Our Lady Queen of Peace

Feast * Jan. 24

Church * Danville

This title of Mary goes back to 16th-century France when a statue of Mary holding an olive branch in one hand and Jesus in the other was presented by Jean de Joyeuse to his bride on their wedding day. The statue later passed to a Capuchin grandson, remaining with that order for the next two centuries. During the French Revolution, the Capuchins fled with the statue, keeping it hidden until the turmoil was over. It was crowned Our Lady, Queen of Peace by the archbishop of Paris in 1906. In the United States, this feast is celebrated Jan. 24.

Our Lady Queen of Peace in Danville is a quaint and cozy church that has great admiration for the Virgin Mary. The church sits on land that used to be a sheep pasture and this history can be seen in one of the stained glass windows inside the church. It depicts Christ as the shepherd while the other stained glass window shows Mary surrounded by mountains. In the past the parish has held a celebration on the feast day.

—Originally published in the Winter 2020 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.