Bechwat (Lebanon) and Pontmain (France)

Pontmain is a small French village where, during the invasion of France by the Prussian army in 1871, the Virgin appeared to children with a message of prayer and repentance.

The apparition occurred only a few days before the armistice and the departure of the occupying troops.

Bechwat is a small Lebanese village where the Virgin Mary granted signs and healings in 2004. This happened shortly before the peaceful withdrawal of the Syrian occupation troops.

In addition to the similarity between the historical circumstances, the statue Our Lady of Bechwat represents the Virgin of Pontmain. This is why the connection between the two supernatural manifestations was made official.

Consequently, in January 2005, the rector of the shrine of Pontmain, Father Claude Poussier, travelled to Lebanon to pray in the chapel of Bechwat; and the message delivered by the Virgin in Pontmain in 1871 has been translated in Arabic and inscribed on a long banner at the entrance of the shrine of Bechwat in Lebanon: "But pray, my children, God will answer your prayers very soon, My Son lets his heart be touched."

Synthesis by F. Breynaert