Most Reverend Bishop Jean Marie, outstanding figure, a humble prelate, a man of heart, a friend to the poor, is ready to sacrifice all things when the lot of his brethren is at stake, and especially when the question is: the salvation of their souls.

This is in a nutshell what could depict the singular personality -worthy to bring your attention- of this Bishop with a simple and fatherly heart, this one soul, ever valiant, united to God through a special bond…

In this our de-christianized, materialistic and corrupt world, God wanted to give rise to an Apostle in our times, an Apostle of the end times, the Most Reverend Bishop Jean Marie, and He wanted to do so through His Most Holy Mother.

Over 30 years ago, this good Mother requested a young religious Friar to found a Congregation that would be consecrated to Her in a special way, in order to keep the true faith and serve the poor, and so that many be the souls to be saved in this way.

The Most Blessed Virgin Mary asked her humble servant to erect a Shrine where She would grant numerous graces: "There, in your place, in my Shrine, I shall attract everything to myself. I shall convert sinners; I shall rekindle ice-cold and lifeless souls. I shall revive the little fervor there is in lukewarm souls" (Message from August 15, 1970)

The young Religious, favored with extraordinary charismas, had had an uncommon childhood that already showed a soul privileged by Heaven. When he was just 5 or 6, little Roger used to play priest and say Mass, instead of playing cowboys and Indians.

He would get up quite early and ride his bike to attend the Holy Sacrifice before going to school. He would even get there before the priest, who used to find him, sitting on the church steps. On Sundays, he would go from church to church, still riding his bike, to attend as many masses as possible in the entire area. He loved to serve and visit the poor, the elderly and the sick. He would find a thousand and one ways to come to their help. Menu

One day, with a young mate, they found an enormous shell forgotten since World War I: they unearthed it, wheel-barrowed it, cleaned and shined it, to sell it to an antique shop, so as to be able to help the poor with the amount so obtained.

Now, the shell bumped out of the wheelbarrow! They do not even realize the danger they are running, they pick up the huge and dangerous object and go on their way. The childish anecdote already revealed little Roger's great zeal towards all his brethren.

His zeal gradually turned into a devouring fire, which finally made him worthy to be elected by Heaven as Founder of a new Religious Congregation.

At a time when the great religious Orders all seem to be going through their Good Friday and coming to their end in an alarming fashion, the Mother of the Church is watching, and she makes relief forces in the mystical Body of Christ become a reality.

Thus, since his prime years, the Lord's Call was clear. His priestly vocation is quite obvious, even though his family does not understand him. He joins a Friary, and later the Seminary, and through this young Religious, selfless, prayerful, always on the run to give a hand, many mystical graces will be worked in the secret of God.

Our Lady was preparing her Servant Knight through private, frequent conversations. And on June 10, 1977 took place the First Apparition in her Blessed Forest, where she addressed her people, through the intermediary of her Confidant. Through her presence, she was marking the spot where her Shrine was to be built.

Henceforth, and for eternity, she would be venerated under this new title of Our Lady of Frechou. "I am Mary, Mother of Mercy and Mother of the Church. I desire that my children come here in a pilgrimage. I shall come on the 1st* and 14th of each month… and I shall listen to the requests of my people.

My Divine Son has chosen this spot of land for me, that I may have my Mercy bust out here. May this blessed forest, which from now on is consecrated to me, be a place of prayer, penance and mercy.
While tears were running down Our Lady's face, Father Jean Marie innerly asked her the reason for her tears. She replied to him:
I cry over the Church, over France and over the World."
Message from Our Lady to Father Jean Marie, June 10, 1977.

*During one of her Apparitions, Our Lady announced that she would come only on the 14th.

Since that date, Our Lady has been faithful to the appointments. During the Mass of the Apparition, on the 14th of each month at noon, she appears to the Most Reverend Bishop and delivers messages to him, which she draws from her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart and from her Divine Son's.

She transmits his requests to us, grants his graces, consoles, soothes, and obtains graces of conversion and sanctification. Dear words, coming from the mouth of a Blessed Mother, the Mother of Humankind.

"… I promise to come here to visit my people and relieve its suffering until the end of the world…"
Our Lady on November 14, 1979.

She tells us that our age lives in abomination, that never like in these our times, there has been as many souls cast into hell, and that, as a loving Mother, She comes to save her family while there is still time (April 14, 1981). She asks us to lead a life of prayer, penance and mercy.

Here, we are pleased to report some of the requests from Our Lady: the Most Blessed Virgin Mary asks us to keep the true Faith; to have infinite respect for her Divine Son, really present in the Most Holy Eucharist; to attend, as often as possible and with great respect and fervor, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; to pray the Holy Rosary; to serve the poor and all those who suffer in their heart or in their body.

She asked for the erection of a shrine, and a chapel where she would be invoked as Liberator of the Souls in Purgatory; she asked also the Scapular of the two Holy United Hearts, the Medal of Mercy (see the magnificent promises made on June 14, 1978 and June 10, 1981), the Holy Oil for the sick and sinners; the Medal of Saint Joseph.

She exalts the Catholic priesthood and the grandeur of religious life, the beauty there is in faithfulness to the three Vows of Religion and to the spirit of the Founders of Congregations. She deplores the laissez-aller and negligence that prevails in religious houses and among the clergy, because of pride, a taste for prestige and money, love for pleasures, and opening up to the ideas of the world. On several occasions, she requested the conversion of bishops and the consecrated.

Her Shrine at the Forest of Our Lady, initiated in extreme destitution, will soon become known. Decried and even defamed like many authentic places of apparitions, its timelessness proves in itself that its origin is in God. Numerous pilgrimages have been organized spontaneously since the beginning, attracting persons from every race, people and language, and many miracles were granted to the faithful in reward for their faith.

- A lady, afflicted with Reynaud's disease, whose veins were blocked in seven different places, and her finger and toe's extremities had already started to contract gangrene.

Physicians told her she was condemned, and she came all the way from Paris (over 700 kilometers) to request Our Lady for a cure.

During the Mass of the Apparitions, she promised that if cured, she would spend the remainder of her life at the service of the work of Frechou. The following night, she experienced clinical death, clearly feeling her soul, gliding over her body.

When she opened her eyes again, she wanted to wipe the tears that were running down the cheeks of her mother, who was watching at her bedside.

By that time, she realized her sense of touch had been restored to normal, and she snatched the dressings from her hands: her fingers tips were back to normal. The most incredible part of it all is that her veins are still blocked. Blood circulation is done through capillary vessels, and therefore she has now been experiencing a permanent miracle for 25 years.

- Our Lady of Frechou cured several persons from cancer or multiple sclerosis.

- A child, who was blind from birth, recovered usage of both of his eyes after having attended the Mass of the Apparitions with his parents.

- There have been a host of graces of miraculous protection in traffic accidents for persons that were wearing the Holy Scapular or the Medal of Mercy.

- A lady, suffering from breast cancer, was supposed to go through surgery. She came on the 14th in a pilgrimage. At noon, her nose bled. When she returned home, she had nothing left of her cancer.

- Another lady, also afflicted with breast cancer, was healed after having applied the medal of Mercy on her skin. The medal design imprinted on her flesh, and she was cured.

- Several persons have seen the Holy Face of Our Lord in the Consecrated Host.

- Others had sensible signs of the presence of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary: scents, or the sun fluttering in the sky.

- On several occasions, some children saw Our Lord instead of the Most Reverend Bishop Jean Marie, who was giving Holy Communion.

- In 1988, all the pilgrims that had come from Paris by coach saw Our Lord instead of the Most Reverend Bishop Jean Marie, who was hearing them in confession.

- A Protestant man saw the Blessed Virgin Mary, very tall above the Forest of Our Lady.

- There have been many conversions and miracles through the Sacrament of Penance. Persons that had not gone to church for 30 to 40 years, and who returned to religion.

- Several individuals had the grace to see the Blessed Virgin Mary under various circumstances, including a small Muslim child who knew nothing of the Catholic faith.

Through all these exceptional graces, the Work of the Priests, Friars and Nuns, Servants of Our Lady, a Religious Congregation founded by the Most Reverend Bishop Jean Marie, grows and extends, despite scarce financial means and material support.

This quasi-miraculous expansion can be explained however by the energy and determination of its Superior, who gives his life to it, drop after drop.

His example motivates all the religious of Fraternite Notre Dame. He is an image of the Good Shepherd that knows his fold and guides it towards green pastures. He is the one who revives their fervor each day, in the life of sacrifice they have joyfully embraced:

But what price does the Pastor pay in responding to Heaven's pleas? So many nightly watches, so many exhausting trips, and so many steps taken for the opening of new, remote missions certainly alter his health.

Delicate problems always have to be urgently addressed. Cases of conscience and spiritual leadership are intertwined with administrative issues, in connection with the organizing of each mission, relationships with authorities, monitoring of the institutions (schools, hospitals, a follow up on construction processes), etc.

Everything finally ends up to him and he takes to heart to check each detail for the smooth running and harmony of the entire Congregation.

He is that needed keystone in the Religious Order; a normal course for it is right and proper that all things should go through his fatherly hands, for the vow of Holy Obedience to be implemented.

Our Lady requested the foundation of the Servants of Our Lady to meet the needs of our times: spiritual as well as material needs.

The Most Reverend Bishop always feels urged to succor those in misery, assist the sick and dying, educate the youth.

This translates into Hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages, and soup kitchens for the poor, visits to prisoners, lepers, etc. These are the work sites for these new workers of the Gospel.