An account of the stigmatisation of Marie Julie Jahenny in Le Phare de la Loire March-April 1873

Amongst the persons present, it appeared to me that no one, with the exception of a neighbouring parish priest, believed in a miraculous apparition and that on the contrary, all were in agreement in recognising that the young girl was in a state of catalepsy, which did not prevent the assembled crowds outside from being persuaded of the reality of a prodigy. Marie Jeageny (sic) was, furthermore, a fanatical girl with an excess of religious zeal, she had previously wished to enter a convent but she had been unable to be accepted as a nun. Add to this access of devotion a sickly constitution and you have a rational and reasonable explanation of these hallucinations which have been ridiculously exploited. I am well aware that one does not pay to enter, but the story of a miracle alone suffices to excite the spirits and to provoke, in order to open the purse of Saint Peter, a redoubling of fervour which is certainly not unuseful to the ultramontane cause.

Source : Le Phare de la Loire mars.-avr. 1873.