Our Lady of Trois-Épis

**Our Lady of Trois-Épis** (*Notre-Dame des Trois-Épis*) is a Marian title associated with the only approved apparition of the Virgin Mary in Alsace, France. On May 3, 1491, the Virgin appeared to Thierry Schoeré, a blacksmith from the village of Orbey, as he walked through the forest near what is now Trois-Épis. She held three wheat ears (*trois épis*) in one hand—symbolizing God's blessing and abundance—and a piece of ice in the other, warning of divine punishment if the people did not repent. The apparition was approved by the Bishop of Basel in 1495 and received papal recognition from Pope Alexander VI in 1500. A chapel was built at the site in 1493, which grew into a major pilgrimage sanctuary now cared for by the Redemptorist Fathers since 1912. The shrine celebrates its principal feast on **May 3**, the anniversary of the apparition. The three wheat ears have become the enduring symbol of this Marian devotion, representing both Mary's maternal care and her call to conversion.