The Valley of Benediction

As from 1140, the monks from Etanche Abbey in France owned land and a chapel in the little valley watered by a little tributary of the Meuse, half way between Verdun and Bar-le-Duc: they called it the Valley of Benediction or "Benoite-Vaux." According to the legend, woodcutters are said to have heard Angels singing the Ave Maria at this spot and to have found a statue of Mary at the foot of an oak tree not far from the river. The Blessed Virgin was holding an apple in one hand and the Infant Jesus in the other. She is called "Comforter of the Afflicted" and the "Queen of Peace."