The article below was published in the daily newspaper Nord Littoral, Calais, France, page 1, on October 20, 1954.
See the case file.
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Saint-Tropez, October 19.
The story of a strange apparition of which a well-quarry artisan from Saint-Tropez and his help claim to have witnessed, a fortnight ago, in Ramatuelle, is starting to cause a stir in the region by already attracting groups of pilgrims.
Mr. Marius Giraud and his worker, Mr. Duperrier, were busy finishing a well on the territory of the commune of Ramatuelle. It was broad daylight.
Suddenly, Mr. Duperrier, who was leaning towards the bottom of the well, saw with astonishment the stars reflected in the water. He looked up, Mr. Giraud told, and, quite pale, with wide eyes, said to me: "See behind you."
"So," continued the wellman, I saw two or three meters from the well the Blessed Virgin. She had a long blue dress and wore a crown of gold on her head. She stretched out her arm towards the sea, in the direction of Pampelonne and disappeared in a kind of cloud."
It was on this beach that the first French liberation forces landed in 1944 off the same bay that the submarine "La Sibylle" sank in September 1952.
The two well diggers enjoy a well-established reputation as conscientious and respectable workers in Saint-Tropez and the region. But when the news started to spread, everyone was impressed that neither of them was noticed for their devotion. The two men, on the contrary, display total indifference to everything related to religion from which their political opinions would even separate them quite clearly.
The religious authorities observe their customary prudence in this case, only the testimony of the two visionaries remains.
