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Jour de fête: 26 juillet
Bien que les Écritures soient silencieuses sur les grands-parents de Jésus, la tradition nous dit que les Saints Anne et Joachim étaient mariés depuis de nombreuses années avant que Dieu ne les bénisse d’un enfant. Pendant ces années, ils jeûnaient, priaient et pleuraient, pleurant l’enfant qui ne venait pas. Les années de désir n’ont pas affaibli leur confiance en Dieu, mais le chagrin a finalement conduit Saint Joachim dans le désert pour jeûner et prier. Sainte Anne, restant à la maison, s’habillait de vêtements de deuil et pleurait parce qu’elle n’avait pas d’enfant. Voyant sa maîtresse affligée, une servante a rappelé à Anne de placer sa confiance en Dieu. Sainte Anne a lavé son visage, mis ses vêtements de mariée et est allée dans un jardin pour supplier Dieu pour un enfant. Des anges sont apparus à Sainte Anne dans son jardin et à Saint Joachim dans le désert, promettant que, malgré leur âge avancé, ils donneraient naissance à un enfant qui serait connu dans le monde entier. Les nouveaux parents ont couru pour se rencontrer à la Porte d’Or de Jérusalem et se sont réjouis de la nouvelle vie que Dieu leur avait promise.
Lorsque cet enfant est venu au monde, les Saints Anne et Joachim ont vu une réponse encore plus merveilleuse à leurs prières. Non seulement un petit-enfant, mais un Sauveur qui était Dieu lui-même, Jésus-Christ. Le 26 juillet, l’Église honore ces saints grands-parents pour leurs prières, leur confiance et surtout pour le fondement de foi qu’ils ont établi dans la vie de la Sainte Vierge Marie.
À partir du 18 juillet, priez la prière de neuvaine ci-dessous aux Saints Anne et Joachim, en vous fiant à leur pouvoir d’intercession auprès de Notre Seigneur, leur Petit-Fils, Jésus-Christ.
O Sainte Mère et Père de la Sainte Vierge Marie, en tant que parents, vous avez guidé et nourri Marie et, sous votre protection et amour, vous l’avez vue grandir en sainteté. Grâce à votre fidélité et bonté, la Volonté de Dieu a été accomplie; les fruits de votre vertu et foi ont apporté le salut au monde entier avec la naissance de l’enfant Jésus.
« Et le Mot s’est fait chair, et il a habité parmi nous. » (Jean 1:14).
Très Saints Anne et Joachim, approchez-vous de nous et guidez notre main et nos cœurs sur le chemin de la vertu. Aidez-nous à élever nos enfants et petits-enfants avec un cœur doux comme vous l’avez fait. Montrez-nous comment élever nos enfants dans la foi et amener nos familles dans la Lumière de Jésus. Restez proches de nous et aidez-nous sur notre chemin de salut. Saints Anne et Joachim, nous plaçons nos pétitions entre vos mains et demandons que vous les déposiez devant l’enfant Jésus. Demandez cette faveur [Énoncez votre demande…] mais seulement si elle est pour la plus grande gloire de Dieu et le bien de mon âme.
Priez : Notre Père…, Je vous salue Marie…, Gloire au Père….
… Sainte Anne et Saint Joachim : Priez pour nous …
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Jour de fête: 27 juin
PRIEZ PENDANT 9 JOURS CONSÉCUTIFS DU 19 JUIN AU 27 JUIN
MÈRE DU PERPÉTUEL SECOURS,
vous êtes la dispensatrice de toute grâce que Dieu nous accorde dans notre misère. C’est pourquoi Il vous a rendue si puissante, si riche et si bonne pour que vous puissiez nous aider dans nos besoins. Vous êtes l’avocate des pécheurs les plus misérables et abandonnés, s’ils viennent seulement à vous. Venez à mon secours car je me confie à vous. Je mets mon salut éternel entre vos mains; à vous j’abandonne mon âme. Comptez-moi parmi vos serviteurs les plus fidèles. Prenez-moi sous votre protection; cela me suffit. Si vous me protégez, je ne craindrai rien: ni mes péchés, car vous obtiendrez pour moi leur pardon et leur rémission; ni les esprits mauvais, car vous êtes plus puissante que tous les pouvoirs de l’Enfer; pas même Jésus, mon Juge, car Il est apaisé par une seule prière de vous. Je crains seulement qu’à cause de ma négligence je puisse oublier de me recommander à vous et ainsi perdre mon âme. Ma chère Dame, obtenez-moi le pardon de mes péchés, l’amour pour Jésus, la persévérance finale, et la grâce de recourir à vous en tout temps, Mère du Perpétuel Secours. Dites trois Ave Maria…
Ô MÈRE DU PERPÉTUEL SECOURS,
accordez que je puisse toujours invoquer votre nom le plus puissant, qui est la préservation des vivants et le salut des mourants. Ô Marie la plus Pure, Ô Marie la plus Douce, que votre nom soit dorénavant toujours sur mes lèvres. Ne tardez pas, Ô Sainte Dame, à m’aider chaque fois que je vous appelle, car, dans toutes mes tentations, dans tous mes besoins, je ne cesserai jamais de vous appeler, répétant sans cesse votre nom sacré, Marie, Marie. Oh quelle consolation, quelle douceur, quelle confiance, quelle émotion remplit mon âme lorsque j’énonce votre nom sacré, ou même seulement lorsque je pense à vous. Je remercie Dieu de vous avoir donnée, pour mon bien, un nom si doux, si puissant, si charmant. Mais je ne me contenterai pas de seulement prononcer votre nom; que mon espérance en vous me pousse toujours à vous saluer, Mère personnelle par la prière et l’amendement de vie, avec une insistance particulière sur le Saint Rosaire. Notre objectif est d’obtenir le retour de l’Amérique vers Dieu par les moyens
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Jour de fête: 13 juin
Vous trouverez sur cette page:
Neuvaine à Saint Antoine
Prière pour les objets perdus
Prière à Saint Antoine
PRIÈRE D’OUVERTURE :
Ô merveilleux Saint Antoine, glorieux faiseur de miracles en raison de vos nombreux miracles et par la douceur de Jésus venant sous la forme d’un petit enfant pour se reposer dans vos bras, obtenez-moi de sa bonté la grâce que je désire ardemment du fond de mon cœur. Vous qui étiez si compatissant envers les pauvres pécheurs, ne regardez pas l’indignité de ceux qui prient pour vous, mais la gloire de Dieu afin qu’elle puisse à nouveau être magnifiée par l’octroi de la demande particulière que je fais maintenant avec une confiance totale en votre bonté. Amen
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR UN:
Saint Antoine et le miracle des poissons
Ô saint Antoine, le plus doux des saints, votre amour pour Dieu et votre charité envers Ses créatures vous ont rendu digne de posséder des pouvoirs miraculeux sur terre. Les miracles attendaient votre parole, que vous étiez toujours prêt à prononcer pour ceux en difficulté ou en angoisse. Encouragé par cette pensée, je vous implore d’obtenir pour moi la faveur que je demande dans cette neuvaine. La réponse à ma prière peut nécessiter un miracle ; même si c’est le cas, vous êtes le Saint des miracles. Ô doux et aimant Saint Antoine, dont le cœur était toujours plein de sympathie humaine, murmurez ma demande aux oreilles de l’Enfant Jésus, qui aimait être blotti dans vos bras, et la gratitude de mon cœur sera toujours vôtre.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion…
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR DEUX
Ô Saint Antoine, faiseur de miracles, rappelez-vous qu’il n’a jamais été entendu que vous ayez laissé sans aide ou soulagement, quiconque a eu recours à vous dans son besoin. Animé maintenant de la plus vive confiance, et avec la pleine conviction de ne pas être refusé, je me réfugie en vous, ô ami privilégié de l’Enfant Jésus. Prédicateur éloquent de la miséricorde divine, ne méprisez pas mes supplications mais, les portant devant le trône de Dieu, renforcez-les par votre intercession et obtenez-moi la faveur que je demande dans cette neuvaine.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion :
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR TROIS
Ô très pur Saint Antoine, qui par ta vertu angélique a été jugé digne d’être caressé par l’Enfant Jésus, de Le tenir dans tes bras et de Le presser contre ton cœur. Je t’implore de jeter un regard bienveillant sur moi. Ô glorieux Saint Antoine, né sous la protection de Marie Immaculée, le jour de la fête de son Assomption au Ciel, et consacré à elle, maintenant si puissant intercesseur au Ciel, je te supplie d’obtenir pour moi la faveur que je demande dans cette neuvaine. Ô grand faiseur de miracles, intercède pour moi afin que Dieu accorde ma demande.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion :
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR QUATRE:
Je te salue et t’honore, ô puissant secours, Saint Antoine. Le monde chrétien se tourne vers toi avec confiance et ressent ta tendre compassion et ton aide puissante dans tant de nécessités et de souffrances que je suis encouragé dans mon besoin à demander ton aide pour obtenir une réponse favorable à ma demande pour la faveur que je cherche dans cette neuvaine. Ô saint Antoine, je te supplie, obtiens, pour moi, la grâce que je désire.
Notre Père….
Je vous salue Marie….
Gloire au Père….
Prière de conclusion….
Saint Antoine, prie pour nous !
JOUR CINQ:
Je te salue, Saint Antoine, lys de pureté, ornement et gloire du christianisme. Je te salue, grand Saint, chérubin de sagesse et séraphin de l’amour divin. Je me réjouis des faveurs que notre Seigneur t’a si généreusement accordées. Avec humilité et confiance, je te supplie de m’aider, car je sais que Dieu t’a donné la charité et la pitié, ainsi que le pouvoir. Je te demande, par l’amour que tu as ressenti envers l’Enfant Jésus alors que tu Le tenais dans tes bras, de Lui parler maintenant de la faveur que je cherche dans cette neuvaine.
Notre Père….
Je vous salue Marie….
Gloire au Père….
Prière de conclusion….
Saint Antoine, prie pour nous !
JOUR SIX:
Ô glorieux Saint Antoine, choisi par Dieu pour prêcher Sa Parole, vous avez reçu de Lui le don des langues et le pouvoir d’accomplir les miracles les plus extraordinaires. Ô bon Saint Antoine, priez pour que je puisse accomplir la volonté de Dieu en toutes choses afin que je puisse L’aimer, avec vous, pour toute l’éternité. Ô gentil Saint Antoine, je vous demande d’obtenir pour moi la grâce que je désire, la faveur que je cherche dans cette neuvaine.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion :
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR SEPT:
Ô illustre champion de la foi du Christ, très sacré Saint Antoine, glorieux pour vos nombreux miracles, obtenez-moi de la bonté de mon Seigneur et Dieu la grâce que je désire ardemment dans cette neuvaine. Ô saint Antoine, toujours attentif à ceux qui invoquent votre assistance, accordez-moi l’aide de votre puissante intercession.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion :
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR HUIT:
Ô saint Antoine, vous vous êtes révélé si puissant, si tendre et si compatissant envers ceux qui vous honorent et vous invoquent dans la souffrance et la détresse. Je vous demande avec humilité et sincérité de me prendre sous votre protection dans mes nécessités présentes et d’obtenir pour moi la faveur que je désire. Recommandez ma demande à la miséricordieuse Reine du Ciel, qu’elle puisse plaider ma cause avec vous devant le trône de son Divin Fils.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion :
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
JOUR NEUF:
Saint Antoine, serviteur de Marie, gloire de l’Église, priez pour notre Saint Père, nos évêques, nos prêtres, nos ordres religieux, afin que, par leur zèle pieux et leurs travaux apostoliques, tous soient unis dans la foi et donnent une plus grande gloire à Dieu. Saint Antoine, secours de tous ceux qui vous invoquent, priez pour moi et intercédez pour moi devant le trône du Dieu Tout-Puissant afin qu’on puisse m’accorder la faveur que je cherche si ardemment dans cette neuvaine.
Notre Père…
Je vous salue Marie…
Gloire au Père…
Prière de conclusion :
Saint Antoine, priez pour nous !
PRIÈRE DE CONCLUSION
Que l’assistance divine demeure toujours avec nous. Amen.
Que les âmes des fidèles défunts, par la miséricorde de Dieu, reposent en paix. Amen.
Ô Dieu, que la dévotion au bienheureux Antoine, Ton confesseur, soit une source de joie pour Ta Sainte Église, afin qu’elle soit toujours fortifiée par une assistance spirituelle, et mérite de jouir des récompenses éternelles. Par le Christ notre Seigneur. Amen.
Prière à Saint Antoine pour retrouver des objets perdus
Saint Antoine, parfait imitateur de Jésus, qui a reçu de Dieu le pouvoir spécial de retrouver les choses perdues, accorde que je puisse retrouver (mentionnez votre demande) qui a été perdu.
Au moins, restaurez-moi la paix et la tranquillité de l’esprit, la perte desquelles m’a affligé encore plus que ma perte matérielle.
À cette faveur, j’en demande une autre : que je puisse toujours rester en possession du vrai bien qui est Dieu. Laissez-moi perdre toutes choses plutôt que de perdre Dieu, mon bien suprême. Ne me laissez jamais souffrir la perte de mon plus grand trésor, la vie éternelle avec Dieu. Amen.
Courte prière à Saint Antoine
Saint Antoine merveilleux, glorieux pour la renommée de tes miracles, tu as eu la joie de recevoir dans tes bras notre Seigneur béni comme un petit enfant. Obtenez-moi, de Sa miséricorde, cette faveur que je désire du fond de mon cœur : (mentionnez votre demande)
Puisque tu as été si gracieux envers les pauvres pécheurs, ne considère pas le manque de mérite de celui qui t’invoque, mais considère la gloire de Dieu, qui sera à nouveau exaltée par toi, par le salut de mon âme et l’octroi de la demande que je présente maintenant avec tant d’ardeur.
En témoignage de ma gratitude, je te prie d’accepter ma promesse de vivre désormais plus fidèlement selon l’enseignement de l’Évangile et de me consacrer au service des pauvres que tu as tant aimés et que tu aimes encore tant. Bénis cette résolution et obtiens-moi la grâce de lui rester fidèle jusqu’à la mort. Amen.
Si vous vous êtes déjà inscrite pour être Capitaine de rallye du Rosaire ou si vous ne pouvez pas l'être pour quelque raison que ce soit, veuillez ne pas tenir compte de ce courriel.
le 15 août, 2022
Cher/chère ami/amie de Notre Dame,
Cette journée est spéciale à deux égards.
D'abord et avant tout, c'est la glorieuse fête de l'Assomption de la Sainte Vierge Marie au ciel, corps et âme. Quel privilège ! Quelle merveille !
Deuxièmement, je vous écris pour vous adresser une invitation très spéciale et très urgente. Je n'invite que mes ami.es les plus proches; ceux et celles qui ont un amour sans limites pour Notre Dame ! En tant que directeur de campagne pour Le Canada a besoin de la Sainte Vierge, je vous invite à...
Notre objectif est de tenir au moins 800 rallyes à travers le Canada et de rassembler des dizaines de milliers de personnes pour prier le Rosaire le 15 octobre à midi (heure locale). Après les horreurs, les violences et les injustices qui ont défilé sur nos écrans de télévision ces dernières années, il est temps.
Prier pour quoi ? Priez pour : la conversion du Canada, la restauration de notre culture chrétienne et la venue du triomphe du Cœur Immaculé de Marie. . Ce que nous voyons est une régression de la civilisation provenant de la décadence morale et de tous les efforts du Malin. Le Canada a Besoin de la Sainte Vierge organise ces rassemblements du chapelet sur les places publiques depuis 2014 ; chaque année, nous avons vu le tissu moral de la société se dégrader.
Et en 2022? Jamais auparavant nous n'avions vu des événements aussi tragiques ! Entre la covid et la guerre en Ukraine, des millions de personnes ont été privées des sacrements et des milliers ont trouvé une mort prématurée à cause de la guerre. Choquant ! Avec toutes les horreurs, les violences et les injustices qui continuent de faire partie de notre quotidien... il est temps.
Ne voyez-vous pas que tout cela a été prédit par Notre Dame de Fatima en 1917 lorsqu'elle a prophétisé :
“La Russie répandra ses erreurs dans le monde entier, provoquant des guerres et des persécutions contre l'Église. Les bons seront martyrisés ; le Saint-Père aura beaucoup à souffrir; diverses nations seront anéanties”
La prière a du pouvoir ; elle attire les gens vers Notre Dame, comme un aimant spirituel. Les Catholiques doivent contrecarrer ces protestations, ces émeutes et qui sait quoi d'autre… par la prière, le courage, le calme et la confiance dans les promesses de Notre Dame. Ami/amie de Notre Dame, toute action que vous pourrez entreprendre contribuera à en faire le PLUS GRAND effort de prière du Rosaire de l'histoire du Canada.
Les temps dans lesquels nous vivons sont vraiment des temps historiques. Vous n’avez qu’à imaginer ! Vous pouvez vous joindre à d'autres et donner l'exemple aux gens du monde entier. Montrez que VOUS reconnaissez l'importance du Rosaire. Soyez ce changement que vous voulez voir dans le monde : éclairez les ténèbres, priez pour vos ennemis et sacrifiez-vous pour les pauvres pécheurs. Tout le travail a été fait. Les bases ont déjà été posées.
Tout ce qu’il vous reste à faire est de cliquer ici et de choisir comment vous voulez faire partie de la plus grande croisade du Rosaire de l'histoire !
During and after the apparitions, in the short time Francisco and Jacinta spent on earth, they had several private revelations – especially Jacinta. Below are a few excerpts of the principal revelations to Jacinta.
About the Pope and oppressed peoples
To Lucia:
“….I saw the Holy Father in a very large house, kneeling before a table, with his face in his hands, crying. Outside the house were many people, some of whom cast stones at him, others cursed him and said many ugly words. Poor Holy Father! We have to pray a lot for him.”
“…Don’t you see so many roads and so many ways filled with people crying with hunger and having nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church before the Immaculate Heart of Mary, praying? And so many people praying with him?”
On war, sin and peace
To Lucia:
“Tell everybody that God grants us His graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that they should ask her for them, that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be honoured along with Him, that they should ask the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace because God has placed it in her keeping.”
“You know, Our Lord is very sad because Our Lady told us He should not be offended anymore because He was already much offended, but nobody paid attention. People continue to commit the same sins."
"Wars are nothing but punishments for the sins of the world."
"Our Lady can no longer hold back the arm of her beloved Son from the world. It is necessary to do penance. If people change their ways, Our Lord will still avail the world; but if they do not, the chastisement will come."
"If men do not change their ways, Our Lady will send the world a punishment the like of which has never been seen. It will fall first . . . upon Spain."
Jacinta also spoke of "great world events that would take place around 1940."
On priests and rulers
When Jacinta was moved to Lisbon to be treated at Dona Estefania Hospital, she was lodged at an orphanage in the care of Mother Maria Godinho who carefully took down the seer’s words.
To Mother Godinho:
"… pray much for sinners! Pray much for priests! Pray much for religious! Priests should only occupy themselves with the affairs of the Church. Priests should be pure, very pure. The disobedience of priests and religious to their superiors and to the Holy Father greatly offends Our Lord."
"My godmother, pray much for those who govern! Woe to those who persecute the religion of Our Lord! If the government left the Church in peace and gave freedom to the holy Faith, it would be blessed by God."
On sin, fashions and marriage
To Mother Godinho:
"The sins that lead more souls to hell are the sins of the flesh."
"Fashions that will greatly offend Our Lord will appear. People who serve God should not follow fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same."
"The sins of the world are very great."
"If men knew what eternity is, they would do everything to change their lives."
"Men are lost because they do not think of the death of Our Lord and do not do penance."
"Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord, and they are not of God."
On Christian virtue
To Mother Godinho:
"…do not walk in the midst of luxury. Flee from riches. Be very fond of holy poverty and silence.
"Have much charity even for those who are bad. Speak ill of no one and flee from those who do so. Be very patient, for patience leads us to heaven. Mortification and sacrifices greatly please Our Lord."
"Confession is a sacrament of mercy. Therefore, one must approach the confessional with confidence and joy. Without confession there is no salvation."
On Fashions
To Mother Godinho:
“The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh.” Directly enlightened from above, this perfectly innocent, barely ten-year-old girl repeats what Saint Alphonsus Liguori says, that it is sins against chastity “that fill hell with souls.”
When Mother Godinho asked Jacinta if she understood what it meant to be “pure,” she answered, “I do. To be pure in body is to keep chastity. To be pure in soul is not to commit sins, not to look at what one should not see...”
The other, rather prophetic statement of Jacinta, is: “Fashions will much offend Our Lord.”
It is well to recall here that modesty is the outer defense of chastity, the walls that defend the castle, as well as the gardens that adorn the palace.
The correct question, when it comes to fashion, is not what is the extreme limit at which one is allowed to arrive, but how can one’s attire more clearly manifest love of modesty and of the virtue of purity.
Travel back in your mind 1,500 years to a charming port city on the English Channel in northern France. It is the year 636 A.D. and a small boat without sails, oars, or sailors floats into the harbor of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
As the townspeople gather around it, they discover that the boat contains an innocuous treasure: a wooden statue of Our Lady holding the Child Jesus in her left hand. She has an air of divine majesty, yet is calm and maternal. Our Lady’s statue is solemnly carried into the chapel and the newly christened shrine of Notre Dame de Boulogne became one of the most well-known and visited shrines in Christendom. Her feast day is February 20, and is celebrated locally in Boulogne on October 22.
Medieval chroniclers wrote about the many miracles of Our Lady of Boulogne. A chronicle of the life of the holy King of France, Saint Louis IX, includes several references to the miraculous cures obtained through the intercession of Our Lady of Boulogne. She was especially powerful towards sailors and expectant mothers.
England Invades
In 1544, disaster came to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Henry VIII, King of England, declared war on France and sent a fleet with 47,000 troops across the Channel. One of the first cities he attacked was Boulogne, laying siege to it on July 18. Boulogne, although a walled city with very strong defenses, was manned by only 2,000 soldiers. The city surrendered on September 14, 1544.
The invading Protestant army sacked the city. Statues, altars, relics of saints and other sacred objects were hacked to pieces and burned in the streets in an orgy of hatred for the Catholic Faith. Worst of all, the statue of Our Lady of Boulogne was dragged out of the church, mocked and insulted and taken back to England as a trophy of victory. They transformed Our Lady’s medieval shrine into an armory.
The English finally surrendered Boulogne on April 25, 1550, and shortly afterwards returned the statue of Our Lady. The church and city were rebuilt and restored over the following decades and Our Lady’s shrine reacquired much of its original splendor.
Huguenots Attack
The same Revolutionary virus that had infected Europe was preparing bloody rebellion and religious civil war in France with the Huguenots, the French Protestant sect.
During the night of October 11, 1567, hundreds of Huguenot soldiers secretly broke into the church of Our Lady of Boulogne. They wrecked the church and tore out the miraculous statue. Tying a rope around her neck, they dragged her through the muddy streets until they reached the main gate of the old town. There they mocked and blasphemed her.
But when they tried to chop Our Lady into pieces, a miraculous force protected her. They hit her over and over again with swords and hammers, but the statue, as if made of steel, suffered no damage. The miracle infuriated the Protestants even more, and they threw the statue into a great bonfire. Again, Our Lady was miraculously preserved intact amidst the flames. The Huguenots took the statue out of the city and they threw her down a well.
By the following spring, order was restored to the port city. A local Catholic woman, knowing the whereabouts of the miraculous statue, secretly retrieved it and took it to her house. On September 26, 1607, to the acclamations of large crowds of faithful, Our Lady solemnly reentered Boulogne.
Devestation of the French Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789 with tragic consequences for France and Our Lady of Boulogne.
On November 10, 1793, after the Revolutionaries in Boulogne finished celebrating in a former church the so-called “Feast of the goddess of Reason,” they began an orgy of destruction. Full of hate for the Catholic Faith, they piled numerous statues, paintings, vestments, and relics in the city square and destroyed everything in a giant bonfire.
A mob of thugs armed with picks and screaming the Marseillaise dragged Our Lady of Boulogne to the main square. The sans-culottes put a red Phrygian cap on Our Lady’s head, symbol of the French Revolution, and began to mock and blaspheme her. When they tired of this, they burned her in a great bonfire, dancing like savages in celebration for the victory of “reason” over “superstition.” port city. A local Catholic woman, knowing the whereabouts of the miraculous statue, secretly retrieved it and took it to her house. On September 26, 1607, to the acclamations of large crowds of faithful, Our Lady solemnly reentered Boulogne.
Not satisfied with the destruction of the miraculous statue, in 1798 the revolutionary government completely demolished the shrine. Devotion to Our Lady of Boulogne, who for more than eleven centuries had served as a symbol of the mutual love between the French people and the Mother of God, came to an end.
Or did it? Did Our Lady abandon the France that had abandoned her? Or, seeing her children do penance and return to the true Faith, would she make a Grand Return just as she did after the previous disasters, first under the English and then under the Huguenots?
A New Statue, A New Shrine
Shortly after the end of the French Revolution, the Catholics of Boulogne decided to make a copy of the original statue of Our Lady of Boulogne from memory, and the devotion to Our Lady of Boulogne began once again.
Father Benoît-Agathon Haffreingue, a priest from Boulogne-sur-Mer, decided to rebuild the ruined church. On May 1, 1827, he laid the first stone of the new shrine of Our Lady of Boulogne, which was completed thirty-nine years later on August 24, 1866. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims poured into Boulogne each year. Devotion to Our Lady of Boulogne surpassed what it had been even before the French Revolution.
France and Europe had much more suffering ahead of them. The Franco-Prussian war and the First World War utterly devastated France. It was during the Second World War, however, that Our Lady of Boulogne worked her greatest miracle: the Grand Retour or the “Grand Return.”
Origins of the Grand Return
In the summer of 1938, Boulogne hosted a Marian Congress. To prepare the faithful for this national event, two priests decided to make four copies of the original statue of Our Lady of Boulogne and take them on a great tour of the towns and parishes of the diocese. Christened the “Fiery Path,” it was a success far exceeding expectations. In ten weeks the four statues covered more than 1,500 miles and made 466 stops at parishes.
After the close of the Marian Congress, some clergy led by Father Gabriel Ranson, a Jesuit, decided to continue this “Fiery Path” of Our Lady around France until the next Congress, to be held in the summer of 1942 in Le Puy, in southern France. In the fall of 1939 and the spring of 1940, he and a handful of young laymen took Our Lady of Boulogne to northeastern France where they visited many parishes, as well as battlefields from the First World War.
After a very successful Congress, Our Lady of Boulogne continued her tour of France to Lourdes. She arrived there on September 7, 1942, eve of the Nativity of Our Lady, greeted by a massive crowd of pilgrims. With her triumphal entry into Lourdes, it seemed that Our Lady’s great tour of France would come to a close.
Precisely at this moment, Pope Pius XII made a direct appeal to the Mother of God. On December 8, 1942, feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Supreme Pontiff consecrated the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The following year, on March 28, 1943, the French bishops solemnly renewed this consecration. This day was also the beginning of what came to be known as the Grand Return of Our Lady of Boulogne.
The Grand Return Begins
The bishop of Tarbes, where Lourdes is located, had the idea of sending the statue of Our Lady of Boulogne to each of the parishes of his diocese in pilgrimage. During each stop, the faithful would renew the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After passing through his diocese and others across France, Our Lady would make her final return to Boulogne, hence the name “Grand Return.”
The response was so great that the organizers decided to send all four copies of Our Lady of Boulogne around France on four different itineraries. With the letter of approval from Pope Pius XII in May, the four began their great tour of France, which would continue without stopping for five years straight.
Each statue traveled with a group of about a dozen or so young men, all volunteers, led by two or three priests. They placed the statue on a very simple wheeled carriage, pulled by men the whole way from village to village. These men and the whole crowd often processed barefoot in a spirit of penance. When Our Lady arrived at the local parish, an honor guard would carry her into the church. The priest would preach a sermon on Our Lady of Boulogne and the meaning of the Grand Return, and they would hear confessions.
Then the all-night vigil would begin, with villagers taking one or often many hours during the night. At midnight, Mass would begin. Each person received a copy of the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Pope Pius XII. The whole congregation would pray the consecration aloud and each one would sign it and place it at the feet of Our Lady, along with other written intentions.
With World War II underway, the intentions were often simple requests for the safe return of a father, husband, brother, or son from a prison camp or working as a forced laborer in Germany. Many asked for the conversion of a family member. Everyone asked Our Lady to save France.
The all-night vigil continued until the following morning. In the morning, the priest celebrated a Mass of farewell. A large crowd of villagers gathered once again to escort the Blessed Virgin all the way to the next town, where a crowd of faithful had already gathered, and the sequence began again.
Conversions, Penance, Graces
Most remarkable about the Grand Return was the unprecedented avalanche of graces, especially of conversions and penance. Thousands upon thousands of atheists, communists, freemasons, and fallen-away Catholics converted on the spot when they saw Our Lady enter their village.
One bishop described the effect on the faithful: “The passing of Our Lady in my diocese is the most extraordinary contemporary religious event of our times, and the most significant. Crowds of people rose up, motivated and enthusiastic. In fact, the confessionals and communion rails were besieged during the holy vigils, while the recitation of the mysteries of the rosary kept the faithful praying in the churches. In some parishes, there were tremendous conversions like never seen before on the missions.” 1
Parish priests also testified to the effect of the Grand Return. “I was a bit uneasy about the welcome that my very indifferent parish would give to Our Lady. People around me said that the welcome would be mediocre…Three kilometers from [our village of] Nantiat, we see the delegation of this parish, my parish. And I was moved to tears when I saw how big it was: men and young men, women; the whole crowd did not hesitate to kneel upon the wet ground, with arms in the form of a cross, to greet our illustrious Visitor…Truly the Holy Virgin has sent a breath of grace on this not very religious community.” 2
Another prelate testified: “Last Saturday, at around 2 pm, the Virgin arrived at [our] parish of Basville. For centuries no doubt, ever since the beginning of the world maybe, no king, no queen, no princess so royal or so powerful had ever visited us. Truly, this evening was at the least a return to Christianity, a general conversion, a call of my people to Our Mother and Queen…Yes, I think that if the Bishops send us a Virgin every year, in ten years the people of France will convert to Jesus Christ through Mary.”. 3
One observer wrote the following: “It is like the atmosphere at Lourdes. We would dare say that it is stronger than Lourdes in a certain sense. The pilgrim of Lourdes is transplanted out of his element into an ambience that is so impregnated with the supernatural that nothing appears difficult to him, neither the rosary in his hand nor prayer with the arms in the form of a cross, nor to kneel in the dirt. These gestures of faith, Our Lady of Boulogne makes us do them where we live, in our street, under the attentive gazes of our neighbors, of people whom we know. We are no longer worried about what they think, and they don’t dare laugh or criticize.”. 4
When the Grand Return arrived in Marseille, she passed through a neighborhood known for its support for communism. As she passed by a bar in which some communists were gathering for a meeting, several came out to investigate the commotion. The passing of the white Virgin had such an effect on them that they converted on the spot and joined the procession.
In some cities such as Verdun, Bauvais, and Reims associations of so-called “free-thinkers” tried to organize counterdemonstrations against the scheduled appearances of Our Lady of Boulogne. In each case the plan backfired. So many people came out for Our Lady and so few “free-thinkers” showed up that it made them look ridiculous. In Reims, after a big propaganda campaign, the “freethinkers” were only able to gather 12 people against 35,000 who turned out for Our Lady. 5
Return to God, to the Church, to the Medieval Faith
A Benedictine monk who had a role in the Grand Return, Father Jean-Marie Beaurin, published a book in 1945 titled The Arc of Our Alliance. He described the Grand Return as a prophetic movement and compared what was happening to the French nation with the apostasy, suffering, and conversion of the Jews of the Old Testament. After the abomination of desolation, the ingratitude, the declarations of the Popes and the apparitions of Our Lady, and finally the wrath of God, France was returning to the Faith of Clovis, Saint Remigius, Saint Louis, and Saint Joan of Arc.
This rebirth of the Faith that followed the Grand Return was not a Catholicism impregnated with the modern spirit. Father Beaurin described the spirit of the Grand Return as a rebirth of the medieval Faith and the spirit of the Crusades.
The Bishop Paul Rémond of Nice affirmed this about the Grand Return: “It is not a triumphal cortege, comprised of processions, or of grandiose manifestations… It is much greater than that: the Grand Return is a testimony of filial affection and thanksgiving to our benefactress in Heaven. It is a passing mission, a conquering crusade.”
Shortly after World War II ended, the Grand Return began to spread across the world, to Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Canada, and even as far away as Ceylon, Madagascar, and China. In Italy, hundreds of cities were visited by pilgrim statues of Our Lady in the same manner as the French Grand Return. On May 11, 1947, more than 100,000 people gathered in Milan to welcome the traveling Madonna with unprecedented devotion and Catholic fervor.
End of the Grand Return
In short, the Grand Return was both a mission and a crusade. It represented the beginning of a rebirth of the French Medieval Catholicism with its crusading spirit and the rejection of the French Revolution and all its errors.
Everything about the Grand Return seemed to indicate that it was the means that Divine Providence chose to re-Christianize France, and through the first-born daughter of the Church, the whole world.
Tragically, this never happened.
On August 29, 1948, the four traveling statues converged at the shrine of Boulogne-sur-Mer for the last time, effectively ending the Grand Return. Why did this movement—the biggest public manifestation of piety in history—end so prematurely?
Partially, because the Catholic faithful did not correspond to the grace of the Grand Return as they should have. Millions of Frenchmen returned to the Faith, but millions of others did not.
In addition, the majority of French bishops and lower clergy did not receive and promote the Grand Return as they should have. Many were believers in false “ecumenism” and disliked processions or public acts of piety. Others supported the Modernist, progressivist, and even socialist tendencies found in Catholic Action, Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne (Young Christian Workers), the Liturgical Movement, and the Worker Priest Movement and therefore did not look kindly on traditional Catholic spirituality in general, much less a Marian crusade like the Grand Return.
Cardinal Achille Liénart of Lille (whose open support for socialist causes earned him the nickname “the red bishop”) summarized the general attitude of a large portion of the clergy. He did not ban the Grand Return outright from his diocese but wrote a cold letter to the organizers: “I think that this long voyage which began in Lourdes in 1943 and which, no doubt, has done great good, should not continue indefinitely. In order to protect its effectiveness and vigor, you should not transform it into a permanent institution. I wish therefore the return of this statue without delay to Boulogne from where she came.” 6
Why We Hope for a Future "Grand Return"
But that is not the end of the story. More than anything, the story of Our Lady of the Grand Return should give us boundless hope for the future.
Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira learned about the Grand Return during his trip to Europe in 1952. As a slave of Our Lady according to the method of Saint Louis de Montfort, he was keenly interested in the story of Our Lady of the Grand Return.
It was obvious that the world did not convert even after the horrors of the Second World War. As a devotee of Our Lady of Fatima, he was convinced that another even more terrible chastisement would come. Drawing on the words of Our Lady of Fatima and the writings of Saint Louis de Montfort, Professor Plinio hypothesized that this chastisement would be characterized by confusion in the Church and a terrible persecution of Catholics.
After suffering this terrible chastisement, an “era of peace” would begin as Our Lady of Fatima predicted. This “Reign of Mary” cannot come without many, many conversions. Total conversions, in the same line as Saint Paul. Conversions not just of individuals, but of whole nations.
We need a very special grace from Our Lady, one that would be analogous to that of Pentecost for the Apostles. Just as it was impossible for the Apostles to go out and convert all nations without the coming of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, we will not have the strength to build the Reign of Mary without a very special grace. And it will be completely unmerited, just as Pentecost was unmerited by the Apostles, who had fled Our Lord during the Passion. Saint Louis de Montfort alludes to this grace of conversion in his writing. Professor Plinio developed a whole theory about it and named this future grace the Grand Return.
More than anything, the Grand Return is our great hope for the future. We have hope that Our Lady will pardon us, cure us, convert the world, and inaugurate the Reign of Her Immaculate Heart. Most important of all, we must all stay at our post, fighting with all we have, until that D-Day of Our Lady comes.
Footnotes:
1 L. Devineau, Dans le Sillage de la Vierge, Société St. Paul: 1963, p. 36.
2 L. Devineau, p. 62.
3 L. Devineau, p. 64.
4 Louis Pérouas, “Le Grand Retour de Notre-Dame de Boulogne à travers la France (1943-1948): Essai d’interprétation.” In Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, No. 56/1, 1983, p. 42.
5 L. Devineau, p. 26.
6 Louis Pérouas, “Le Grand Retour de Notre-Dame de Boulogne à travers la France (1943-1948): Essai de reconstitution.” L’espace et le Sacré. Vol. 90, No. 2 of Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l’Ouest, 1983, p. 178.
Just remember—everything Jesus and Mary suffered, they did out of love for you and for me.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
So, dear friend of Jesus and Mary, please pray for me as I will for you.
Together we will join Our Saviour and His Blessed Mother as we take up our crosses in this life, in the hope of being with Them in the next.
O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings; deign to cast upon us a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favours, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request.
(mention your request)
Through gratitude for your favours, we will endeavour to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory.
This prayer was composed by Pope Pius XII who had special devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano. To be said for nine consecutive days:
O Holy Virgin, to whose feet we are led by our anxious uncertainty in our search for and attainment of what is true and good, invoking you by the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel, we beseech you to come to our assistance, when, along the road of this life, the darkness of error and of evil conspires towards our ruin by leading our minds and our hearts astray.
O Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the doubtful and the erring, that they be not seduced by the false appearances of good; render them steadfast in the face of the hostile and corrupting influences of passion and of sin.
O Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from your Divine Son a great love of virtue, and, in the hour of uncertainty and trial, the strength to embrace the way that leads to our salvation. If your hand sustains us, we shall walk unmolested along the path indicated to us by the life and words of Jesus, our Redeemer; and having followed freely and securely, even in the midst of this world’s strife, the Sun of Truth and Justice under your maternal Star, we shall come to the enjoyment of full and eternal peace with you in the haven of salvation. Amen.
During the night of July 18-19, 1830, the Most Holy Virgin appeared for the first time to Saint Catherine Labouré, who had been awakened and led from the dormitory to the chapel by her guardian angel.
In the sanctuary, Saint Catherine later wrote:
“I heard something like the rustling of a silk dress, coming from the side of the tribune, close to Saint Joseph’s picture. She alighted on the steps of the altar on the Gospel side, in an arm chair like Saint Anne’s… As I looked up at Our Lady I flung myself close to her, falling on my knees on the altar steps, my hands resting in her knees. That was the sweetest moment of my life.” Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, look on my soul with mercy, obtain for me a spirit of prayer that leads me always to have recourse to thee. Obtain for me the graces that I implore of thee and, above all, inspire me to pray for the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
“The times are very evil, misfortunes are going to befall France, the throne will be overthrown, the whole world will be overwhelmed with misfortunes of every kind”. The Holy Virgin looked very distressed as she said this. “But come to the foot of this altar. Here graces will be bestowed on anyone, great or small, who asks for them with confidence and fervour… A moment will come of such great danger that all will seem lost. But I shall be with you”.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, amidst the great desolation in the world and the Church, obtain for me the graces I ask of thee and inspire me, above all, to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Third Day:
The Cross will be despised:
“The Cross will be despised and hurled to the ground, blood will run in the streets, the Side of Our Lord will be opened again. The archbishop will be stripped of his garments”. Here the Holy Virgin, her face filled with sadness, could no longer speak. “My child, the whole world will be plunged in sorrow”, she said to me.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the grace to live in union with thee, with thy Divine Son and the Church at this crucial moment in history, as tragic as the Passion, when all humanity is about to choose sides for or against Christ! Obtain for me the graces I implore, especially the grace of requesting that which thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
At 5:30 on the evening of November 27, 1830, as Saint Catherine was praying in the chapel, the Holy Virgin appeared to her for the second time, standing as high as Saint Joseph’s picture to the right of the main altar.
“Her face was so beautiful that it would be impossible for me to describe it. Her robe was white as the glow of dawn… Her head was covered with a white veil that extended to her feet which rested on a half sphere, with her heel crushing the head of a serpent”.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, be my protection against the assaults of the infernal enemy. Obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and, above all, inspire me to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
The Holy Virgin holds a globe in her hands representing the whole world, and each person in particular, and offers it to God, imploring His mercy.
She wears rings on her fingers, bearing precious stones that shed rays, one more beautiful than the next, symbolising the graces that the Holy Virgin pours out on those who ask for them.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all, to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Sixth Day:
The Invocation on the Medal
During the second apparition, Our Blessed Mother explained to Saint Catherine “how pleased she is when people pray to her and how generous she is with them; how she gives special graces to those who ask; and what a great joy she takes in granting them”.
At that point “a frame formed around Our Lady, like an oval, bearing the following words in gold letters: ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee’”.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all, to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee,
Seventh Day:
Revelation of the Medal
Then a voice was heard, saying, “Have a medal struck after this model. Those who wear it, blessed, around their neck will receive great graces. The graces will be abundant for those who wear it with confidence”.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces that I ask of thee and inspire me, above all, to pray for the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Eighth Day:
The Hearts of Jesus and Mary
After contemplating the picture on the medal, Saint Catherine saw it turn to display the back. There she saw an “M,” the monogram of Mary, surmounted by a small cross and, below it, the hearts of Jesus and Mary, the first surrounded with thorns and the latter pierced with a sword.
Let us pray: O Immaculate Heart of Mary, make my heart like unto thine. Obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and, above all, inspire me to ask of thee the graces thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Ninth Day:
Mary will be Proclaimed:
Confirming the predictions of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort, Saint Catherine says that the Most Holy Virgin will be proclaimed Queen of the Universe: “Oh! how beautiful it will be to hear: Mary is the Queen of the Universe. The children and everyone will cry with joy and rapture.
That will be a lasting era of peace and happiness. She will be displayed on standards and paraded all over the world”.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all, to pray for the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be…
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
About the Miraculous Medal
In 1830, during the apparitions in the chapel on Rue du Bac in Paris, the Holy Virgin presented the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Labouré: “Those who wear it, blessed, around their neck will receive great graces. The graces will be abundant for those who wear it with confidence”.
In the time of Saint Catherine Labouré’s death, the distribution of the medal in the world had surpassed the one billion mark. The innumerable conversions, cures and cases of extraordinary protection, quickly lead to its being called the “Miraculous Medal”.
Wearing and disseminating the Miraculous Medal means placing oneself under the protection of the Most Holy Virgin. It means placing oneself under the sign of the Immaculate and taking a stand in face of the troubles and indifference affecting the modern world.
“The whole world will be overwhelmed by misfortunes of all kinds… All will seem lost, but I shall be with you”, the Holy Virgin promised Saint Catherine, who repeated this prophecy till the end of her life. The rays coming from Our Lady’s hands symbolize the graces she obtains for everyone who prays to her with confidence.
An Urgent Appeal to Resist the Betrayal and Ruin of the West, Flower of Christian Civilization
The triple crisis of COVID-19, civil unrest, and economic disaster is now shaking the West’s spiritual and material foundations and the world. This is no ordinary crisis since it questions our time-worn certainties, changes our daily lives, and restricts Church freedom. In the face of this crisis, many are stunned and wonder what went wrong. Where is the West headed? Is it possible to avoid the approaching chaos?
Amidst the West’s great peril, as lay Catholics who have long defended Christian civilization against the errors of communism and socialism, the Canadian Society for the Defence of Christian Civilization and its autonomous sister organizations on five continents throughout the world, offer you their analysis of the danger and their message of hopeful restoration.
The Current Situation
The current crisis manifests itself in multiple ways. However, all of them present a unity of purpose that aims to destroy Western Christian civilization’s remaining structures. We might divide them into three major categories.
A Health Crisis That Impacts all Aspects of Life
The world is dealing with a viral epidemic whose origin and spread point suspiciously to China. This virus has affected, above all, the Christian nations of Europe and the Americas, in both its serious health risks and the profound economic, social, and psychological impact of the draconian health and lockdown measures.
The so-called new normal is also affecting the lives of hundreds of millions by restricting freedom of movement, interrupting work and education, banning or limiting gatherings and cultural events, and, finally, restricting access to Sunday Mass and the Sacraments.
People are told to get used to a world of sadness, isolation, and sub consumerism controlled by technocrats, not unlike the dystopian nightmare in George Orwell’s 1984 novel.
The Pandemic Exposed Structural Weaknesses in our Globalized World
With massive political, social, cultural, and psychological consequences, a serious economic crisis knocks at the door. World-class analysts predict it will be much worse than the Great Depression that started in 1929.
The pandemic revealed the West’s monumental economic dependence—the rotten fruit of the reckless offshoring of its manufacturing base, above all, to China.
The result is a great political weakness in the West. It finds itself much degraded in a “multipolar” world in which Communist China is taking on the role of a dragon. Many authors denounce the gradual and inevitable decline of the West’s political, military, and diplomatic power on the international stage. The world, as we knew it, seems to be ending.
Unrest Further Weakens the West
The West is weakened by focal points of unrest that have arisen simultaneously worldwide as if triggered by a common direction. These points include:
a) An imported evil is uncontrolled immigration, which favours the formation of foreign enclaves within nations. Many newcomers (especially Muslim migrants) refuse integration and assimilation, which creates a de facto internal separatism. This turns the West into a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural “open space” without a common identity or purpose.
b) Another focal point is the rise of identity politics and leftist ideologies that seek to wipe away all remnants and structures of the Christian past—these social “deconstructionist” ideals target capitalist bourgeois society. Many leftists have taken advantage of racial and cultural differences to promote class struggle through street violence and urban destruction. The rioting promoted by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States is a typical example.
A consequence of the unrest is that it leads to a radicalism that, with help from the media, frightens and paralyzes the silent majority. In countries where the majority reacts, the consequent ideological polarization leads to a paralysis of the democratic institutions, and many voices even mention the risk of civil war.
Western Man in the Face of This Picture
The West is unprepared to face this triple crisis. Its foundations are eroded by the terrible structural weakness of a massive cultural revolution as seen, for example, with the crisis in the family, the culture of death represented by procured abortion, and an aggressive LGBT ideology imposing itself on all society, even innocent children.
Above all, the West is weakened by a spiritual crisis. Untold numbers abandon the Faith and live without God or His Law, no longer seeking God’s grace and sacramental life. Our moral decadence has weakened us, and we have forgotten our Christian roots.
Deprived of spiritual and social support, many people’s reaction to our triple crisis is disbelief and shock. Many psychologists call it a “collective trauma.” Powerful, solid, technologically perfect, and self-assured, our world was shaken to its foundations by a novel coronavirus.
In a few months, together with the Western economy, many certainties collapsed. These certainties had fuelled the optimism of the masses in indefinite progress. Today, the crisis has eroded confidence in the media, science, political authorities, and even religious leaders.
Optimism, the characteristic feature of our time, is disappearing. The optimism that two world wars could not shake is fading, leading to growing anxiety for the future.
Within this apprehensive context, many begin to question the West’s premises. They ask: What went wrong? Is there a solution? Is there a light that can guide us during this storm, comforting us and restoring confidence in the future?
These questions carry the seed of remorse and a distant longing for the abandoned path of virtue.
III. An Immense Spiritual Orphanhood
Amidst the crisis, we would do well to repair to the wellspring of Christian culture to rediscover the spiritual values that made us. From this spiritual source come the Christian order, institutions, and graces that will lead us out of the present triple crisis. Only such a return of prodigals to the Father’s house can regenerate society on the scale and scope that is needed.
However, our inability to deal with the triple crisis stems from the fact that a parallel crisis within the Church undermines our certainties, principles, and values. This spiritual crisis is far more destructive since it deprives us of the means that help us find solutions.
In this supreme hour of Christianity, the faithful would naturally lift their gaze to the Chair of Peter, the Supreme Authority of the Catholic Church, seeking a word of comfort and guidance. Instead of being the West’s bulwark, however, the Holy See seems indifferent to its fate. At times it even seems to favour those attacking the West with unparalleled intensity. The West’s immense spiritual orphanhood is the current situation’s most terrible aspect.
Consider these recent facts (among many that could be listed) that undermine the foundations of the Faith:
While the Catechism of the Catholic Church reiterated that homosexual acts “are contrary to natural law” and “in no case can they be approved” (no. 2357), and a later 2003 Vatican declaration condemns “the legal recognition of homosexual unions,” a recently released statement by Pope Francis affirms that “homosexual people are entitled to have a family. . . . We have to pass a law on civil unions, so they will be covered legally.”
Intent on building a multipolar “new world,” Pope Francis launched Fratelli Tutti, an encyclical which, from a religious point of view, puts the Catholic Church and Sacred Scripture on par with other religions and their foundational books. In the name of a universal naturalist fraternity and its corresponding “social friendship,” Fratelli Tutti provides the doctrinal and psychological bases for an “open world” without principles or borders, with no defined religion, where resources are available to all, equally, and in which conflicts are to be resolved through “dialogue.”
The encyclical favours the West’s uncontrolled invasion by migrants (in the case of Europe, this means mostly Muslims). It calls for the submission of countries to international organizations like the United Nations, which would solve global problems, especially those related to climate and the environment.
Furthermore, and contradicting Church social doctrine, Fratelli Tutti restricts private property and the free market economy so extensively that, in practice, it denies the moral legitimacy of these two foundations of the Western economy. Other points in the encyclical concern. Pope Francis has repeated them throughout his pontificate and is probably about to reiterate in the Global Compact on Education and Economy of Francesco events. For example, “sustainable degrowth,” carbon-free energy savings (that is, pauperism as a standard for consumption), and the communal ownership and management practiced by leftist popular movements.
To this must be added the indigenous horizons proposed in the encyclical Laudato Si’ and the Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia, which present the tribal way of life as a model of sustainable living and community. Here we might mention Pachamama. Both tragically confirm Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s predictions of pauperism and tribalist tendencies in the Church, made in the third part of his 1976 book Revolution and Counter-Revolution, and in his 1977 work Indian Tribalism: The Communist-Missionary Ideal for Brazil in the Twenty-First Century.
The Hierarchy’s passivity during the health crisis was evident when many religious authorities went beyond political ones, prohibited the celebration of Masses, and imposed Communion in the hand. For the first time in history, the Catholic clergy celebrated Easter without the faithful. Many among the latter are not returning to Church, aggravating a growing apostasy.
Is There a Right to Resist a Pope Who Abandons the Christian West?
The Catholic Church is universal—its name says it. Its mission is to baptize all nations, teaching them to observe what Christ commanded (See Matt. 28:19–20). In that sense, it does not identify with this or that geographical area, ethnicity, or culture. However, during these two thousand years, Western Christian civilization has been the most visible and enduring fruit of the Church’s apostolate. Its holiness, evangelizing spirit, philosophical and theological depth, hospitals, universities, works of charity, economic vigour, and flourishing effects in the arts and sciences led Pope Leo XIII to write: “There was a time when the philosophy of the Gospel governed the states” (encyclical Immortale Dei, no. 28).
Until Pope Francis, the Sovereign Pontiffs recognized Western Christian civilization as the Church’s firstborn daughter and sought to defend it. What an unnatural Mother the Church would be if, in a situation in which this eldest child is in the danger of dying, She would turn Her back or, worse still, help Her enemies attack this firstborn until she perished! The Church would be acting like a false shepherd who turns the flock over to the voracious wolves wanting to devour it. However, this is the attitude shown by many of our highest ecclesiastical authorities.
In the face of this apocalyptic scenario, a piercing question wells up in the souls of innumerable Catholics: Is it lawful to react and proudly defend Christian civilization, its religious and temporal traditions, even when this implies opposing certain guidelines issued by these high authorities? Is it lawful to resist, to the fullest extent permitted by Canon Law, the policies pursued by Pope Francis that threaten the West’s integrity, security, and cultural identities?
We are not afraid to assume this state of resistance because its moral licitness was implicitly acknowledged by the silence of Pope Paul VI and numerous other ecclesiastical authorities to the TFP statement on the Vatican’s policy of détente with communist regimes. The 1974 document, written by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, was signed and published by all TFPs then existing. In it, we read:
In this filial act, we say to the Pastor of Pastors: Our soul is yours, our life is yours. Order us to do whatever you wish. Only do not order us to do nothing in the face of the assailing Red wolf. To this, our conscience is opposed.
Yes, Holy Father, Saint Peter teaches us that it is necessary “to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). You are assisted by the Holy Ghost and supported—under the conditions defined by Vatican I—by the privilege of infallibility. But this does not mean that in certain matters or circumstances the weakness to which all men are subject cannot influence and even determine your conduct. One of these fields where your action is subject to error—perhaps par excellence—is diplomacy. And this is precisely where your policy of détente with the communist governments is situated.
What, then, should we do? The limits of this declaration do not permit us to list all the Church Fathers, Doctors, moralists, and canonists—many of them raised to the honor of the altar—who have affirmed the legitimacy of resistance. This genre of resistance is not separation, it is not revolt, it is not acrimony, it is not irreverence. On the contrary, it is fidelity, it is union, it is love, it is submission.
Resistance
To resist means that we will encourage Catholics to reaffirm their love for Western Christian civilization and their willingness to defend its remnants and culture. Furthermore, we will promote their restoration with greater brilliance and solidity, so the West regains the world leadership it deserves not because it is Western but because it is Catholic. Western Christian civilization builds on a bimillennial past and the fact that it has Rome, the See of Peter, at its centre.
To resist means to invite Western leaders and peoples to study the deep reasons for their decline, as analysed in Revolution and Counter-Revolution, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s masterpiece, and implement the remedies it suggests to extricate the West from this existential crisis.
To resist means that the West’s demise is not a foregone conclusion for as we are reminded by the late Brazilian Catholic leader in that same book: “When men resolve to cooperate with the grace of God, the marvels of history are worked: the conversion of the Roman Empire; the formation of the Middle Ages; the reconquest of Spain, starting from Covadonga; all the events that result from the great resurrections of soul of which peoples are also capable. These resurrections are invincible, because nothing can defeat a people that is virtuous and truly loves God.”
To resist means to respectfully publish our analysis and judgment in situations such as the encyclical Fratelli Tutti or Pope Francis’s endorsement of the legal recognition of homosexual unions—a death blow to what remains of Western Christian civilization.
To resist means to denounce with filial and respectful frankness the dangerous contradiction between the privileged treatment accorded by the Holy See to Red China (whose communist regime it does not condemn) and Pope Francis’s disdain for the great countries of Europe and the Americas, for he mercilessly attacks their sovereignties and economic system based on free enterprise and private property. Nevertheless, this system is broadly aligned with natural law, the Ten Commandments, and the popes’ bimillennial teaching, as found in the Supreme Magisterium of Holy Mother Church.
King Henry II performs penance at St. Thomas’ Becket’s tomb. Becket Window 1 (n. VII) in the north aisle of the Trinity Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral.
To resist means to proclaim with indomitable confidence that beyond the spiritual storms, material challenges, and every attack by their enemies, the West and Christian civilization will rise again, fulfilling Our Lady’s prophetic words in Fatima, “finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!”
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
(taken from Catolicismo, N° 654 – June 2005
The fresco below, representing the Massacre of the Innocents, was done by Giotto, the famous medieval Italian painter. It was painted between 1302 and 1306 and is exposed in the famous Chapel of the Scrovegni, in Padua.
Around the time of the birth of Our Redeemer, Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, ordered all boys under two years of age to be killed because the wise men had naively asked him if he had heard about the newly born king of the Jews.
Herod, figuring that there was not room on the throne for two kings, believed it necessary to eliminate that Boy. He had his soldiers look for the Child everywhere, but He was not found. So Herod ordered the slaughter of the innocents.
They were the first martyrs of the Catholic Church. Why martyrs? For a very simple reason: they were killed out of hatred for the faith and for God; out of hatred for the Child who had given them the honor of being born roughly at the same time He came into the world. Having been murdered for these reasons, they went to heaven as martyrs. They are the Holy Innocents.
When the Angels appeared on Christmas Eve, they proclaimed: “Glory be to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.” But the first actions that unfold from that day full of light, blessing and peace, are also laden with threats regarding the future. For a superficial mind, this seems to be in contradiction with the phrase “peace on earth to men of good will.” One has the impression that men of good will would neither suffer persecutions nor have to fight.
Probably some of the fathers and mothers of those children depicted in Giotto’s fresco were men of good will. Nevertheless, what happened to them? An immense tragedy: their children were slaughtered.
Herod appears on a sort of balcony, ordering the massacre. One sees the executioners looking for children whom their parents are trying to hide. In the foreground, one sees a woman who obviously does not want to give up her son. Nearby, one notices scenes of agitation and violence. It is indeed a dramatic scene.
Someone could ask, “Were they not baptized?” The answer is that they were baptized in their own blood; they were graced with the so-called “baptism of blood.” And they are, as far as one can see, the first deceased Christians to benefit from the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ shortly after their own birth.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving Holy Church, as we are bound to do, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing forth our love by the witness of our deeds.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of openly professing, as we are bound to do, with courage and without human respect, the faith that we received of Thy gift in Holy Baptism.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of sharing, as we are bound to do, in the defense and propagation of the Faith, when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of our fortunes and our lives.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving one another in mutual charity, as we are bound to do, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will and action, under the rule and guidance of our holy Pastors.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of conforming our lives fully, as we are bound to do, to the commandments of God’s law and that of His holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we ask in particular this special favor: [state your request here]
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being made subject to Mary and Joseph, didst consecrate domestic life by Thine ineffable virtues; grant that we, with the assistance of both, may be taught by the example of Thy holy Family and may attain to its everlasting fellowship. Who liv
While many Fatima devotees know the salient aspects of Our Lady’s message and the various events surrounding the apparitions, certain details or nuances could yet be overlooked. We dare offer here several points for study and reflection in the hope they will help one better appreciate the meaning of the Fatima message:
1. A seventh apparition
Our Lady appeared six times at Fatima from May, 1917 to October, 1917. However, during the first apparition Our Lady mentioned that she will return to Cova the Iria, the site of the apparition, a seventh time. In her own words Our Lady said,
“I have come here to ask you to come here for six months in succession on the thirteenth day of each month at this same hour. Later I will tell you who I am and what I want. Afterward, I will return here a seventh time.”
Although Fatima specialists differ in their opinions with regard to its interpretation, nothing against Faith prevents a Catholic to hope and confide that this promise would be fulfilled in the near future. Certainly it is a glorious and most singular event a faithful Catholic could eagerly look forward to especially in our confusing and chaotic times. Perhaps, the seventh apparition would usher in the time of peace that St. Louis Grignion de Montfort described as the Reign of Mary and which Our Lady prophesied as the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart.
2. The Rosary and Purgatory
Also on the above occasion, Our Lady revealed to the three children that Francisco must say many Rosaries before he will go to Heaven and that a certain Amelia will be in Purgatory until the end of the world.
Here, Our Lady reiterates the salutary practice of praying the most Holy Rosary as a means to save one’s soul and offers it as a guarantee to Francisco’s safe passage to Heaven -certainly an invaluable counsel from the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
She likewise points out the very reality of the existence of Purgatory and even cites a striking example of a poor yet already saved soul who will endure its purifying fires till the end of the world. According to the research done by Father Sebastião Martins dos Reis, Amelia died under circumstances involving dishonor in matters of chastity. Shocking as this fact may had been to Father Thomas McGlynn, O.P. during his own interview, Sister Lucia recalled that more tragic were those souls who suffered the fires of hell forever because of a single mortal sin!
3. The difference between the Angel’s and Our Lady’s apparitions
The children’s physical, emotional and psychological experience with the Angel of Portugal and Our Lady were different. In her memoirs, Sister Lucia writes,
“I do not know why, but the fact is that the apparitions of Our Lady had a very different effect on us. There was the same intimate gladness, the same peace and happiness. But instead of physical weariness, we felt a certain expansive liveliness, a sense of glee instead of that annihilation in the Divine Presence, a certain communicative enthusiasm instead of that difficulty in speaking…”
One stark contrast between the angel and Our Lady is their different natures. The former is pure spirit while the latter is flesh and spirit; body and soul. The angel’s superior nature drained much energy from the children which left them in a state of annihilation.
Since the children are of the same nature as Our Lady, one could surmise that this may explain why the children were more at ease with Our Lady. The human nature they shared with Our Lady found a pleasing and lively consonance with her. One could feel assurance and confidence in Lucia’s observation and experience that, indeed, Our Lady was assumed into Heaven in both body and soul – a dogma of the Faith.
4. The importance of prayer, penance, sacrifices and mortification for the conversion of sinners.
While it is true that the above is the constant and recurring theme of Our Lady’s Fatima message, it behooves Catholics to understand how and why it is so; especially in modern minds where the notion of mortification and penance is watered down or simply brushed aside as archaic or medieval.
The gravity of the moral crisis pervasive in the world requires continued prayers, penances and sacrifices which prompted the three children especially little Francisco and Jacinta to practice them to an extreme and heroic degree. At the height of their innocence, the two younger children understood their necessity and offered themselves admirably as expiatory victims. But Our Lady’s appeal for prayer and penance made to the children also applies to the rest of mankind.
According to Father Fredrick William Faber, D.D. in his book, Growth in Holiness, much is to be gained by us lesser mortals in the practice of mortification for it tames the body and brings the unruly passions under the control of grace and our superior will. It increases the range of our spiritual vision and makes our conscience more sensitive to the discernment of the subtleties that separate not only those between venial and mortal sins but also those between what is faulty and imperfect.
Suffering easily becomes power in the things of God. For isn’t it true that Our Lord redeemed mankind through His bloody sacrifice and immense suffering on Calvary?
Leading mortified lives encourages us to persevere in prayer, gives us strength in resisting temptations, makes us unworldly and frees our heart from earthly vanities and attachments.
5. The persecutions suffered by the children from family and friends, people and media because of the apparitions
Lucia, in particular, was most aggrieved by the incredulity of her mother and kin as well as by the withdrawal of their affectionate treatment of her. Her sufferings were much more intensified given her tender age.
Francisco and Jacinta fared better within their family for their parents never held a hostile attitude towards the apparitions. Yet, they weren’t spared from the jokes and wisecracks of neighbors and from the laughter and sneers of by-standers along the road.
The skeptical and secular media of their day were no less forgiving in subjecting them to ridicule and sarcasm. Nationwide, newspapers staged a bitter campaign of hatred and denigration to discredit the apparitions.
Nevertheless, despite all these ill-treatment and vitriolic affronts, the children bore them with admirable patience and charity always mindful of Our Lady’s request to offer their sacrifices for the sake of poor sinners. An edifying example one should emulate in the daily inconveniences one encounters everyday. Here one is reminded of St. Therése of the Child Jesus’ little way.
6. Modifications to the Five First Saturday Devotion to facilitate its practice
The original request of Our Lady asks one to confess and receive Communion on five consecutive first Saturdays; to say five decades of the Rosary; to meditate during 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary for the purpose of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in reparation for the sins of men.
In subsequent private visions and apparitions however, Sister Lucia presented to Our Lord the difficulties that devotees encountered in fulfilling some conditions. With loving condescension and solicitude, Our Lord deigned to relax the rules to make this devotion easy to observe:
Confession may be done on other days other than the First Saturday so long as one receives Our Lord worthily and has the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Even if one forgets to make the intention, it may be done on the next confession, taking advantage of the first occasion to go to confession.
Sister Lucia also clarified that it is not necessary to meditate on ALL mysteries of the Rosary on each First Saturday. One or several suffice.
With much latitude granted by Our Lord Himself, there is no reason for the faithful to hesitate or delay this pious practice in the spirit of reparation which the Immaculate Heart of Mary urgently asks.
7. Reasons for the Five First Saturdays Devotion
This may seem academic to some but it would be good to recapitulate here the reasons for they can be forgotten. Devotions have intentions attached to them and knowing them adds merit and weight to the practice.
The five first Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are:
a. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
b. Blasphemies against her virginity
c. Blasphemies against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all men
d. Instilling indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children
e. Direct insults against Her sacred images
8. A greater miracle denied
Sister Lucia revealed later in her life that the miracle of the sun could have been greater had the children not been abducted by Arthur Oliveira Santos, the cruel and conniving administrator of the Administrative Council of Vila Nova de Ourém. She originally expressed this remarkable detail in the interrogation done by Father Manuel Marques Ferreira on August 21, 1917, two days after the apparition but which she left out in her 1941 report.
Here is a fitting example of a transgression committed against the wishes of Our Lady which she left unpunished. Though no fault of the children, it is lamentably sad to note that the multitudes at Fatima on the afternoon of October 13, 1917 were deprived of a far greater miracle if not for the deception, trickery and malice of civil authorities.
9. Unknown light or Aurora Borealis?
Sister Lucia considered the extraordinary light that illuminated the skies of Europe on the night of January 25-26, 1938 during the hours of 8:45 p.m. to 1:15 a.m., as “the great sign” – the unknown light that Our Lady predicted that would signal that war was near.
Astronomers and skeptic brush it off as a mere aurora borealis though its character was remarkably unprecedented.
Interestingly enough, the book, The Secrets of Fatima explains:
“This aurora appeared as far south as Galicia, Spain, where Sister Lucy was then cloistered, and she, the only survivor of the three Fatima shepherds, recognized it immediately as the sign. Visible even to Pius XI in Rome, the unprecedented aurora was accompanied by a ‘crackling’ sound, possibly attributable to discharges of atmospheric energy. Indeed, in many areas of Europe, panic broke out; as the populace concluded that the world was on fire and that the End had come.”
The New York Times for January 26, 1938, carried the following:
“London, January 25th, 1938. The Aurora Borealis rarely seen in Southern or Western Europe spread fear in parts of Portugal and lower Austria tonight while thousands of Britons were brought running into the streets in wonderment. The ruddy glow led many to think half the city was ablaze. The Windsor Fire Department was called out thinking that Windsor Castle was afire. The lights were clearly seen in Italy, Spain, and even Gibraltar. The glow bathing snow-clad mountain tops in Austria and Switzerland was a beautiful sight but firemen turned out to chase non-existent fires. Portuguese villagers rushed in fright from their homes fearing the end of the world.”
10. Jacinta’s last words:
Tempered and molded by extraordinary penance and sacrifice, 10-year-old Jacinta proved to be precocious and prophetic in her vision of things. She had many private apparitions and countless revelations. Such was her supernatural illumination and holy wisdom that Mother Godinho, the directress of the Lisbon orphanage where Jacinta stayed prior to her death in the hospital, could only asked in awe and wonder, “Who taught you all these things?” The following statements uttered by Jacinta showed her depth of soul in face of the moral decay ravishing the world:
The sins which cause most souls to go to Hell are the sins of the flesh.
To be pure of body is to keep chastity. To be pure in soul is not to commit sins, not look at what one should not see, not to steal, never to lie, always to tell the truth however hard it may be.
Fashions that will greatly offend Our Lord will appear. People who serve God should not follow fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same.
Doctors do not have the light to cure the sick because they do not have love of God
Priests should only occupy themselves with the affairs of the Church. Priests should be pure, very pure. The disobedience of priests and religious to their superiors and to the Holy Father greatly offends Our Lord.
To be a woman religious, it is necessary to be very pure in soul and body.
Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord, and they are not of God.
Confession is a sacrament of mercy. Therefore, one must approach the confessional with confidence and joy.
My godmother, pray much for those who govern! Woe to those who persecute the religion of Our Lord. If the government left the Church in peace and gave freedom to the holy Faith, it would be blessed by God.
Wars are nothing but punishments for the sins of the world.
Our Lady can no longer hold back the arm of her beloved Son from the world. It is necessary to do penance. If people change their ways, Our Lord will still spare the world; but if they do not, the chastisement will come.
Look into these maternal eyes. They know you! They understand your sufferings even more than you do. They’re full of compassion, love, and hope. Open yourself to this gaze. It offers a remedy for every defect, help for every problem, hope for every affliction.
Who is this Mother? She’s Mary, the Mother of God and ours, so beautifully represented by this miraculous statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Look into Her eyes. And let Her look into yours! She’ll touch your heart. Speak to your soul!
In New Orleans, this statue wept 14 times! Why tears, not smiles? Why sorrow, not joy?
Find the answer to these gripping questions in this inspiring article by Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira:
Tears, a Miraculous Warning
On July 21, 1972, the newspaper Folha de São Paulo published a photograph from New Orleans showing a statue of Our Lady of Fatima shedding tears. The report sparked keen interest in the Brazilian public and I think many readers will welcome more information on the topic.
Statue of the International Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima photographed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1972 miraculously weeping real human tears.
The best source of information on the matter is found in an article with a typical American title: “The Tears of Our Lady Wet my Finger” by Fr. Elmo Romagosa. It was published on July 20 in the Clarion Herald, a New Orleans weekly, distributed in eleven Louisiana parishes or counties.
The background to this event is universally known. In 1917, Lucy, Jacinta and Francisco had visions of Our Lady at Fatima. The authenticity of these visions was confirmed by the miracle of the sun, witnessed by a whole multitude even as the Virgin spoke to the three children.
In general terms, Our Lady charged the little shepherds to tell the world that she was deeply upset by the wickedness and corruption of men. She warned that if men did not amend, a terrible chastisement would come that would annihilate many nations. Russia would spread its errors throughout the world. The Holy Father would have much to suffer.
The punishment could only be avoided if men converted, Russia and the world were consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and men did the communion of reparation on the first Saturday of each month.
* * *
In view of the above, a question naturally comes to mind: Were Our Lady’s requests heeded?
In 1942, Pius XI consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Lucy said the consecration lacked some characteristics Our Lady had requested. I do not intend to analyze this complex subject here. I simply mention, in passing, that whether Our Lady’s request for the consecration of Russia was heeded is open to debate.
As for Our Lady’s second request for an amendment of life, it has so obviously been neglected that no further comment is necessary.
Our Lady stated that obedience to her requests was a condition to avoid the apocalyptic punishments that she predicted. Therefore, it is logical that God’s vengeful and purifying wrath should fall upon mankind before it converts and the Reign of Mary is established.
* * *
Of the three Fatima children, only Lucy survived beyond her childhood. She was a Carmelite nun in Coimbra. Under her supervision, a sculptor carved two statues that reproduced as closely as possible the facial expression of the Most Holy Virgin as she appeared at Fatima. Both of them were called “pilgrim statues” and have been taken around the world by priests and laity. One was in New Orleans, where it shed tears.
Father Romagosa, author of the abovementioned report, was told of the statue’s tears by Fr. Joseph Breault, M. P., the statue’s custodian. However, he was reluctant to admit the miracle and thus asked Father Breault to call him if any further weeping occurred.
Father Breault noticed moisture in the eyes of the Pilgrim Virgin statue on July 17 and immediately called Father Romagosa, who reached the statue at 9:30 p.m., bringing along photographers and reporters. In fact, they all noticed the moisture in the eyes of the statue, which was soon photographed. Father Romagosa then touched his finger on the moist surface and collected a drop, which was also photographed. According to Father Breault, this was the thirteenth weeping he had witnessed.
At 6:l5 a.m. the next morning, Father Breault called Father Romagosa saying that the statue had been crying since 4 a.m. Father Romagosa arrived shortly afterwards. In his words: “I saw much liquid in the statue’s eyes, and a large drop hanging from the tip of her nose.”
This drop, so graciously hanging, was captured in the famous photograph that came out in the press. Father Romagosa adds that he saw “a tear move as it slowly formed on the lower eyelid.”
However, he wanted to eliminate all doubt. He noticed that the statue had a crown fixed on its head by a small metal connecting rod and thought:
Can it be that water was poured into the hole where the crown is fixed on the statue, and this water drains into the eyes?
Once the weeping ceased, Father Romagosa removed the crown from the statue: the metallic connecting rod was entirely dry. He then inserted into the hole a wire wrapped in a special paper which would absorb any liquid that might be there. The paper remained absolutely dry.
Still not satisfied with his efforts, he poured some water into the hole. Yet the eyes remained absolutely dry. Father Romagosa then turned the statue upside down. The water he had poured into the hole drained normally. He was finally convinced that no water could come through the hole in the statue’s head into her eyes, and there simply was no other hole.
Father Romagosa knelt. At last, he believed.
* * *
These mysterious tears show Our Lady of Fatima crying over the modern world, as Our Lord once cried over Jerusalem. Tears of most tender affection, tears of deep pain for the punishment that will come.
It will come to the men of the 21st century, if they do not reject immorality and corruption. It will come if they do not fight especially against the self-destruction of the Church, the cursed smoke of Satan that according to Paul VI has penetrated even into the sacred places.
Reader, there is still time, therefore, to stop the punishment!
Informez-vous. Engagez-vous.
Je veux aider Le Canada a besoin de la Sainte Vierge à diffuser le message de Fatima. S’il-vous-plaît, inscrivez-moi à votre liste d’envoi.
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
