OUR LADY OF PELLEVOISIN

Day 278: February 14

Our Lady of Pellevoison, France

In 1875 Estelle, due to her serious health conditions, had a letter deposited in the grotto of Lourdes, in which she implored: "Implore me from your divine Son, for His glory, the salvation of this body of mine. You see the pain of my parents, and you know that they only have me as support. They are on the verge of having to beg for a morsel of bread, and I cannot think of it without being deeply grieved by it. Give me back my health, if it so pleases: but His will be done, and not mine. Grant me at least full resignation to your plans, and let everything serve for my salvation and that of my parents."

When she wrote that letter, Estelle was 32 years old and was now considered to be dying due to the consequences of serious diseases that had struck her over a period of thirteen years: gangrenous smallpox, acute peritonitis, pulmonary tuberculosis and a tumor in her left side.

On February 14, 1876, the woman was and read, in that same room that today serves as a small sanctuary, and wrote: "(...) every moment I tried to repeat "My God, your will be done." The day I received the anointing of the sick I became calmer and often repeated, after receiving Holy Communion: "Lord, you know better than I do what I need: do what you want, but help me to offer my sacrifice generously. Truly these words welled up from the depths of my heart. And God accepted my prayer."

On the night between 14 and 15 February, Estelle had an apparition, but it was not what she expected: the devil appeared at the foot of the bed, although immediately afterwards the Virgin also appeared.

So the Virgin was rightly able to reassure her: "Don't worry, you know well that you are my daughter." In fact, Estelle had enrolled in 1857 in the association of the Daughters of Mary.

Our Lady continued to appear in the following four nights and, gradually, quickly led Estelle along the path of repentance and conversion, with the devil who on each occasion manifested himself more and more in the distance, as if to make explicit the gradual purification of the woman. The development of the first five apparitions also shows that Estelle's path of healing proceeded hand in hand both physically and spiritually.

In the first apparition, Our Lady, referring to Estelle's letter, said to her: "You will suffer five more days, in honor of the five wounds of Jesus. On Saturday, you'll either be dead or you'll be healed. If my Son gives you life, I want you to celebrate my glory."

The next night she continued her message: "My Son has looked at you with tenderness and lets you live: on Saturday you will be healed"; and in the face of the woman's objection: 'Good mother, if I had a choice I would rather die while I am well prepared.'

Our Lady replied: "Unthankful! If my Son gives you life, it is because you need it. Do not think that by living, you will not suffer. On the contrary! But it is suffering that increases the value of life." And, during the apparition, all the sins she had committed up to then were manifested before Estelle's eyes.

In the third apparition, the Virgin also showed the woman the good deeds she had done: "I am all merciful and mistress of my Son. These few good deeds, these fervent prayers that you addressed to me, moved my mother's heart. From now on, try to be faithful. Do not waste the graces you receive: celebrate my glory."

In the fourth and fifth apparitions, Mary drew closer to Estelle, urging her to persevere. Then she said to her: "If you want to serve me, be simple and your actions match your words. You can save yourself in any situation; even where you are, you can do much good and celebrate my glory."

There is a whole Marian catechesis in these five first apparitions. What Our Lady wanted to show us through this path is precisely that the healings she performed require as a presupposition that there is a purification from evil, the renunciation of sin and the acceptance of God's will.

Estelle lived another fifty-three years in the manner that the Virgin had foretold her: "I learned from the lips of this good Mother that I had to suffer calumnies, harshness, lies, abandonment, sufferings of all kinds, even the most infamous, to the point that, when the facts happened, I was not surprised."

In Pellevoisin's appearances, three cycles stand out. After the group of the first five apparitions, there is a transitory group of three (from July 1 to 3), in each of which the Virgin reiterated to Estelle: "Be calm."

Finally, there are the last seven, in which the specific message was revealed. There are therefore fifteen in all, so that once again the symbolism of the rosary returns to be present.

In the first apparition of the latter group, Our Lady addressed Estelle with a finely humorous touch: "You have the French character: you want to know everything before you learn and understand everything before you know."

In some way it is an observation that is addressed to the whole of humanity, to which she attributes the inability to trust her, without first having understood everything rationally. And instead, she urges her to the opposite attitude, certainly not of blindness, but of faith.

To understand Pellevoisin's message well, it is necessary to keep in mind that this calm and confidence are grafted onto the strength of her statements: "I am all merciful and mistress of my Son. I have come for the conversion of sinners. My Son's treasures are open. I recommend calm, not only for you, but for the Church and for France. I choose the small and the weak."

In the fifth apparition, the Virgin also said to Estelle: "What afflicts me most is the lack of respect for my Son in Holy Communion and the irreverence of prayer made with the spirit occupied in digressions: I say this even for people who claim to be pious."

In the last apparition, showing the visionary his scapular, she confided to her: "I will be very happy to see that my children carry it and try to make reparation for the outrages that my Son receives in the sacrament of his love. Do you see the graces that I pour out on those who will carry it with confidence? These graces are my Son's, I take them into His heart and He does not refuse them to me."

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"He is your Only Son and for this reason, He wants to be our Savior, our Teacher, our Brother, our All, grant that Jesus may be found also in us and through s, in all our brothren with the work of the Holy Spirit in yourself, O Mary."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 157)