Benedicta's Lessons from Our Lady

Guide at the Spiritual School of Our Lady of Laus

Benedicta was a kind and contemplative guide for others, especially because most of the instructions Our Lady gave were addressed to the young shepherdess first...

The Virgin insisted many times to the seer to make efforts to strengthen her character, because she was always very emotional. The sins of humanity and their struggle to repent deeply saddened the young shepherdess. She regularly wept bitterly, and she tried to hide her tears about the sin of the world. Our Lady often told Benedicta that the prayers to Jesus did not please him when we grieved and when we were angry: she said that they lost their strength when recited in sorrow.

Benedicta gradually learned to love tirelessly, and she did her best to understand others, trusting those she came into contact with and not to despair over anyone.

It is clear that Benedicta had the gift of capturing the essence of souls. She was called to guide sinners... It was not easy for her to talk with pilgrims and reveal to them what was happening in the depths of their existence, and Mary had to push the seer to do this mission of service for the pilgrims. "It is not without difficulty that she helped her neighbors discover the mistakes they had committed, because she saw herself as a sinner too unworthy to get involved with correcting others. She prayed a lot so that others would let themselves be touched by the inspirations [of the Holy Spirit] and then she would not be obliged to tell them herself. When the talking was done, she was afflicted as if she had committed an enormous sin, made it the substance of her confessions and practiced some kind of mortifications to make up for this impertinence."

The seer explained her feelings in this way: "The Mother of God asked me so sweetly that I didn't think she quite meant it really, and when I failed, Our Lady scolded me gently without getting angry about the shame I had from speaking to people [about their sins]. Often I expected her to ask me again and then I would obey the second time.

The difficulty she had to reveal or remind sinners of their faults is in my opinion one of the keys to her success with them. She was never arrogant with others. She did not give lessons and she made no judgments. She never told them their mistakes to relieve her conscience. On the contrary, she approached them believing that she was inherently a far greater sinner. Then other people not only felt comforted in their misery, but they opened themselves up to see the hope of being at last reconciled with themselves, with others and with God. And then they were ready to receive God's mercy.

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Excerpts from: Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco Leandri, "Benedicta Rencurel, The Seer of Laus," (Benoîte Rencurel, la visionnaire du Laus, Parole et Silence), 2008