A rich burgher in Provence vowed to place his daughter in a religious order. The girl often went with her mother to a nearby convent and became captivated by a stone statue of the Virgin and Child in the cloister. She always brought the statue an offering of flowers or fruit.

After the girl had joined the order, she frequently venerated the statue. She would stand in front of it with her arms outstretched, asking the Virgin to let her to hold the Child. The Virgin obliged, and the girl cradled the Child in her arms and called him her “son.”

When the nuns spied on the girl, the statue of the Virgin snatched back the child.

The abbess was alarmed by the girl’s actions and summoned her mother. The girl’s mother, thinking her daughter was losing her mind, took her to see the Pope.

To determine the nature of the girl’s behaviour, the Pope decided to gauge her reaction to the mass. When he elevated the host, the little girl said: “This is my beloved son…[and] I wish to go with him.” Then she ate the host and died.

The Pope realised that he had witnessed a miracle and had it written down.