Justine Bisqueyburu

Justine Bisqueyburu (11 November 1817 – 23 September 1903) was a French religious sister and visionary known for creating the Green Scapular after a Marian apparition in 1840.

Biography Early life Bisqueyburu was born on 11 November 1817 in Mauléon-Licharre, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France, to Clement Bisqueyburu and Ursula Albine d'Anglade. Her father was a merchant. Orphaned at a young age, Bisqueyburu was brought up by her maternal aunt. On 28 January 1840, during her retreat in preparation for entrance into the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, Bisqueyburu was in the chapel at Rue du Bac in Paris. While she was at prayer, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to her, dressed in a long white gown and a light blue mantle; her hair was not covered, and she said nothing. At the end of the retreat, the Virgin Mary appeared to her again, and the vision recurred five times during the latter's novitiate. On each occasion, the vision was identical to the first; on each occasion, Our Lady said nothing.

Green Scapular

Shortly after she had received the religious habit, Bisqueyburu was sent to teach the poor in Blangy-sur-Bresle. On 8 September 1840 (the Feast of the Nativity of Mary), while Bisqueyburu was at prayer, the Virgin Mary again appeared, holding in her right hand her heart surrounded by flames, and in her left a type of scapular consisting of a single piece of green cloth strung on green cords. On the cloth was an image of the Virgin as she had appeared to Bisqueyburu, holding her heart in her right hand. On the cloth's reverse was "a Heart all ablaze with rays more dazzling than the sun and as transparent as crystal". She told her superior about the visions and, subsequently, her spiritual director, Jean-Marie Aladel, C.M. who was skeptical and told her she was deluded.

Later life During the Crimean War, Bisqueyburu was sent to serve in Constantinople. In 1856 she went to the military hospital at Val-de-Grâce in Paris, where she remained for two years. In 1858 she was commissioned to open the military hospital of Rennes; later that year she was placed in charge of a military hospital in Algiers, a position she held for nine years. Bisqueyburu died on 23 September 1903, at the age of 91.