Our Lady of Hope
Feast Day: January 17

She came on a cold evening, wearing a dark blue dress covered with stars. The year was 1871; it happened in Pontmain, France. Three hundred and forty years earlier, she came

on a crisp morning wearing a blue-green mantle covered with stars. The year was 1531, in which Our Lady appeared in Guadalupe, Mexico.

In Pontmain (a small village about 180 miles west of Paris), her arms were slightly outstretched as she came to share a message written in the sky. Earlier, in Paris, her arms were also slightly outstretched when she came bearing the image (and inscription) of the Miraculous Medal in 1830.

The images and messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary sometime resemble each other. But every time she appears, her image has special meaning, as does her message.

At Pontmain, she raises her arms while looking at a small red Cross over her heart. This shows Our Lady to be very closely one with her Son on the Cross; thus, she is Our Mother of Redemption, and will offer our prayers for us. The red Cross with red Corpus and the lit candles on either side point us once more to the Holy Mass. The two small white crosses implanted in her shoulders, speak to us of 'triumph' through God's intervention. Through her apparition at Pontmain, Our Lady ultimately shows us that she can hold back her Son's arm if we listen to and obey her messages.

On January 17^th we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Pontmain, also known as Our Lady of Hope. Today, in Pontmain France, there stands a basilica erected over the site. Every year over 200,000 pilgrims visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Hope.

There is also a particular chapel in Washington, DC in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception specially commemorated to the 1871 apparition of Our Lady. This chapel was built in 1994 through the contribution of Bob Hope. The shrine's rector, Msgr. Bransfield, said that Bob Hope gave his wife, Dolores, "the chapel as a present at Christmas and when it was dedicated later, she asked that it be dedicated in honor of his mother, Avis Townes Hope." So it was.

We invite you to read the account of the apparition, and to pray with Our Blessed Mother for everyone to know, personally, the "hope of her Son."

To read about the apparition of Our Lady of Hope, please click here.

Need Hope? Click here.