Background
On 19 July 1870, Emperor Napoleon III of the second Empire declared war against Prussia. From the first days of the war, defeat followed defeat. By January 1871, Paris was under siege, two-thirds of the country was in the power of the Prussians, and they was advancing towards the west of France.
It was snowing. Night and day wagons passed through Laval from east to west. All day long the wounded were being sent down. In the countryside farmers were hiding their possessions - money, corn, wine and linen. An outbreak of typhoid had been declared. Smallpox was spreading. On the 11th of January an Aurora Borealis made a deep impression on many. Some saw in it the masts of a phantom ship; others, on the steeples of the cathedral. By the 17th January, 1871, the Prussians were just across the river from Laval, which is the City next to Mayenne. About half past twelve, there was an earthquake in Pont-Main.
Read more about this topic: Our Lady Of Pontmain
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