Notre-Dame
de Victoires
This Marian pilgrimage comes to us from the 1st part of the 19th
century, the time of François Libermann. The parish priest of
this very unchristian area, Fr. Desgenettes, despaired of bringing
his parishioners to a better way of life. As a matter of fact his
parish was one of the most difficult in Paris, quite near to the
Stock Exchange, with people concerned merely with business and
indifferent to religion, if not hostile to it. Fr Desgenettes,
looking for the best way to have his parish converted to the Gospel,
suddenly heard a persistent and clear inner voice, repeating that he
had to consecrate it to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of
Sinners. That was just on the eve of Advent, 1836 (the last year of
Fr. Libermann in Issy, before he moved to Rennes). As Fr Desgenettes
couldn't silence this voice in his heart so he set to write a draft
about a Marian Association dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Refuge of Sinners. Though he found it easy to do that job, still he
remained sceptical about the apostolic relevance of such a movement.
Yet to see it through, on the 1st Sunday of Advent, 1836, he
announced at the end of Mass, in front of the very few in attendance,
that this very afternoon there would be a meeting of prayer, on the
occasion of which a Marian Association would be founded for the
conversion of the parish. The miracle came quite unexpectedly; at the
prayer meeting there were plenty of people - who ever had made them
come? Thus the Association was born, with a lot of people joining it,
praying to the Holy Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners with insistence
and confidence. An incredible movement of conversion began and went
on with the daily prayers of people putting all their faith in the
apostolic Heart of Mary. The parish priest himself couldn't believe
his eyes! The new Marian association focused on the conversion of
the greatest sinners - because there is nothing impossible for God,
if we have faith. Mary had a personal and unrivalled experience of
that. She is Our Lady of Victories against all kinds of evil and
against despair. In that context, it's not strange that the Work for
the Blacks was conceived and was born in connection with Our Lady of
Victories. This missionary task seemed to be very difficult if not
impossible at the time. Frédéric Le Vavasseur and
Eugène Tisserant got their desire to work for the Blacks
praying in this shrine of Our Lady, and sharing with Fr. Desgenettes.
Our Lady of Victories gave the founders (Le Vavasseur, Tisserant and
Libermann) a strong feeling of confidence and boldness, so that the
Congregation they had founded took the name of Holy Heart of Mary,
explicitly in connection with the experience of the unbelievable
apostolic concern of the Holy Heart of Mary for the most difficult
missionary tasks. The insistence of Fr.Libermann in speaking of the
apostolic Heart of Mary is also to be connected with the experience
of her tremendous impulse to undertake missionary commitments. At
this altar of the Blessed Lady, Fr. Libermann, a freshly ordained
priest, presided at the first community mass of the HHM Congregation,
with Le Vavasseur, Tisserant, the parish priest Desgenettes and the
seminarian Collin. That was the 25th of September, 1841. There is a
sculpture on the altar's side to recall the fact. A few weeks before,
Fr Jacques Laval had spent long hours praying here, before leaving
for Mauritius. And again, at this shrine, Fr. Le Vavasseur was freed
from a strong temptation against his superior, Fr. Libermann, the 2nd
of February 1842. After having celebrated Mass here, just after
Christmas 1842, Bishop Barron, the first Vicar Apostolic of the Two
Guineas, learnt from Fr Desgenettes the address of the Holy Heart of
Mary Congregation in La Neuville, that he had been eagerly looking
for. And that was the beginning of our Missions in Africa. The
departures of the missionaries always included a pilgrimage to this
sanctuary, as the original shrine of the Holy Heart of Mary
Congregation. At this shrine, Bishop Truffet heard his missionary
calling, and was ordained Bishop here too a few years later. In a
long letter, which Fr.Libermann wrote to Fr Desgenettes the 9th of
February 1844, he explained that the Holy Heart of Mary Congregation
received all that it had needed from the Blessed Virgin at the feet
of this Marian altar. Finally, the burial of Fr. Libermann, the 4th
of February 1852, was conducted by the parish priest of Our Lady of
Victories, Fr. Desgenettes, a sign of so many graces Libermann
received for himself and for the Congregation through the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners. The pilgrimage to Our Lady of
Victories makes sense for us Spiritans. By this step, we say that we
acknowledge our roots, and that we want to go on in the Spiritan
mission of today with the courage, the self-denial and the
availability of our predecessors as well as with their total
confidence in the Holy Heart of Mary.
Libermann to Desgenettes. (09.02.1844. ND VII, p.37-48)
It is beyond question that our little Work for the Black People
owes both its existence and all the progress it has made since its
recent foundation to the Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary&ldots;From
the start, the Archconfraternity was praying for this project to the
Immaculate Heart of our good Mother. The leading members who were to
begin the work were still undecided and the obstacles facing them
seemed to be insurmountable, but the fervent prayers of the
confraternity obtained what was apparently impossible. Also, I can
assure you that, right from the start, our confidence in this
difficult enterprise was based solidly on the goodness of the heart
of our Mother. The difficulties far outstretched our feeble resources
and, humanly speaking, we realised that it was impossible; but at the
same time, we were all convinced that we would eventually succeed&ldots;
We presented ourselves before the ecclesiastical superiors in Rome
with nothing to recommend us, no guarantees and no influential
backers. We just had a plan to put forward: the rest was just poverty
and weakness, with no resources or human means. So we could expect
nothing but rebuttals, above all in that place which is so full of
clever people. But this is also the place where the Holy Spirit is in
charge and this thought is what gave me so much joy and consolation.
The Holy Spirit guides the Head of the Church and those who help him
in his task. Through them, he gave us encouragement and a sort of
written approval, and this encouragement was repeated several times
in the letters from the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda. Who did
all that? Was it our merits, our talents, our qualities, our hard
work? Not at all! I did nothing: I left it all to Mary, putting all
my trust in the incomparable goodness of her Immaculate Heart.
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.
