Notre-Dame de la Bonne Délivrance
(Chapelle des Srs de St Thomas de Villeneuve, 52, Boulevard
d'Argenson, 92200 Neuilly sur Seine, tél 01 47 47 38 00)
At the feet of this black Virgin, Notre-Dame de la Bonne
Délivrance, Claude Poullart des Places and his ten or eleven
poor companions founded the Holy Spirit Community, consecrating
themselves to the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, on the day of Pentecost, the 27th of May, 1703.
This statue is of stone, from the 14th century. The shrine in which
the small community used to venerate it, the church St Etienne des
Grés, was a well known place of Marian pilgrimage in Paris,
particularly on the occasion of private and public tragedies. This
church was quite near to the Sorbonne and to the Jesuit's college
Louis-le-Grand, and quite close to 'rue des Cordiers, in which Claude
Poullart des Places and companions got their first accommodation (rue
des Cordiers). It means that the small community, that grew very
quickly, used to pray before this image of Mary, a sign of their
first consecration.
In the same shrine, before this Black Virgin, St Dominic, St Thomas
Aquinas and St Albert the Great used to come and pray. The devotion
of the Rosary had been fostered in this Marian sanctuary. Later on,
one century before Claude Poullart des Places was born, there began
here an important Marian apostolic association for lay people, which
could have been an ancestor of the Legion of Mary: Claude and his
companions would have known the activities of this Marian movement.
St Francis de Sales was a happy pilgrim of Our Lady of Good
Deliverance, because there he had been freed from severe spiritual
anxiety. Fr Claude Bernard got his conversion here. Fr Jean-Jacques
Olier, the founder of St Sulpice Priests used to pray at the feet of
this statue. St Vincent de Paul was also very found of praying here,
as was the foundress of the Sacred Heart Sisters, Sophie Barrat.
Nearer to us, St John Bosco celebrated a mass at the feet of Our Lady
of Good Deliverance, to recommend to her the poor and abandoned youth
to whom he was committed. Many influential Christians of recent
French history enjoyed long moments of prayer before the statue. Even
in our present time, many simple people, in pilgrimage or
individually, like to come and pray at the feet of Our Lady of Good
Deliverance.
During the French Revolution, this statue was bought and carefully
concealed by a pious lady, who gave it to the Hospitaller Sisters of
St Thomas de Villeneuve. The Sisters built for it a new chapel in
their Motherhouse (52, Boulevard d'Argenson, Neuilly-sur-Seine), to
insure the continuation of the Parisian pilgrimage.
As many statues of the Blessed Virgin all over the Christian
Mediterranean world, this one is black. In antiquity, the black
goddess was sign of fertility, a sign which Christian art has kept to
evoke the physical and spiritual fertility of Mary, mother of Jesus
and our mother.
For us, Spiritans, this pilgrimage means fidelity to our roots. The
veneration of Mary, mother of Jesus and our mother, is the very
beginning of our foundation, together with the consecration to the
Holy Spirit. Claude Poullart des Places could not think of
evangelical life and evangelical mission (that is serving the poor)
except as the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our souls and he couldn't
think of being available to the Holy Spirit but under the guidance of
Mary. Mary knows what it means to be available to the Holy Spirit,
and her maternal presence is meant to guide us in this way. May she
deliver us from all that could thwart our definitive gift to the Spirit.
Prayer used in the Holy Spirit Seminary as a renewal in the steps
of Claude Poullart.
Holy Mary, my mother and my queen, kneeling humbly at your feet I
implore your help. Assist me, your servant, to dedicate, consecrate
and devote myself to the Holy Spirit, your divine Spouse. Despite my
weaknesses, I want today to make a serious commitment in his honour.
My dear Mother, please listen to me; all-powerful Spirit hear her
prayers for me and enlighten my mind and inflame my heart with your
love, so that in this house (Congregation) which is dedicated to you
I might do all that is pleasing to you, everything that will bring
you glory, achieve my sanctification and build up and strengthen my
brothers.
Welcome
to the site of the TransCanada Province of the Spiritans. We are a
Roman Catholic Religious Congregation of over three thousand members,
founded in 1703. Our missions are spread worldwide. While we may be
found involved in many diverse ministries, we have dedicated
ourselves to working with the poor and in those situations where the
Church has difficulty in finding ministers. We hope you enjoy your
visit to our site and that while browsing you will keep us in your
prayers. May God bless you.
