It was winter and France was at war. The troops of Guillaume the First, King of Prussia were winning against those of Napoleon the Third. On 19th September 1870 they began the siege of Paris and on 12th January 1871, they entered Le Mans, and advancing towards the west of France they also entered the Mayenne.

On 17th January an advanced section of the Prussian army arrived at the gates of Laval. The French soldiers were disorderly and panic-stricken. In the countryside, the farmers were hiding all they possessed, such as money, clothes and food. In addition to the trials of the war there was an outbreak of typhoid and small-pox.

Pontmain was affected. Out of a population of about five hundred inhabitants, thirty eight young men had been called up to fight in the war and there was no news from them. Everything was going badly. The parishioners said, ‘We’ve tried praying but God doesn’t hear us’. On Sunday 15th January, after Vespers, the parish priest started to sing as usual the hymn of Saint-Brieuc :
Mother of Hope

Whose name is so sweet
Protect our land of France
Pray, pray for us.

He found himself singing alone. Turning round, he urged the parishioners to sing with him. They sang, but were crying at the same time. On Tuesday 17 January 1871, anguish and despondency were widespread. It was cold. Snow covered the ground and the roof tops. The sky was cloudless when the starry night came.