OUR LADY OF VICTORIES

Day 205: December 03

Our Lady of Victories, Paris, France



Originally built by Louis XIII in 1629 as a sign of gratitude for the favors received from Mary and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in the third decade of the nineteenth century the Basilica of Our Lady of Victories in Paris was in deep decline. The Church had suffered degradation at the time of the French Revolution and in the following years had been transformed into a Stock Exchange before returning to its former condition in 1809, but with very few parishioners.

Fr Desgenettes , curate of Our Lady of Victories, celebrated Mass on the Altar of the Virgin. Given the low turnout of parishioners, he was thinking of leaving the parish, when he heard these words very distinctly: "Consecrate the Parish to the Most Holy Immaculate Heart of Mary."

In addition to the general religious indifference, there were also some manifestations of hostility that convinced him that he himself was the cause. He asked the Archbishop to remove him from office, but his request was refused.

He continued to pray for his parishioners and eventually his prayers were heard. When celebrating the Mass of December 3, 1836, he was assailed by unusually persistent thoughts that troubled him and caused him to pray for relief.

Almost immediately, in the center of his being, he heard a voice telling him to consecrate his church to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At that very moment, the sense of unease and disturbance that had gripped him vanished, and he felt a great calm. Returning to the sacristy, he felt the disturbance return but immediately heard the voice repeating the request for consecration.

Fr Desgenettes recognized the likely supernatural aspect of what had happened. An interior impulse drove him to act accordingly. Returning home, he began drafting the statutes of a Marian prayer confraternity, whose purpose was the conversion of sinners. The following Sunday, December 11, after the Mass, he announced to the ten faithful present his intention to consecrate the parish to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the hour of Vespers. He was greatly surprised to see the church filled at that moment, and it remained so ever since!

Within a week these statutes were accepted by the Archbishop of Paris and thus began the work of the famous confraternity of Our Lady of Victories. An association that would exercise its influence all over the world, becoming a world Archconfraternity at the Pope's request. With this impetus the association grew rapidly and was able to promote the concept of intercession through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It also popularized the notion of Marian consecration. The importance of this movement and that of the Miraculous Medals in the fact that they constitute the background of the various Marian apparitions, of a public nature, that occurred in France at the end of the nineteenth century. This means that apparitions such as those of La Salette, Lourdes and Pontmain should be framed in the context of a general revival of Catholicism with particular emphasis on devotion to Mary.

Conversions and numerous graces were since then attributed in profusion to Our Lady of Victories in this place, the Refuge of Sinners, as evidenced by the approximately 37,000 votive offerings that cover the walls. The archconfraternity that was recognized by Pope Gregory XVI on April 24, 1838, welcomed more than 1,680,000 individual members from the beginning, and has affiliated more than 21,000 communities, distributed throughout the world.

A place of great spirituality, Our Lady of Victories received the title of Basilica from Pope Pius XI in 1927. The Curé of Ars and many other people, famous and otherwise, are members of the Archconfraternity. It is the place of worship favored by St Thérèse of Lisieux and her family.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"In this consecration [to Jesus through Mary], we acknowledge Mary as our true patroness and (1) we offer ourselves totally to her, (2) for our entire life, (3) expecting from this complete offering of ourselves nothing but the honor of being her subjects not only as mere servants, but as voluntary slaves of love, so that we may belong perfectly to Jesus Christ through her. St Louis Marie de Montfort called this devotion the "filial slaves to Mary"."

(Ascension, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Father, Newark, 1997, pp. 420-421)

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