One day, May 5th, 1846, when she (Sr. Marie de St. Pierre) was asking [Our Lord] for the establishment of the Reparation, He replied that He would grant this grace through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
“Our Lord,” said she, “informed me that He had placed all things in her hand, and that she would obtain the Brief from the Sovereign Pontiff. This Work of Reparation is so necessary for France and fraught with so much glory for God, that He desires His Holy Mother to have the honor of giving it to this kingdom, as a new pledge of mercy. Let us then have recourse to the most Blessed Virgin who is the treasurer of the graces of God. Let us continually recall to her mind that France has been consecrated to her, consequently, that it belongs to her. Let us redouble our zeal for this work and let us not be disheartened. Our Lord has given me boundless confidence. Sit Nomen Domini benedictum”.
Life of Sister Mary St. Peter Carmelite of Tours, p. 327-328
Fr. Janvier described this revelation to be a new motive of encouragement to Sr. Marie de St. Pierre. It has everything to do with our Blessed Mother – so interesting that it was given to this humble Carmelite in the month dedicated to Our Lady. In this mystical experience, Our Lord revealed that the entire Work of Reparation would be placed in His Mother’s hands, even down to the obtaining of the future brief of 1885 from Pope Leo XIII, which was achieved in one fell swoop! A rare event procured by the hands of the Immaculata.
Our Blessed Mother who in her earthly life, gave so much glory to God, continued at that time from Heaven to give the gift of Reparation to France, the eldest daughter of the Church. Our Lord described it as a new pledge of mercy. And, what is mercy? It is the granting of kindness and forgiveness to someone who does not deserve it. At that time, France did not deserve it, due to the proliferation of crimes against God’s first three Commandments. We know that our Lord is just, but He is so incredibly merciful too. He gave mankind the gift of His Mother at the foot of the Cross, and we address her as our “Mother of Mercy”. Her very heart and soul mirror the mercy of Her Son. As in the time of Sr. Marie de St. Pierre, we can have boundless confidence in the mercy of our Blessed Mother to take all of our reparation efforts, embellish them with the perfume of her holiness, and present them to her Son. Sr. Marie reminds us that our Blessed Mother is the treasurer of the graces of God and that France had been consecrated to her. So, that got me thinking – was New France, the first settled area in Canada by France, now the province of Quebec, also consecrated to our Lady? After some digging, I discovered that a gentleman by the surname of Frontenac, the first governor of Canada form 1688-1698, testified that our Lady was invoked at every altar and in every household. He called the whole area “Mary’s Land”! What about the United States? Sure enough, in 1792, Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the first Bishop of the US, placed this nation under the protection of the Mother of God. Then in 1846, Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception was named patroness of the US. Not doubt, those of you from other countries could uncover similar consecrations to the Blessed Mother!
So you see, as Sr. Marie de St. Pierre says, we should remind our Lady that our countries belong to her, and redouble our prayers of reparation for them, with great trust that she will obtain all the graces that we need for our own countries and for our families. Our Lord told her so, and He is trustworthy. Blessed be the Holy Name of God!
the littlest wren
