OUR LADY OF THE GOOD NEWS

Day 225: December 23

Our Lady of the Good News, Rennes, Brittany, France


Jean de Montfort founded the Dominican convent of Our Lady of Good News in Rennes, following a vow made during the battle of Auray, in 1364, in which his victory made him Duke of Brittany. In the following century, a panel painting placed in the cloister of the convent was recognized as miraculous.

Another vow was made to Our Lady of the Good News during the plague of 1632, which struck the city of Rennes but thanks to the intercession of the Most Holy Mary in a less heavy way than in the other surrounding areas.

In thanksgiving, the city wanted to give the Blessed Virgin a solid silver model of the city and, since 1634, has celebrated her in a special way every year on September 8, the feast of the Nativity of Mary.

Another miracle occurred during the great fire of December 23, 1720. On this occasion, the inhabitants of Rennes saw Our Lady of the Good News in heaven, looking down with a compassionate gaze.

During the French Revolution, the city sold its silver model, which was melted down. The chapel was destroyed and the convent used to collect fodder. A gardener managed to save the sacred image, which he donated to the nearby Church of Saint Aubin in 1803.

In 1849, a cholera epidemic inspired the citizens to make a new vow and to show their commitment they built a new silver model of the city commissioned from a local goldsmith by Napoleon III, restoring the votive feast of September 8.

As a result of the continuous graces, pilgrims flocked in greater numbers and the church became too small to accommodate them all, so it was decided to build a new one. The dedication of the new church of St Aubin took place in 1904. The painting of Our Lady of the Good News was canonically crowned in 1908.

In recent years the votive feast has been held on the first Sunday in October, rather than September 8, and the old convent has been converted into an art center.

The church of Saint-Aubin is the parish where Blessed Marcel Callo was born, where he was baptized, and a statue placed in his memory. He died a martyr on March 19, 1945 in the Mauthausen concentration camp, and was beatified on October 4, 1987 by Pope St John Paul II.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"I acknowledge that I owe you all the graces I have received up until now; likewise, I await you all the graces that will unite me perfectly to my Lord."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 77)

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