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Treasures of the Church- Marian Shrines and Apparitions |
Our
Lady of Victories
In this parish of Paris by divine inspiration consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary was promoted in 1836.
All night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was also inaugurated
here on December 6th, 1848.
by SCTJM
Introduction
Three important Marian events occurred in
Paris in the beginning of the 19th century in
which God spoke about the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. The second event was the most explicit in
reference to Mary’s Heart.
The first was the apparition of the Virgin to
St. Catherine Labouré in Rue du Bac, requesting
the Miraculous Medal, and the third was the
green scapular.
The second event occurred in 1836 in the Parish
of Our Lady of Victories, Paris. Because of this
the parish converted into a great center of
Marian devotion for the French people.
History of Our Lady of Victories Church
It is important to understand the history
for a better comprehension of the events of
1836.
In December of 1629 the first stone was placed
to build the Convent Church for the Augustinian
Priest, called “the little Fathers.” Louis XIII
financed all the work for the Church and named
it “Our Lady of Victories,” in appreciation to
the Virgin for the recent victories won by the
French guaranteeing the unity of his kingdom.
One of the brothers of the Convent, brother
Fiacre, prayed before the image of Our Lady of
Victories for the birth of the future heir to
the throne long awaited for 15 years: Louis
Diedonne, the future Louis XIV.
God’s designs were greater and His victories are
much more important and definite for all
humanity, obtained through the intercession of
His Mother. The Blessed Mother chose this place
to bring to God her dispersed children separated
because of sin and its consequences, wars and
atheism. Brother Fiacre, returning from a
pilgrimage to Savona (Italy), started invoking
Our Lady of Victories under the title “Refuge of
Sinners.”
During the French Revolution terror was extended
through out France. The Augustinians were
expelled from their Convent and the Church was
established as a place for money exchange. Many
things changed with Napoleon who due to
political interests wanted to appear as a friend
of the Church. Between 1800 and1809 the Church
was re-erected as parish, but because it was
located in a business neighborhood and lack of
faith was fruit of the revolution, the Church
had very little attendance. Human efforts did
not help the situation. The Church was open but
the hearts of men were away from God.
This was the state of things on August 27th,
1832, when Father Carlos Eleonor des Genettes
was installed Pastor of Our Lady of Victories.
The Church was abandoned and poor. The spiritual
state of the parish was so decadent that the
following Sunday the priest counted on only 4
persons with the choir and during the entire
year of 1835 only 720 holy communions were
distributed.
For four and half years the Pastor endured the
spiritual sufferings of seeing no fruit in all
his efforts and work. He started to get
depressed because of the sterility of his
ministry and the apparent desperate situation.
This is how the priest was on December 3rd,
1836. While celebrating Holy Mass in the main
altar of the Church of Our Lady, he pronounced
the liturgical prayer of the day. Pronouncing
the words “Judica me,” he sensed an interior
awakening: “Judge me, O Lord!”
If the Lord was going to judge me today, how
would he find me? Perhaps as a failure? Has
there been a priest so sterile in his ministry
like me? The priest asked himself interiorly all
these questions.
This interior thought in his mind became a lance
that pierced his heart. His mind was only on
this to the point of not being able to
concentrate on the rest of the Mass prayers.
Finally, he concluded that presenting his
resignation as Pastor would be best.
When he started praying the Eucharistic prayer,
he made great effort to concentrate and
recollect himself during this sublime moment of
the Consecration. But he felt perturbed more
than ever. He pleaded the Lord to deliver him of
distractions to offer the Holy Sacrifice in a
worthy state. At this moment he heard clearly
these words: “Consecrate your parish to the Holy
and Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
These words resounded in his heart, and
immediately he had great interior peace. The
obsessive thoughts he had moments before
disappeared. After concluding Mass and during
the time of thanksgiving, he reviewed in his
mind all that had happened, saying to himself:
“perhaps all this is a fantasy produced by my
imagination.” But when he got up from his chair
to conclude the Mass celebration, he heard again
the same words: “Consecrate your parish to the
Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary.” He fell to
his knees before these words, but was fearful of
accepting them as authentic since he thought it
was an illusion. He tried to ignore and forget
them, but the words returned to his mind with
more intensity. Finally, he decided to respond
to the petition more so to acquire interior
peace than think it will prove successful for
his parish.
He resolved to fully obey the petition. It was
evident that the purpose of the consecration of
his parish to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was
to motivate the parishioners to pray to the
Immaculate Heart and frequently seek recourse to
the protection and maternal care of the Blessed
Virgin. He thought the best way to establish
this was to form a religious association with
specific prayers, meetings, and norms.
In only eight days Father Genettes had written
and approved by the Archbishop of Paris the
statues for the association. On Sunday, December
11th, he announced from the pulpit that
beginning with that same afternoon special
prayers and devotions will be said asking the
Lord, through the intercession of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, the conversion of sinners.
Since only 10 men attended Mass that afternoon
and heard the announcement, the priest did not
think many people were going to attend. But the
Blessed Virgin Mary started to reveal her plan.
After Mass two men who had never attended Mass
approached Father Genettes and requested the
sacrament of confession. At 6:00 pm, the time
announced for the prayers and devotions to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, 400-500 people made
their presence in the Church. Everyone was
surprised and could not believe the amount of
people present. No more than 10 people had been
seen in the parish for many years.
At the beginning of prayer, some were
indifferent, but as the prayers and devotions
continued, their hearts gradually started to
melt under the fire of the Maternal Heart of
Mary. At the end, all united their voices
singing the Litanies of Our Lady and the Divine
Praises before the Blessed Sacrament. Everyone
decided to return to the Church and participate
in these devotions which animated their faith
and brought back peace and joy to their hearts.
A sign from the Virgin
The Pastor, Father Genettes, was very
emotional, but was not completely convinced that
this way given by the Lord and directed towards
the Heart of Mary had all the necessary results.
The priests asked the Virgin for a sign, for the
conversion of Mr. Joly who was the last minister
of Louis XVI. In his youth this man accepted
anti-clerical doctrine and was against the
Church. He was then 80 years old, blind and very
ill and for many years he had refused to
practice any religion. Father Genettes had tried
many times to get closer to Mr. Joly, but they
were unsuccessful.
On December 12th, Father Genettes returned to
Mr. Joly’s house. The servants did nott want to
let him in the house, but the priest insisted
again and was able to reach the elderly man.
Only a few courteous words were spoken when Mr.
Joly asked the priest for his blessing.
Profoundly moved, the priest blessed him and at
that moment the elderly man exclaimed: “Your
visit has been so good for me, Father! I cannot
see you but I feel your presence. The moment you
entered my room I felt peace, interior calm, and
a joy I have never experienced before.” The
priest, seeing the good disposition of Mr. Joly,
asked if he wanted to confess. The elderly man
immediately agreed.
Father Genettes asked for a sign and received it
clearly. Now he was convinced that he was doing
the will of God and that he had a mission to
accomplish. He encountered many obstacles, like
all of God’s work, but the Association
immediately flourished. In ten days, 214 people
became members.
The Association continued growing gradually and
extended throughout Paris, later throughout the
rest of France and the entire world. By spring
of 1838, the extraordinary history of the
Association in obtaining great conversions,
miracles and innumerable graces, reached the
attention of the Holy Father. Impressed by the
idea of the Association’s fruits, Pope Gregory
XVI issued a report erecting perpetually in the
Church of Our Lady of Victories, the
Confraternity of the Blessed and Immaculate
Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners.
This humble and small association which started
in the midst of a poor parish has become a
spiritual organization worldwide recognized
officially with its See in Paris. Also, there
are many affiliated members around the world.
Just as the Miraculous Medal, through Papal
approval, Our Lady of Victories, with its
official Association, became a global precursor
of the Fatima apparitions; the main promoter of
the devotion and consecration to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
The success of this organization are its
spiritual fruits, therefore it is difficult to
count them. But the fruits seen in the parish
are evident where the consecration and the
Confraternity started. Only in two years did the
distribution of communion grow from 720 in 1835
to 8,550 in 1837 and 12,500 in 1938. By this
same year the Association had 7,892 members.
Because of the extraordinary conversions in the
Parish of Our Lady of Victories through the
consecration to the Immaculate Heart, and the
rapid growth of the Association of the Blessed
and Immaculate Heart of Mary for conversion of
sinners, it became the second greatest Marian
manifestation after Rue du Bac within the divine
plan to promote devotion to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary that will continue to develop in years
to come.
Abundant graces
Numerous graces received by intercession of
Mary can be seen throughout the Church.
Miraculous healing of St. Therese of Lisieux
In 1883 St. Therese of Lisieux was about to die
when she was only 10 years old. Her father sent
a donation to the Church of Our Lady of
Victories for a novena of Masses for her health.
To Our Lady of Victories, St. Therese attributed
her healing, calling it the “miracle.”
The influence of the Parish in the life of St.
Anthony Maria Claret
This Parish was in God’s providential plan,
making a strong impression on the life of St.
Anthony Maria Claret who decided to change the
name of the institute he founded to: “Daughters
of the Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
Later, he established a requirement for the
Congregation of Missionaries: consecration to
Mary as an essential part of the entrance
ceremony to his congregation.
For St. Anthony Claret, consecration to Mary
definitely had an apostolic character. “The
mystery of Mary Immaculate, as it is seen by St.
Anthony Claret, is not only a mystery of beauty,
it is a mystery of power. As the devil tries to
strike at Mary’s heel through evil and sin, the
Blessed Virgin also uses her apostles, those
whom she has chosen and formed to combat the
devil.”
This notion of the Marian Consecration, as a way
of equipping us as soldiers of Christ for the
battle against the powers of evil is ever more
evident in the 20th century. St. Maximilian
Kolbe, founder of the Militia of the Immaculata,
particularly stands out in this reality of
Marian Consecration.
Among the many pilgrims to Our Lady of Victories
there were: St. John Bosco, the Ratisbone
brothers, and Ana Maria Javouhey.
Our Lady of Victories was erected as a Basilica
in 1927 and continues to embrace all who come to
the feet of the Virgin Mary to consecrate
themselves to her Immaculate Heart. We have been
witnesses of these graces in our previous
pilgrimages of 100 people. Each person renewed
their consecration to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. Daily Mass is celebrated, the divine
office and the Holy Rosary are prayed. The
Virgin continues granting many graces from
heaven. She is our refuge and strength, our
helper on our path to the conversion of heart.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
Copyright © 2006- SCTJM
