Oblate co-authored Book on Marian Apparition Revised and Re-printed

Thanks to Bro. Richard Cote, OMI

The Pro-Maria Committee, a Roman Catholic Marian Apostolate located in Tyngsboro Massachusetts, is announcing the release of the fourth printing of Our Lady of Beauraing – Queen of the Golden Heart.

The 334 page soft cover book is based on an original manuscript which carefully preserved the fascinating story of thirty-three apparitions of the Virgin Mary, witnessed by five children in Belgium during 1932-1933.

An apparition is defined as the appearance of something unexpected and remarkable, and this historic story is just that – a remarkable series of events near the border of France which first drew skepticism before being accepted and drawing the attention of millions of people around the world.

According to New Hampshire native Brother Richard Coté, O.M.I. (Oblate of Mary Immaculate), Spiritual Advisor to the Pro Maria Committee, and Editor of the book, “the goal of the Pro–Maria group’s work is not only to preserve the original manuscript detailing the historic course of events in the village of Beauraing, Belgium, but also to inform the greater religious community of ongoing spirituality associated with Catholic Marian apparitions and devotions.”

For over 50 years, Brother Coté, a missionary with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Tewksbury Massachusetts, has worked in various pastoral leadership roles at home and abroad, notably Tahiti, French Polynesia. He currently serves as Director of Oblate Foreign Missions in Cuba and Haiti, and as Curator and Historian of the Oblate Historical Museum located at St. Joseph the Worker Shrine, in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts.

Brother Coté personally worked alongside the book’s co-author, Fr. Joseph Debergh, O.M.I., as well as Ms. Doris Poisson, first Secretary of the Pro-Maria Committee, who typed the original manuscript, and to whom the fourth edition is dedicated.

Sanctioned by the Catholic Diocese of Namur, Belgium, the new edition explores the impact that the apparitions had on the town of Beauraing, and the Shrine that developed as a result of the miraculous apparitions which still attract Catholics from around the world. Brother Coté believes there is growing excitement surrounding the book’s updated edition because of its worldwide availability in preparation for the annual Catholic feast known as the “Queenship of Mary” held annually on the 22nd of August.

Over the past eight years, Irene Tremblay, Director of the Pro-Maria Committee, spearheaded the mission of updating the account of a fascinating sequence of events that took place in the tiny village of Beauraing, on the Belgian border with France. It is a story that she believes will never grow too old to share and to learn from. Tremblay, a mother and grandmother often solemnly repeats the first words which were bestowed upon the five children seers by the Virgin Mary: “Always be good.”

“As a mother it’s important for me to be there for my children – to give them the foundational example of a mother’s love, forgiveness, and dependency on God for choices they must make in their hyper-individualistic lives, and further, to let my children know that they are not alone.”

“As a grandmother, I offer a prayer in the silence of my heart every day to Our Lady of Beauraing, that she touches the hearts of my grandchildren, that they may grow in faith, hope, and love. I also pray for the salvation of their souls which might be mired in today’s social upheaval and a growing indifference to religious practice.”

Brother Coté is quick to emphasize his appreciation for the Pro-Maria Committee’s faith in the importance of the task of revising a historical book so future generations can benefit from reading it.

“Their dedication to this project serves to elevate a significant spiritual event in Catholic history through the publishing of an updated and comprehensive non-fiction book containing never before released eye-witness accounts. This edition also includes my own commentary of what the seers experienced, how the seers interpreted the Virgin Mary’s words, how they were bullied, and the sufferings they endured afterwards. Although these are lesser-known dimensions of Our Lady of Beauraing – Queen of the Golden Heart, these lessons remain eternally powerful.”

“Our Lady of Beauraing—Queen of the Golden Heart” originally published in 1958 by Fr. Joseph Debergh, O.M.I. and Mr. Donald Sharkey.  This Fourth Edition is an all inclusive and comprehensive account of the 33 apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Beauraing, Belgium. Fr. Debergh, brought the devotion to the U.S. in 1949, the year the apparitions were approved by Rome. The newly revised edition is available online through the Amazon Books Marketplace.