Bl. Marie Rivier

At the age of two, Marie-Anne Rivier, of Montpezat, France, was severely crippled by a fall from a bunk bed. Over the four years that followed, Marie’s mother carried her daily to a statue of the Pieta in a nearby chapel, at the child’s own insistence. Marie told her mother, “That woman in the chapel will cure me.” She would pray, “Cure me, Blessed Mother, and I’ll give you a hat…Cure me. If you don’t, I’ll pout.” On September 7, 1774, Marie’s father died. The next day, the feast of the Birth of Mary, after the family had returned home from the father’s funeral, Marie miraculously began to walk again. Later, in the chapel, Marie’s mother discovered a hat she had made for her daughter resting upon the Madonna’s head, having been placed there by the grateful child as a votive offering. Marie grew up to become the foundress of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, devoted to the care and education of needy children. Her spirituality was marked by a profound reverence for the sacred liturgy. Deeply devoted to Eucharistic adoration, she would spend hour upon hour on Holy Thursday praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the repository.