"What have I not done for France?" said she. "How many warnings have I not given! Yet, this unhappy land refuses to listen. I can no longer restrain my Son's wrath. France will suffer. Have courage and confidence. I come especially for the conversion of sinners. You must pray; I set you the example. My Son's heart has so great love for my heart that He cannot refuse my petitions. You must all pray, and have confidence!" Showing the scapular, she said: "I love this devotion." * * * * * Who has not heard of the wonderful manifestations of the Blessed Virgin in Italy of late years? How many thousands of persons, moved by piety or curiosity, have visited the Madonnas of Rimini, of San Ginesio, of Vicovaro, of Prosessi, etc., and have witnessed the movement of the eyes, the change of color, and other miraculous signs certainly attributable to none but a supernatural power. It does not appear, however, that Mary has, in this country, presented herself in person, though here she receives the most sincere and abundant tributes of affection. Doubtless, she considers any stimulus to the faith of its people unnecessary. And besides, may we not say that she has fixed her abode in Italy, since her own house, the house of Nazareth, wherein the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished, and where dwelt the Holy Family, has been transported thither by the hands of angels? * * * * * Whilst the Prussian government is persecuting the Church, the Blessed Virgin vouchsafed to appear in the two most Catholic provinces of her kingdom, and in two opposite frontiers, near the banks of the Rhine and in the Grand Duchy of Posen. Does she not seem to say to the good people of these localities, that they must have confidence and that God will conquer their enemies? We must remark that on both of these occasions, Mary announces herself as the _Virgin conceived without sin_. We give an abridged account of these two apparitions, which we have every reason to consider supernatural. The second vision had been formally approved by the Bishop of Ermeland. On the 3rd of July, 1876, at Marpingen, an inconsiderable village of the district of Trèves (Rhenish Prussia), the Blessed Virgin appeared to three little girls, in a pine forest about the hour of the evening. The three children were each about eight years of age, and belonged to families of poor, honest farmers residing in the village. They perceived a bright light, and in the midst of it a beautiful Lady seated, holding a child in her right arm. The Lady and child were clad in white, the Lady crowned with red roses, and in her clasped hands, a little cross.