Our Lady of Good Deliverance

Among this number was, in 1 578, Francis de S François de Sales Bishop of Geneva who prophesied the vocation of Olier. ales, then seventeen years old. His most delightful moments were those he spent at the feet of the miraculous image of Mary, telling her everything that was happening in his innocent soul, nourishing himself on the memory of her benefits and the gratitude they gave birth to in his heart. It was there that, in the holy ardor of his piety, he took the firm resolution to consecrate himself forever to God and to Mary and to keep perpetual chastity; it was there above all that he obtained deliverance from a terrible temptation that nearly led him to the grave. This holy young man had been seized by the thought that perhaps he would not be saved, that perhaps he would go to hell and be deprived for all eternity of the happiness of seeing God and loving Him, of seeing and loving Mary, his tender mother; and this thought had so overwhelmed him that he could neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep; he was withering away before one's eyes, and jaundice, invading his whole body, caused him acute pain. Finally, one day, returning from college, he entered the church of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, went to prostrate himself before Our Lady of Good Deliverance, and said to her with many tears, more from the heart than from the lips: "Remember, O Virgin Mary, my tender mother, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection and implored your assistance was left forsaken. Inspired by this confidence, O Virgin, mother of virgins, I run to you, I throw myself at your feet, groaning under the weight of my sins. O Mother of the Word, do not despise my prayers, but graciously hear and answer me." Then, addressing God, he asked Him, through the intercession of Mary, that his mind and body be restored to their original state, made a vow of perpetual chastity, and promised to recite each day, in memory of this vow, a rosary of six decades. Scarcely had he said these words when full health was restored to him, and his soul, reassured, returned, after six weeks of unheard-of suffering, to a profound peace.

Full of the same confidence in Our Lady of Good Deliverance, F ather Bernard, le Père Bernard A Parisian priest renowned for his charity, whose beatification was requested. nicknamed the poor priest, whose beatification the clergy of France has several times requested, obtained before the same statue a grace no less remarkable. Having returned from a life of waywardness to a Christian conduct, he found himself exposed to imminent peril by the arrival in the house where he lived of a very dangerous person who wanted to take up residence there. In this crisis, he ran to throw himself at the feet of Our Lady of Good Deliverance, prayed to her with all his soul, returned to his dwelling, and the person had already left, never to return.

These facts and several others increased the devotion of the faithful to this religious sanctuary. The Sovereign Pontiffs enriched it with the most precious indulgences; the most illustrious personages, kings and queens, princes and lords, men-at-arms and women of the world, had themselves inscribed in the register of the confraternity, and their names appear there alongside the most common names. One sees there Louis XIII a nd Anne of Louis XIII King of France who ordered the construction of the church. Aus tria, Louis XIV Anne d'Autriche Queen of France who attended the missions of Jean Eudes. , still a child, and, following his example, all the children of France, inscribed from their birth, the Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIII, and the Duke of Anjou, brother of Louis XIV, the Great Condé and the princess of that name, the Prince and Princess of Conti, Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XIV, and Louis, the Dauphin. We would never finish if we wished to name all the celebrities who came to mingle with the common people under the banner of Mary; and their piety proved as generous as their veneration for Our Lady of Good Deliverance. Louis XIII gave a truly royal gift of silverware for the decoration of her chapel, Anne of Austria gave silver candlesticks adorned with fleurs-de-lis, a magnificent lamp and a holy water stoup, both of silver, and finally a complete set of red velvet vestments. Excited by the example of the court, some gave rich garments and precious robes to cover the holy image on great solemnities; others poured abundant alms into the treasury of the confraternity, which were consecrated to the deliverance of prisoners for debt. Furthermore, a collection took place at every service for this noble work; and each year the governors of the confraternity would spread out into the various prisons of Paris, provided with the gifts made to Our Lady of Good Deliverance, would have the doors opened for the unfortunate debtors, and would return them to their moved and grateful families.

However, the fervor of these faithful servants of Mary is even better revealed by the religious offices celebrated by the confraternity, the multiplicity and duration of which would so greatly frighten the lukewarmness of our century today.

Every Sunday, after the chapter mass, a solemn mass was celebrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin with deacon and subdeacon, chapels and organs, and the celebrant recited a De profundis after the offertory, and another after the mass, for the deceased confreres. Likewise, in the afternoon, the chapter Vespers were followed by a sung office with nine psalms and nine lessons.

Every first Sunday of each month, there were, in the evening, the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, a procession around the church, where the litanies, the Salve Regina or another hymn, depending on the season, the Domine, non secundum, the Exaudiat with the prayer for the king, the Languentibus and the De profundis were sung; then a solemn benediction.

Every Monday, Lauds and a solemn Requiem mass were sung for the deceased confreres. Every Tuesday, a solemn mass of Saint Roch, with a commemoration of Saint Sebastian, followed by a low mass of Our Lady of Pity. Every Wednesday, a solemn mass of the Holy Spirit. Every Thursday, a solemn mass of the Blessed Sacrament, followed by a low mass of Saint Stephen. In the evening, solemn benediction, and, every first Thursday of the month, a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Every Friday, a solemn mass of the Holy Cross, followed by the reading of the Passion. Finally, every Saturday, a solemn mass of the Blessed Virgin, followed by the Stabat Mater. These rules were only deviated from on feast days when the rubric opposed them; and at the end of each mass, the De profundis was said for the deceased confreres.

Besides this, a mass was said every day for the benefactors of the confraternity. On all feasts of the Blessed Virgin, the entire office of the breviary was sung, starting with the first Vespers; there were also two high masses; then, evening and morning, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with preaching. On the feasts of Saint Peter and Saint John the Baptist, of Saint Stephen and Saint Denis, of Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian, of Saint Genevieve and Saint Barbara, who were the patrons of the confraternity, the entire office was also sung. Finally, upon the death of each confrere, Vespers of the Dead, Matins with nine psalms and nine lessons, Lauds and commendations, three high masses, and the absolution were sung.

But what was most remarkable was the general procession that took place every year, on May 1st and August 24th, from the church of Saint-Étienne to another parish chosen each year. They departed at eight o'clock in the morning, and all the brothers and sisters attended with a numerous clergy.

This procession had two centuries of existence and glory when, on February 6, 1737, the Parli ament of Paris, posse le Parlement de Paris Judicial body that suppressed processions in 1737. ssed by the mania of interfering in spiritual matters, deemed it appropriate to suppress this solemnity, which gladdened all Christian hearts and only offended the gaze of Jansenism, t hen in gre jansénisme A theological movement to which the canons of Saint-Ruf remained opposed. at vogue, or of the impiety then nascent within the homeland. But if human power could suppress an external ceremony, it could diminish nothing of the trust and love of the children of Mary for their mother. Thus, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Deliverance continued to be the object of the devotion of the faithful and the destination of their pious pilgrimages.

Finally arrived the evil days of the revolution and the supreme triumph of impiety. Priests were driven out, churches were pillaged, and in this sacrilegious devastation, Saint-Étienne des Grès was not forgotten. This church offered too seductive a bait to greed to escape the fury of the devastators. It was therefore stripped of all the riches that the faith of princes and the faithful had amassed there over several centuries: gold, silver, iron, grilles, marbles, woodwork, and all the works of art that decorated the walls were removed, and finally the statue itself, to sell everything at auction. A pious lady, the Countess of Carignan Saint-Mauric e, informed of the fact, immediately la comtesse de Carignan Saint-Maurice Aristocrat who saved the statue from revolutionary destruction. ran to the municipality of Paris, managed to buy the holy statue, had it transported to her mansion, and there dedicated a small oratory to it where a hidden priest celebrated the holy mysteries every day. The pious countess enjoyed her treasure in secret, when, according to the customs of the time, she was incarcerated as a suspect.

LIVES OF THE SAINTS. — VOLUME VII. 38 in the house on Rue de Sèvres called *les Oiseaux*, which had been transformed into an additional prison; but the holy statue, having escaped the gaze of the evildoers, always remained in its small oratory; and on October 4, 1794, the pious countess, set free by a protection of Our Lady of Good Deliverance whom she had invoked every day during her captivity, resumed her prayers before the holy image. Four months later, learning that the hospital sisters of Saint-Thomas de Villeneuve, whom s he was particularly fond of, were about to be dri dames hospitalières de Saint-Thomas de Villeneuve Religious congregation that received the statue after the French Revolution. ven from their community by the government, she vowed to give her cherished statue to these ladies if the government, renouncing its hostile designs, ceased to disturb them. For their part, the nuns made a novena to Our Lady of Good Deliverance; so many prayers were answered, and the nuns remained undisturbed in their community. The Countess of Carignan then offered to fulfill her vow: the ladies of Saint-Thomas accepted it with happiness, hastened to build a chapel to receive the statue; and, on July 1, 1806, the miraculous image was transported to Saint-Thomas de Villeneuve, where it also became the object of fervent worship and the destination of numerous pilgrimages. Thus was replaced the famous chapel of Our Lady of the Grès, which fell, as did the church, under the hammer of the demolishers.

Excerpt from *Notre-Dame de France*, by the parish priest of Saint-Sulpice.