fingertips upon her children.

There is also a miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin

holding her Divine Infant in a tender embrace. The image
is said to have come to Cambray from Rome in about 1440,
and it is ascribed to Saint Luke the Apostle. This icon is
also known as Our Lady of Grace, and is considered the
patroness of Cambray. The icon was crowned in the year
1894, and is proudly taken through the streets of Cambray in procession on the eve of
the Assumption each year.
July 7: Our Lady of Arras, Netherlands 1380

The image known as the “Kind Mother” at Hertogenbosch, or “Our Sweet Lady” of Den
Bosch, as she is also known in the north Brabant province
of the Netherlands, was an object of derision when it was
first heard of in 1380. It had been found dirty and damaged
in a builder’s junk-yard, but it soon became celebrated for
the wonders connected with it.

It was in 1380, when Saint John's Cathedral was being

renovated, that the statue was found. An apprentice stone
mason was looking for wood for his fire when he uncovered
a scruffy wood statue in the rubble. The statue was in such
poor condition that he didn't recognize it as the Mother of
God. The mason in charge of the apprentice somehow recognized Her, even without the
infant Jesus on her arm.

The statue was placed on the altar of Saint Martin in the cathedral, but the parishioners
did not like it and were upset that such a dilapidated statue was exposed for veneration.
It wasn't long before one of the priests attempted to remove the statue, but found that it
had become so heavy he could not move it.

It was soon noted, though, that any who spoke disapprovingly of the statue became weak,
fainted, or had nightmares. One woman mocked the statue, and became partially
paralyzed. That night, she had a vision of Our Lord, who ordered her to repair the statue
and honor it. The next day she was able to drag herself to the cathedral to begin the work.
At the end of each day she was able to walk a little better.

It was an entire year later when a Brother Wout found the missing image of the infant
Jesus that went with the statue. Local children were using if for a toy, but now the statue
was reunited and whole.
July 8: Our Lady of Kazan, Russia 1579

This miraculous icon, also known as the Theotokos of Kazan, is thought to have originated
in Constantinople in the 13th century before it was
taken to Russia. When the Turks took Kazan in 1438,
the icon may have been hidden. Ivan the Terrible
liberated Kazan in 1552, and the town was destroyed
by fire in 1579.

The icon was eventually found in the ruins of a burnt-

out house at Kazan on the River Volga on July 8th in
1579. According to tradition, the location of the icon
was revealed during a dream by the Blessed Virgin
Mary to a ten year old girl named Matrona. Matrona
told the local bishop of her dream, but he did not
believe her. There were two more similar dreams,
after which Matrona and her mother went to the place
indicated by the Blessed Virgin and dug in the ruins
what had been a house until the uncovered the icon.
It appeared untouched by the flames, with the colors
as vivid and brilliant as if it were new. The bishop took the icon to the Church of Saint
Nicholas, and immediately there was a miracle of a blind man’s sight being restored to
him. A monastery was built over the place where the icon had been found.

July 9: Our Lady of Coutances, France 1056

This feast day is commemorates the dedication of the

Cathedral of Our Lady of Coutances, by Bishop Geoffry
de Mombray, in the year 1056.

In the year 1030, Bishop Robert began the construction

of a new cathedral, Our Lady of Coutances, which was
begun in the Romanesque style. He died shortly after
the labor of love had begun, and it was left to Bishop
Geoffry de Mombray, who had been appointed in 1048.
He completed the cathedral in the year 1056. Bishop
Geoffry was a close companion to William, Duke of
Normandy, and so invited him to attend the
consecration of the cathedral that year. Ten years later,
the bishop would accompany the Duke of Normandy to
England, where William conquered the island and
earned the title of William the Conqueror. A short time later he assisted Ealdred, the
archbishop of York, at the coronation ceremony that took place in Westminster Abbey.

Bishop Geoffry came from a wealthy family, who generously gave to the prelate for the
good of the Church, while also providing much of the funding for the cathedral. Before the
bishop was finished with the construction, he had added two towers nearly 100 feet tall
to the west end, and a central tower that was famed for its gilded rooster. Bishop Geoffry
died of old age in the year 1093.

July 10: Our Lady of Boulogne

The dedication of a new church built in honor of Our Lady

of Boulogne was consecrated in the year 1469 by Bishop
Chartier of Paris. The confraternity of Our Lady of Boulogne
was so celebrated, that six French kings have chosen to
belong to it. At the French Revolution, the statue was burnt
to ashes and the church pulled down. A new statue was
made in 1803 and pilgrimages began again. The image
represents the Mother with the Child in her arms, standing
in a boat, with an angel on either side. At the Marian
Congress in Bolougne in 1938, a custom began to take
replicas of this statue “on turn” in France and abroad. A
branch of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Compassion at
Bolougne has been established for the reconciliation of the
Church of England. The sanctuary church at Bolougne was badly damaged during World
War II, and Mary’s image smashed; but the return, the “Great Return” of one of the copies
of the statue which had been sheltered at Lourdes, took place in 1943, and the occasion
will long be remembered by lovers of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There is an ancient offshoot
of this shrine at Boulogne-sur-Seine.

July 11: Our Lady of Clery

In the year 1280, some laborers placed there a little statue of Our Lady,
which they had one day met with under their ploughshare. This discovery
made a sensation, and attracted the attention of the most illustrious
noblemen of the time. Among these nobles, Simon de Melun, a great
baron, who had accompanied King Saint Louis IX to Africa, and whom
Philip the Fair elevated to the dignity of marshal of France, formed the
intention of founding a collegiate church there, but death, which he
gloriously met with at the siege of Courtray, prevented him from executing
this pious project. It was his widow and son who made it their duty to
accomplish.
July 12: Our Lady of Lure, Avignon, France 1110

Sometime at the beginning of the 6th century, a priest from

Orleans, France, named Father Donat, in search of solitude,
made his way into the Alps. The mountain of Lure seemed
to be the kind of place he was looking for; and with the
approval of the Bishop of Sisteron, he settled there.

On the side of the mountain he built an oratory for which he

himself made the statue of Our Lady, carving it from native
stone. When after 32 years he died, having spent these
years in penance and apostolic work, he was replaced by
the Benedictines of Val-Benoit. A chapel was built to replace
the oratory which proved too small to accommodate the
many pilgrims. When the Saracens invaded Provence the
religious had to flee and so they hid the statue. Barbarians
ravaged the country several times and the convent was destroyed.

July 13: Our Lady of Chartres

To Chartres belongs the distinction of being not only the oldest shrine in France.

It is actually pre-Christian, like the Athenians’ “altar to the unknown

god” and was dedicated to the Virgin who would bring forth a son, at
least a century before the birth of Christ. Later, it was a pilgrimage site
due to a well located there, “the Well of Strong Saints,” for the bodies
of many early Christian martyrs had been cast into that well. So
Chartres was a site of pilgrimages long before the construction of the
beautiful Gothic cathedral that now occupies the spot.

Eleven centuries later, 1140, Christians were returning from the first
crusade with new Byzantine dignity added to their idea of the kind of
art demanded for the veneration of royalty. In 1144 “men began to
laden themselves with stone and wood…and drag them to the site of
the church, the towers of which were then a-building. It was a
spectacle the like of which he who has seen will never see again.” Rich and poor alike
put their strength and their possessions into the work for Our Lady of Chartres.

July 14: Our Lady of the Bush, Portugal (1118)

This image was seen in the middle of a burning bush, by a shepherd; Vasquez Perdigon,
Bishop of Evora, caused to be built in this place, in the year 1403, a church and
monastery, which was given to the monks of Saint Jerome. The shrine of Our Lady at
Evora, like so many others of the peninsula, concerns the statues hidden away at the time
of the Moorish invasion. During the years of the reconquest, a
shepherd was pasturing his flocks on the site of a camp where
Christians had stayed for a time in the earlier wars. He heard a
sweet voice calling him and was attracted to a burning bush
where amid the flames he saw a statue of Our Lady.

July 15: Our Lady of Molanus, Jerusalem (1099)

In the year 1099, the Christian

armies arrived at Jerusalem,
overjoyed that they had survived to
reach their objective. Their joy
turned nearly to despair, however, as they ran short of food
and suffered greatly with a plague during the siege of the city.

The leaders of the crusade concluded that they could not win
without courting the Divine Assistance. It was agreed by all
that they should march together barefoot around the city
while singing litanies to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This they
did, as the Jews had done centuries before at Jericho, while
praying, fasting, and giving alms. Eight days later Godfrey of
Bouillon was the first to breach the walls and set foot in
Jerusalem, which was then swiftly taken.

The Turks were finally defeated after what had been a long and difficult siege, and the
First Crusade ended with a Christian victory. Now that the city was in Christian hands, the
Crusaders desired that they should have a king for the new Kingdom of Jerusalem. The
nobleman Raymond of Saint Gilles was offered the crown, but he refused, as it did not
seem proper to him to be named king in that holy place. Next, Robert Courte-Heuse also
refused. Finally, Godfrey of Bouillon, who had so distinguished himself in the taking of
Jerusalem, was asked to accept the crown.

July 16: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Feast of the Brown Scapular (1251)

The feast of the Scapular; tradition says that Our Lady gave it,
herself, about the year 1251, to the blessed Simon Stock, an
Englishman; this devotion has since spread all over the world.
The popes John XXII, Gregory XIII, Sixtus V, Gregory XIV, and
Clement VIII, have granted indulgences to those who are of this
confraternity.

Nine centuries before Christ the great prophet Elias went to the
heights of Carmel to beg God to send rain after three and a half
years of drought. In answer to his prayers Elias saw a small cloud
rise out of the sea, a promise of the Immaculate Virgin mother
whose Son would save mankind from the scourge of sin.
July 17: Our Lady of Campitelli, Italy (524)

The sanctuary of Sancta Maria in Campitelli is one of the most celebrated of Rome. It is
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is located on the
Piazza di Campitelli in Rome, Italy.

There is venerated at the church a precious image that was

transported from the portico of the palace of the Roman matron,
Galla Patrizia Seveath, to whom the Virgin herself appeared on
July 17, 524. The icon is on 25 centimeters high. Mention is made
of the miraculous appearance by Pope Gregory the Great. The
image is known as Our Lady in the Portico, or the Madonna del
Portico.

The church where the icon was kept was known as Santa Galla
Antiqua, and it used to be located just north of the Piazza Bocca della Verita and west of
the Via Petroselli. The church was destroyed by Mussolini under pretext that the street
should be widened.

July 18: Our Lady of Victory, at Toledo, Spain (1212)

Our Lady of Victory commemorates the victory of Las Navas,

where a signal victory was gained over the Moors by the
courageous King Alfonso VIII, King of Castile. This feast day
was mistakenly given in the text with the date of 1202, when it
actually occurred in the year 1212. King Alfonso IX of Leon is
also often cited, although it was actually his cousin, King
Alfonso VIII of Castile, who carried this miraculous flag upon
which there was a picture of Our Lady. There are many military
historians who view this battle as one of the 50 most important
battles in the history of the world.

At the battle of Las Navas the courageous King Alfonso VIII,

King of Castile, faced a huge army of one quarter of a million Almohad warriors who had
invaded Spain from Africa. Knights from all parts of Europe gathered in Toledo in
response to Pope Innocent’s proclamation of a new crusade. Ten thousand knights and
100,000 foot soldiers, they were far more men than the city could ever hope to contain,
and so they set up their colorful tents all about the city. It was the most powerful Christian
army ever assembled during the whole of the Reconquest up until that time, yet it paled
in comparison to the Islamic host they sought to engage.

On the day of battle, the Almohad army had drawn up at Las Navas in a massive square.
They faced the Christians behind a front rank wielding long spears to keep the cavalry
from breaking their line. The second rank carried both spears and javelins to support the
front line while still being capable of attacking with the longer ranged weapon. Next came
the slingers to hurl stones at the armored knights, and finally came archers, protected by
all the ranks that stood before them. Their leader, Miramamolin, had boasted that “he was
strong enough to fight against all who adored the sign of the cross.”

July 19: Our Lady of Moyen Point, near Peronne, France

This feast day of the Blessed Virgin commemorates the miraculous image known as Our
Lady of Moyen Point that was found by a French shepherd
near the ponds where the meadows of Amele are presently
located.

According to local tradition, it was on an extremely hot day

that July when a shepherd named Giovanni decided to take
his sheep to the ponds beyond the peaceful meadows of
Amele to give them some relief from the excessive heat of
the day. The ponds had only recently been formed amid the
rolling meadows due to the excessive rains of the previous
season, and Giovanni hoped to give his sheep a treat of the
cool, sweet water he knew he would find there.

The shepherd was not prepared for the mystery that

confronted him there amid the secluded meadows, for the sheep suddenly stopped and
stood still as they drew near to the water. Instead of rushing forward to drink, as Giovanni
had expected, they would not move at all, and a few of them bleated and made other
strange sounds Giovanni had never heard before. Anticipating trouble, the shepherd
made his way slowly to the edge of the closest pond, and found something odd lying in
the water.

July 20: Our Lady of Grace, at Picpus, Fauborg Saint Antoine, of Paris (1629)

This image, which is carved of wood in the shape of a small ship

with two angels at the end, was made in the year 1629 from a
splinter taken from the famous image of Our Lady of Boulogne-
sur-Mer.

Among the famous pilgrimages of Paris, that of the pilgrimage to

the chapel of Picpus, in France, is said to rank fifth. The shrine
contains the above mentioned statue, given in the sixteenth
century to this monastery by the famous Capuchin Joyeuse,
known as Pere Ange, and later transferred to Saint-Antione of
Paris.

Devotion to Mary retains its pristine fervor here, and many gifts
and graces are bestowed on devotees by the Mother of Grace,
Our Lady of Grace, Paris. Pilgrimages are as ancient as society
itself, and in fact, all nations have had consecrated places, to
which they have made it a duty to resort at certain periods of commemoration, to become
more deeply penetrated with a sense of the benefits received from God, by visiting those
spots which they believed to be sanctified by his presence or his miracles.

July 21: Our Lady of Verdun, Lorraine (5thCentury)

The present Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Verdun is both a Catholic

cathedral and a national monument of France. It has a long and
ancient history.

It was in about the year 330 when Saint Sanctinus, a disciple of

Saint Denis, converted the city of Verdun to the True Faith, and
later made it an Episcopal city when he became its first bishop. He
built a church there in honor of Saints Peter and Paul.

In the year 457 Saint Pulchrone, whose name is often mistakenly

spelled Polichraine, built the first church located at the site where
Our Lady of Verdun is presently located. The fifth Bishop of
Verdun, Saint Pulchrone, built the church inside the walls of the
city on top of ancient Roman ruins. This church was actually named to honor Mary as
Mother of God, a title that had recently been confirmed at the councils of Ephesus and
Chalcedon. It was at the council of Ephesus in 431 that Mary was formally affirmed to be
Theotokos, “God-bearer,” or “the one who gives birth to God.” At Chalcedon, the nature
of Christ was formally defined, teaching that He was God and man, “one and the same
Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, known in two natures, without confusion, without
change, without division, without separation.” With this definition Mary was shown to be
the Mother of God, and not just of Our Lord in his human nature. The church and Our
Lady of Verdun was celebrated for numerous miracles.

July 22: Our Lady of Safety or of Safe Hiding, Overloon, Holland

This title is a very recent one, having originated in World War II,
at Overloon, a small town in Holland, lying about midway
between Nijmegen and Venlo, about 30 miles south of Arnhem.

After the German armies had overrun Holland, a great many

young Dutchmen fled to escape capture and possible death by
the Germans. Many of these young men found a place of hiding
in Overloon.

There are stories that several times this little town of some 1700
or 1800 inhabitants, had as many as 200 fugitives, hiding in the
homes of the town.
A great many of these refugees who found a hiding place in Overloon, promised the
Blessed Virgin they would erect a shrine in her honor if she would help save them.

The battle to free Overloon took place between 30 September and 18 October 1944, and
was fought between the Allied forces and the German army. After suffering heavy losses,
the battle resulted in an allied victory freeing the town of Overloon from German
occupation. The battle had been ferocious, as 2,500 soldiers died at Overloon while the
village itself was completely destroyed. For some reason this battle is not much
remembered in the Netherlands, even though there is a museum in Overloon where the
broken armored vehicles and tanks that had been left behind on the battlefield have been
preserved for viewing.

July 23: Institution of the Order of Our Lady of Premontre, Lancaster, England, by
St. Norbert in the year 1120, after a revelation from Our Lady.

The Order of Canons Regular of Premontre, also known as the Premonstratensians,

White Canons, or the Norbertines, are a religious order founded at Premontre in 1120 by
Saint Norbert, who later became the Archbishop of Magdeburg.

Saint Norbert was not a particularly pious young man until he had
an encounter with God similar to that of St. Paul. While riding
through the countryside one bright day in the year 1115, Norbert
had not gone far with the sky darkened due to a sudden storm. A
bolt of lightning struck the ground near Norbert, causing his
mount to rear and throw him to the ground. Norbert lay
unconscious for some time, but when he awoke he went to his
knees, calling out: “Lord, what dost thou wish that I should do?”
A voice was heard to respond: “Avoid evil and do good.”

At that, Norbert was a changed man, determined to obey the

heavenly command. He made a spiritual retreat and became a
priest, giving away his estates and retiring to a life of rural
solitude, applying himself to a life of prayer and contemplation. Saint Norbert left his
hermitage from time to time to preach in France, Belgium and Germany, begging for his
bread along the way. In time, a few good men were drawn to his sanctity and began to
follow him.
July 24: Foundation of Our Lady of Cambron, France (1148)

This feast day celebrates the Foundation of Our Lady of

Cambron, near Mons, in Hainault, Belgium, by Anselm de
Trasigny, lord of Peronne and canon of Soignies, in the year
1148.

The abbey of Cambron was founded on the River Blanche and

was a daughter house of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. It was
situated some leagues from Mons in Cambron-Casteau in
Hainaut, Belgium, and took its name from the land on which it
was built. Cambron, in its turn, had daughter houses in the
abbeys of Fontenelle at Valenciennes and six other sites. The
image of Our Lady formerly honored at Cambron was famous for
a great number of miraculous cures. A chapel dedicated to Our
Lady of Cambron, was built at Mons in 1550 in a part of the prince’s park.

In the following centuries the magistrates of Mons had a beautiful door built for the shrine,
and added other embellishments. There was a small oratory which was very much
frequented. In 1559, thieves broke into the chapel and stole everything of value to be
found there.

July 25: Our Lady of Lac Bouchet, Quebec (1920)

The Saguenay Fjord is an ancient glacial valley that has been overrun with sea water. In
the year 1828 a surveyor, Joseph Bouchette, ventured into the region for the purpose

of collecting data for topographical maps. It was during this

expedition that he found a suitable site for a future village,
which Pascal Dumais and his family later settled. This marked
the founding of the village of Lac-Bouchette, with more and
more people coming to settle in the area until the village had
300 inhabitants in about the year 1888.

Our story actually begins with a man named Charles Napoleon

Robitaille, a salesman who traveled the roads in and around
Quebec. During the winters he would have to cross frozen
rivers, and it was in the winter of 1878 while trying to cross the
Saguenay River that the ice broke under the weight of his horse
and sleigh. Pulled beneath the surface of the icy waters,
Charles was alone and completely helpless. Knowing he was dying, he implored the
Blessed Virgin Mary to save him.

Charles miraculously survived, and managed to escape from the river with his life. He
knew the Virgin had assisted him, and so to honor Mary and her recent apparition at
Lourdes, he asked Louis Jobin to create a huge statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted in
the image of Our Lady of Lourdes. He envisioned the statue in the heights overlooking
the mouth of the river. The statue Jobin sculpted became known as Notre-Dame du
Saguenay

July 26: Our Lady of Faith, Canchy

In the fields, between the Rondel wood and the road to Rouen Saint Omer, there is a very
venerated chapel dedicated to our Lady of Faith.

We are assured that this Chapel already existed at the time of the
battle of Crecy, as the army of Philip VI of Valois went past the
church as they made their way to the battle of Crecy in 1346.

Devotion to this chapel and our Lady of Faith began when a

miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary was discovered in the hollow
of a tree in the forest of Crecy. This famous statue still exists.

July 27: Our Lady of Faith, Gravelines

Not far from the small town of Dinant, in

the country of Liege near a home belonging to the lord of
Celles, two magnificent oaks once grew. One of the two
venerable old trees was felled in the year 1609 for lumber by
a man named Gilles, a lumberjack. The worker who inspected
the tree found in the interior a small terracotta statue of the
Mother of God, enthroned, as it were, with three iron bars that
served as a trellis. The old oak stood on the edge of a path
taken by pilgrims travelling to St. Hubert. Apparently, at some
time in the distant past, some pious Christian soul had placed
the holy image in a hollow of the oak, as if in a niche. Then,
over a period of time, the opening the tree had made while it
was still young gradually closed, and as it grew, the tree hid in
its womb the precious figure. Over the years the bark of the
tree closed upon it, and as the road became less frequented,
the existence of the statue was completely forgotten.

To honor the Virgin, the statue was subsequently displayed on the other oak, once again
behind an iron grating, by order of Baron of Celles. In this new sanctuary the Mother of
God was honored with the title of Our Lady of Faith. Those passing by did not fail to
venerate the statue; and there were many unexpected healings. Graces of all kinds
multiplied, and soon pilgrims began to flock to the area because of the dazzling miracles
and very quickly a spontaneous cult grew.

The statue was first placed in another oak, but it was almost thrown away by servants
who thought it had no value. The local baron placed it by the door to his oratory at the
Castle of Veves as pilgrims began to flock there. In this new sanctuary, the image of Our
Lady was honored under the title of Our Lady of Faith, which was the name of the farm.

The first miracle occurred in 1616. As a result of the intercession of the Blessed Virgin
Mary an old man was healed from a painful and debilitating hernia. The canonical
investigation prescribed by the Bishop of Liege was positive in its conclusion.

A priest of the Society of Jesus had recently been sent to Gravelines. He worked diligently
to cultivate souls, as if upon a fruitful vine, and by his sermons excited the people of the
region to a greater love for the Mother of God. Seeing that this devotion had taken root,
he met with the local Magistrate to discuss how to maintain and increase the piety of the
people. It was decided that they should make replicas of the statue of Our Lady of Faith,
made from the wood of the first oak. When the first was completed, the image was
observed to have a great resemblance to the original. Received with great joy, it was to
be placed in a large reliquary above the high altar in the parish church.

July 28: The Siege of Rhodes

Victory over the Turks by the Knights Hospitaller at Rhodes in 1480 through Our
Lady’s intercession.

Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, the last remnant of the Holy Roman
Empire, fell to the “Scourge of Europe,” the Sultan Mehmet
II, in the year 1453. This dire news was almost impossible to
believe in the rest of Christendom, but it was sadly true, and
Constantinople was made into the new seat of the Ottoman
Empire.

A few short years later, Pierre D’Aubusson was Grand

Master of the Hospitallers, the Knights of Saint John, living
on the island of Rhodes. He and his knights were untiring
opponents of Islam, sworn to do everything in their power to
fight against them. Having made the island of Rhodes their
home, the knights harassed Ottoman shipping lanes and
assisted with attacks against the Ottoman Empire.

In the year 1479, D’Aubusson refused to pay tribute to

Mehmet in exchange for peace, and furthermore, had the audacity to continue harassing
the sultan's shipping lanes. The Grand Master continued to work on the massive
fortifications on Rhodes as he awaited the siege of Rhodes that he knew would soon
come. His walls were strong, but the Grand Master had only a few hundred knights and
about 2,000 natives to defend them.
July 29: Our Lady of Deliverance, Madrid, Spain

Devotion to Mary under the above title is one of the most ancient
of all Marian devotions. It was the city of Madrid, in Spain, that
became the scene of its popularization.

During the Spanish wars which occasioned the people to seek

refuge in the New World, a looting soldier carried off a statue from
one of the shrines in Madrid. The image was a beautiful little
statue that depicted Mary cuddling at her breast the Infant Jesus
whom she was lovingly nursing.

A poor peasant returning from the fields after making a visit to the
shrine, recognized the statue in the possession of the drunken
soldier. He bought the statue for a small sum of money, and
carried it home to enshrine it in his humble cottage. It chanced
that this man’s wife was nearing childbirth, so daily the couple knelt before the statue
begging the Mother of God to give the expectant mother a safe delivery.

As the days passed, it was evident that there were difficulties, and that the wife of the
poor peasant was certainly threatened with death. The father prayed most fervently
before the image of Mary for his wife’s safety. His confidence was rewarded by a happy
delivery vouchsafed by the Little Mother, as he lovingly referred to the statue. He named
the statue accordingly, the Mother of Safe Delivery, which also became known as Our
Lady of Deliverance.

July 30: Our Lady de Gray, France (1602)

The shrine of Notre-Dame de Gray, or Our Lady of Gray, is located near

Besancon in Northern France near Franche-Comte. The statue of Our
Lady of Gray is made of an oak tree from Montaigu, has a black color,
and is only 14.5 centimeters tall. It is much honored in the country, and
there are many miracles and graces granted to petitioners that are
attributed to Our Lady’s intercession at this shrine.

It is estimated that about five centuries ago, on a hill near Montaigu, a

pious person placed a small statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon an
old oak tree. The tree itself is believed to date from the time of the Druids,
and crested one of the hills in the diocese of Malines. Soon the faithful
began to come in crowds from throughout the region, for there were
miraculous healings and various miracles granted to the pilgrims who
invoked Mary under the name of Our Lady of the Oak.
In the year 1602 a small wooden chapel was built on the hill of Montaigu. The oak upon
which the statue of Our Lady had once been displayed was now cut up into small pieces
and carved by a local craftsman into statuettes of the same image. These statues were
presented as a mark of respect to patrons of the shrine. Even the wood of the oak was
considered almost a precious relic, for it had once touched the miraculous statue of the
Blessed Virgin.

July 31: Our Lady of the Slain, Lorban, Portugal

Our Lady of the Slain, also known as Our Lady of the

Murdered, is located at a Cistercian monastery in Ceica, near
Lorban, in the country of Portugal.

It is piously believed that this image was brought directly from

heaven to be given to the Abbot John, who was the uncle of
King Afonso I of Portugal. The statue earned its unique title
through many spectacular miracles. It is best known for the
fact that life was restored to several persons who had been
murdered. Interestingly, in memory of these miracles, those
who had been raised from the dead would bear, from that
time forward, a red mark upon their throats, like that which
was hen seen on the throat of the image. This information
comes to us from the Cistercian Chronicles.

King Afonso I, the Conqueror, (also known as Afonso Henriques), was the first king of
Portugal and a lifelong sworn opponent of Islam. He spent 46 years as king of Portugal
waging war against the Moors in order to drive the invaders from his land.

He was also known for his piety and great love for God. A relative of Saint Bernard of
Clairvaux, he bestowed many privileges and benefits to the religious orders and built
Alcobaca Monastery for the Cistercian
Order.

He was responsible for the foundation of

several monasteries and convents, and was
favorable especially toward the Cistercians.