The Thirty-First Day of the Month of St. Anne

Practices in Honor of St. Anne.

In terminating the month which is consecrated to St. Anne, we will give our readers some rules to observe, in order that their devotion to this great Saint may be really useful and salutary. There are two questions to be answered: I. What favors may we be allowed to ask of God through St. Anne’s intercession? II. By means of what pious practices can we prevail on St. Anne to aid us?

In reply to our first question, we will reply that it is a good and a pious custom to invoke the Saints, and particularly St. Anne, in order to obtain relief in our bodily infirmities, troubles and trials, to escape some impending calamity, to succeed in our worldly affairs. Our confidence, is most agreeable to God, since even in unimportant matters, it is based on faith in His goodness and in the power of the Saints. The holiest of mankind, too, have set us an example of applying to them. Among others we may see St. Francis of Sales having recourse to a relic of St. Apollonia in order to obtain relief from a violent toothache which was preventing him from saying Mass. But there are some Christians who never think of having recourse to God and His Saints except when their temporal interests are at stake; and this conduct is reprehensible. They forget that they have a soul to save, an eternity of blessedness to win; that these earthly possessions, to which they are so attached, will sooner or later be stolen from them by the robber called Death; and that, no matter what means they may take, their carefully tended body will become food for worms.

A certain man gained a livelihood by catching snakes which he sold to an apothecary who extracted from them a substance known as theriac. One evening being very much fatigued with searching after them, he placed ajar full of living reptiles in his room and not noticing that the jar was not well closed up, fell into a deep sleep.

Towards midnight, being awakened by the buzzing of a large fly, he perceived that the snakes had crawled out of their jar and, attracted by the heat, were all around him in his bed; his neck, arms, legs, chest were covered with these frightful reptiles, the slightest bite from which would cause his death, and a terrible death. Calling his servant, he told her what? To drive away the importunate fly which was disturbing his sleep. This being done, and saying to him self that to-morrow he must see to killing these snakes; he once more placed his head on his pillow and fell asleep again. And what happened, you will ask me? Just what was likely to happen: towards morning, the reptiles, having recovered from their state of torpor, attacked him with their poisonous bites and he died in horrible agony. What a madman ! how imprudent of him! you will exclaim. Most certainly, but are you any wiser? For weeks, months, years perhaps, you have been living in mortal sin, in habits of blasphemy, of impurity, of hatred to your neighbor; your bad habits, your sins are so many vipers, any one of which might, if God so permitted, precipitate you into the eternal flames, and yet you live on quite tranquilly, you eat, you drink, you sleep, you make merry, you put off your conversion to an other day. To awake you from your fatal torpor, God sends you some, sickness, some disastrous reverse of fortune, some cross or other. And your first care is to have recourse to St. Anne, begging her to deliver you from whatever is disturbing your fatal repose. Be not so mad! so imprudent! first ask her help to enable you to break asunder the chain of your passions, to rid you of those sins which are hourly exposing your soul to endless misery. Afterwards, if you will, you can ask to be delivered also from whatever cross God has seen fit to send you for your greater good.

In your devotion to St. Anne then, your first thought must be the salvation of your soul, you must ask her to deliver you from sin, if you are in that unhappy state, or if happily this be not the case, to preserve you from it for ever and make you increase in the love of JESUS and Mary and in all the virtues necessary to your state of life.

But if you wish St. Anne to love and succor you in all your necessities, you must be faith ful in honoring her daily. It is not necessary to make long prayers to her: a Pater and Ave devoutly recited in her honor will suffice, if you never omit them. There are some Christians who hasten to pray to the Saints and make pilgrimages to their shrines, whenever they are in any trouble, but forget them as soon as they have obtained relief in their necessities. Such devotion is but mercenary, self-interested. Neither God nor the Saints love ingratitude. Pray then to St. Anne at all times: in your necessities in order to obtain relief; and after having obtained favors, continue to pray in order to show your gratitude, pray also for her aid in what ever trials the future may have in store for you and, most of all, pray that under her protection, you may attain eternal happiness.

Note from the anonymous author of these meditations:

I pray our great Saint to conduct you to it, and if my little work has been of any use to you, I ask you to offer a prayer that I, too, may attain to life everlasting. I, on my part, promise you a remembrance before God.

May not the Translator also beg a remembrance in the pious prayers of all those to whom this translation may prove useful ? G. M. Ward.

EXAMPLE.

A married man from St. Vincent de Paul writes:

My wife was taken ill some years ago. After having been attended by several doctors, her illness was looked on as incurable and her sufferings were terrible. She could not walk and from the knee to the ankle her legs were covered with wounds. Not being able to lie down on account of the feeling of suffocation brought on by that position, she had to remain constantly seated, suffering from such incessant thirst that she could not pass more than an hour without drinking. She had been in this state for nearly two years and a half, when the doctors despairing of her case, she placed all her hopes in St. Anne.

She undertook a pilgrimage to St. Anne de Beaupre, an undertaking which our relations and friends looked on as foolish and imprudent, saying she would die before arriving at her journey’s end. Filled with faith and confidence, she set off for St. Anne de Beaupre, and, having arrived there, was seated on a chair and carried into the sanctuary by my self and a charitable gentleman. She received holy Communion seated in her chair and then heard three Masses in thanksgiving. During all this time she felt no need of taking any beverage. After her thanksgiving, she remarked to me that she felt better; she rose and went towards the sacristy and mounted the steps leading to it without any great difficulty. After having received the blessing of the parish-priest, she retraced her steps quite unassisted, and walking more and more easily. St. Anne had cured her; and shortly afterwards all her pains left her, her wounds healed, the swelling disappeared and now she is perfectly well.

We adjoin the certificate given by one of the physicians who attended this lady:

I, the undersigned, physician, certify to having attended Madame Pare from the end of the year 1877 to the commencement of 1880, without obtaining any satisfactory result. A month ago the same Madame Pare came to see me and appeared to be perfectly cu red, F. A. Germain M. D.

PRAYER.

Great St. Anne, grave indelibly on my heart and on my mind the words which have reclaimed and sanctified so many sinners: "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" May this be the principal fruit of the pious exercises by which I have striven to honor thee during the month which is consecrated to thee. At thy feet I renew my resolution of invoking thee daily, not only for the success of my temporal affairs and to be preserved from sickness and suffering, but above all, that I may be preserved from all sin, that I may gain the victory over my depraved inclinations, and that I may succeed in working out my eternal salvation. My powerful Protectress, do not let me lose my soul, but obtain for me the grace of winning my way to Heaven, there, with thee and thy blessed spouse and glorious Daughter, to sing the praises of the most holy and adorable Trinity, for ever and ever.

Good St. Anne, extend thy maternal intercession to me and lead me to Heaven.

PRACTICE.

Fidelity in offering a short daily prayer to St. Anne, so as to attain to eternal glory through her intercession.

The Thirtieth Day of the Month of St. Anne

The Charity Practiced by St. Anne.

Our God is a God of charity, according to St. Paul; and according to St. John He is Charity. "God so loved men that He gave His only beloved Son for them," JESUS has said, and JESUS Himself assures us that He loves us even as His Father loves Him; and the proof He has given us of this love is His having laid down His life for our redemption. Our holy religion is one of charity; everything in it preaches charity: Baptism, by which the Father adopts us as His children; the Eucharist, in which the Son feeds us with His own flesh and blood; Confirmation, in which the Holy Ghost comes to dwell within us, to teach us to call God our Father and pray to Him with filial confidence, and also to be the pledge of our heavenly calling; the Holy Sacrifice, in which JESUS-CHRIST daily renews in our favor that oblation which He once made of Himself on Calvary; the teaching of the Gospel which our divine Master reduces to one simple precept, that of fraternal charity. Hence it evidently ensues that whosoever loves not his neighbor may perform the most wonderful works, may give all his fortune to the poor, may even shed his blood for the honor of God s name, and yet be not counted worthy of the name of Christian.

Need we say that charity was St. Anne’s pre-eminent virtue? How, otherwise, could she have become the Mother of her who calls herself the Advocate, the Hope, the Refuge of sinners, the Consoler of the afflicted? How could she have been found worthy to become the Grandmother of the God of charity, of Him who hath so loved us as to give, not His riches, but His own blood? To be all this, must not St, Anne’s heart have been filled, perfumed with charity? What was it that made her plead day and night for the coming of the Redeemer? Was it not her love for men and her desire of their salvation? And doubtless, it was through these very desires that she in conjunction with her holy spouse was judged worthy of giving to the world the Mother of the Redeemer. Mary was the reward of their love for their neighbor and their zeal for^the glory of God. And now that she is in Heaven, does not this good Saint continually show us how dearly she loves the members of JESUS, more especially those who put confidence in her? Who can count the number of the lame she has made to walk, the blind to whom she has restored sight, the sinners whose conversion and pardon she has obtained, the despairing to whom she has given fresh hope, the families at variance whom she has reconciled, the wives, mothers, widows she has comforted in their affliction? This power, which is attested by so many wonderful favors, has been accorded to her as a reward for her charity, and so that, now she is in glory, she may satisfy the tender and generous instincts of her heart. For God, Who in Hell punishes each sinner through the particular sin he is suffering for, in Heaven loves that the reward He bestows on His elect shall be analogous to the virtues they have practised on earth.

You, devout souls, who honor this great Saint, if you wish to be dear to her and obtain what you ask of her, you must try to resemble her in your love of your brethren. In the first place you must be on your guard against transgressing this virtue. Therefore, I. Never bear malice against any one. JESUS CHRIST has told us that we should be reconciled with those we have offended, before bringing our gifts to the altar, or else our gifts will not be accepted. St. Anne also rejects the prayers of the resentful. II. Never be envious, St. Paul says that through Baptism and Holy Communion we become members of one body ; now, one of the members ought not to grieve but to rejoice over whatever happens for good to another. Satan gave the first example of envy, and the envious being his progeny, St. Anne will not count them as her spiritual children. III. Never give scandal. The thief steals money; the assassin kills the body; those who give scandal rob the soul of grace and kill it; they render useless the blood of JESUS-CHRIST, His life, His passion, His death. How can the Grandmother of JESUS-CHRIST look on such with a favorable eye? IV. Let there be no disputes, nor squabbling, nor abuse, nor evil-speaking: all these things are in opposition with St. Anne’s beloved virtue, all these things displease her and, more or less according to their gravity, disincline her to listen to the prayers offered her.

But doing no harm to others is not sufficient, you must aid them in their needs and sorrows, according to your means, if you wish St. Anne to aid you. If you yourself are not poor, like St. Anne, you must love to give to the needy: you will thus, says JESUS-CHRIST, make to yourselves friends who will open Heaven to you and you will have the all-powerful St. Anne as your friend, mother and special providence in Heaven. Whatever your fortune or state of live may be, you can, like St. Anne, visit the sick, console the afflicted, give good advice, reconcile those estranged from one another, edify by a grave, modest, gentle, Christian deportment. By these various means you will infallibly win the good graces of your beloved Patroness and those of Mary and JESUS.

EXAMPLE.

A postulant at the Novitiate of was attacked with severe hemorrhage of the lungs which led her to death’s door. The doctors having pronounced her malady to be incurable, the young lady was sent back to her family and, two days afterwards, received the last Sacraments. The mother, who was a fervent Christian and very devout to St. Anne, promised Masses, a pilgrimage to St. Anne de Beaupre and an announcement of the cure in the Annals of St. Anne, if that Saint would but obtain for her the cure of her daughter. A novena was at once commenced, and that very evening the sick person, who had had no rest for five days on account of her terrible sufferings, fell asleep about nine o’clock and only awoke the next morning, when she found herself completely cured. To the great surprise of her family, she joined them at the breakfast table.

It is to St. Anne that she owes her present great happiness of being a holy nun.

PRAYER.

Glorious St. Anne, how canst thou be otherwise than overflowing with tenderness towards poor sinners like myself, since thou art the Grandmother of Him Who shed His blood for them, and the Mother of Her whom the Saints call the Advocate of sinners? To thee, therefore, I address my prayers with confidence, vouchsafe to recommend me to JESUS and Mary, so that at thy request, they may grant me remission of all my sins, perseverance, the love of God, charity towards all mankind, purity of body and soul and the special grace (here name it) of which I stand in need at this present time. My powerful Protectress, let me not lose my soul, but obtain for me that through the merits of JESUS-CHRIST and the intercession of Mary, I may have the happiness of seeing them, loving them, praising them to all eternity with thee and thy blessed spouse.

St. Anne, obtain for me the grace of loving God above all and my neighbor as myself.

PRACTICE.

Examine your heart according to the above points and resolve to confess your transgressions and to change your way of living so as to conform your life to that of St. Anne.

The Twenty-Ninth Day of the Month of St. Anne

St. Anne’s Life of Retirement and Recollection.

Love neither the world nor the things which are in the world, for all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life. "If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him." Thus speaks St. John. Nothing then can be in greater opposition to Christian holiness and eternal salvation than the love of the world, the pursuit of its pleasures and the practice of its maxims. This is why before being admitted to baptism we have to renounce them. "The world hates me," JESUS-CHRIST has said: how then can we love the world? JESUS-CHRIST has cursed the world on account of its scandals, for there is scandal in everything appertaining to it: its maxims, its customs, its amusements, its fashions, its conversations; how then can we take pleasure in it? If we frequent the world, we thereby show that we share its tastes, desire to share its amusements, and conform to its customs; now the whole world is seated in wickedness, says St. John, which means that it is under the dominion of the devil. It was for this reason that all the Saints, even those of the Old Testament, fled from the world; they lived retired from it; some in the deserts, says St. Paul, some in caves or hollows of the earth; they passed their life in poverty, anguish, privations, scorn, persecutions, rather than breathe the vitiated atmosphere of that cursed country called the world.

St. Anne and her blessed spouse, like all the Saints, like JESUS, Mary and Joseph later on, lived in the greatest retirement, carefully avoiding all worldly assemblies; and this is the very reason why we know so few details of their holy life. They were like the sober-hued violet which, sheltered by its own leaves, fills the neighboring woods with its perfume, or like the stream which, flowing through solitary places, is never disturbed by the foot of the wayfarer and incessantly mirrors the pure skies. Or like the chaste turtle dove that penetrates into the thickest depths of the woods to hide her nest and her innocent offspring. They held communication only with the poor, the sick, the afflicted, to console them in their sorrows, to relieve their wants, and to inspire them with hope. What had they to ask of the world? They loved God with their whole heart, and they possess ed Him; and what can be wanting to those who possess God? Does not God contain everything that is good, as He said to Moses, and outside of Him that contains everything that is good, what good can be found?

Faithful soul living in the midst of the world, far be it from me to advise you to desert the post assigned you by Providence, to leave your business, your house, to forsake your children, nor, if you are still young, to enter religion without having any vocation for it. But if you cannot leave the world, I exhort you to follow St. Anne’s example and to live in the world as a stranger to it. In order to do this you must, in the first place, hold the maxims of the world in horror. If the world say to you: "Young people will be young people," that is, every sort of folly may be indulged in at that age, recall to mind that the maxim of the Holy Ghost is: "It is good for a man to have borne the yoke of the Lord from his youth, when he is old, he will not depart from the paths in which he has walked during his younger years." If the world say to you: "We must stand up for our rights and not allow ourselves to be trod den underfoot," you should reply: "JESUS has said: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and you shall be the children of your heavenly Father who makes His sun to rise upon the just and upon the injust." If the world say to you: "We must do as others do, we must not make ourselves singular, nor need we live in the world like hermits," remember that the Holy Ghost says: "The number of fools is infinite; many are called and few are chosen; broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who enter by it; strait is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it." If, therefore, I wish to save my soul, I must do differently to what others do, I must be somewhat singular, never say as the worldly says: "One cannot have too much of a good thing;" but remember what St. Paul says about those who wishing to become rich fall into the snare of the devil. Never say: "There is a man who is perfectly happy, for he has everything he wants, he is rich, honored, nattered, and is always amusing himself;" this would be contradicting JESUS-CHRIST Who has said: "Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who weep, who hunger and thirst, who are persecuted." Do not say: "God is good and will pardon me yet this one sin more ," or "I mean to be converted later on," for if God is good, He is also just; He has warned you to lose no time in being converted, and has not promised you any to-morrow. If you wish to save your soul in the world, you must flee from certain worldly amusements, such as balls, and licentious plays, and you must avoid all companionship with the dissipated and irreligious. When questioned by the Curd d’Ars, the devil replied: "I am all round a ball like a wall," meaning thereby that he did as he pleased with those who were taking part in it. In order to save your soul in the world, you must also avoid adopting any fashion of dress that is the least immodest (no matter how generally adopted it may be), and you must refrain from reading anything licentious or against the Catholic faith. Lastly, if you wish to save your soul in the world, you must tread underfoot all human respect and learn never to blush at doing right. Besides this is the only means of being respected. You are known to profess being pious, so what will be thought of you if you are seen eating meat on an abstinence day, or smiling at some speech that offends against religion or modesty? You will be thought utterly deficient in strength of mind. Protestants, Jews, freemasons are net ashamed of their ways of thinking, and should you be ashamed of the true religion? JESUS has said: "He that shall deny Me before men, shall be denied before the Angels of God."

EXAMPLE.

Abbe Linchaud,the founder of St. Anne’s College and formerly a missionary at Bay Chaleur, relates the following:

On the evening of St. Anne s day which had been a day of great fatigue, I was sleeping soundly when suddenly I was awakened in some strange manner and I distinctly heard a voice saying to me: "Three of your brethren are in danger of perishing if you do not hasten to their aid by interceding for them with her who is always called the good St. Anne and in whom they have the greatest confidence." The voice ceased, but its tones had been so entreating and melodious that sleep was banished from my eyelids for the rest of the night, and whenever I recall the circumstance, I feel a similar emotion to that which I then experienced.

Immediately on receiving the warning, I made a solemn promise that the next morning, I would sing a high Mass in honor of St. Anne, for the safety of my dear parishioners. Next morning, I learned the following particulars from those who had been miraculously saved from death and who had arrived during the night.

Three Indians, two men and a woman, were crossing in a bark-canoe from Iracadie to Ristigouche and had arrived at the middle of the bay, opposite Caraquet, very late at night. A squall sprung up and their frail boat was upset. Being thus thrown suddenly into the water, these unfortunate creatures at first sank to the bottom, and on regaining the surface found themselves separated from one another and from the canoe. On perceiving their danger, the woman called out to her companions: "Let us pray to the good St. Anne and she will save us." Hardly had she uttered these words, when the canoe right ed itself and drifted towards them so that our travelers, who had also got nearer together, were enabled to resume their places in it. Having been so miraculously saved, they gratefully acknowledged that they were indebted for their safety to Her whom they had invoked, and they too promised a high Mass in honor of their Benefactress.

The following Sunday, I related this wonderful escape to my Indians and invited them to show their gratitude to St. Anne by coming to the two high Masses which were to be sung the following week in her honor. The abundance of tears which they shed showed me what a tender devotion these children of the forest had for St. Anne and how desirous they were of testifying their love to her. I would frequently profit by these dispositions when I wished to persuade them to make the sacrifice of some passion or bad habit. I had only to say to them: " By indulging in anger, in drunkenness, in vengeance etc., you sadden the heart of good St. Anne, and show that you do not love her." These words generally sufficed for obtaining extraordinary conversions.

PRAYER.

My beloved Patroness, St. Anne, the Apostle has warned me that the world is but a stage on which every one appears for a moment to play a more or less brilliant part, and then vanishes for ever; and he thence concludes that those who use this world should be as if they used it not. What folly then to attach oneself to things which are not only transitory, but which, by their seductions, can imperil our real interests, those which will not pass away! But I stand in need of grace to enable me to resist the pernicious influence of the maxims, customs and examples of this perverse world! It is by thy intercession and that of thy blessed spouse St. Joachim that I hope to obtain this grace. Do thou and he vouchsafe to watch over me for the glory of JESUS and Mary.

Good St. Anne, pray for me, that I may obtain the grace of triumphing over human respect.

PRACTICE.

Using the above consideration, examine your conscience on your relationship with God and the world.

The Twenty-Eighth Day of the Month of St. Anne

St. Anne’s Life of Penance.

Penance is the principal element of the Christian life. St. John the Baptist prepared men’s hearts for the coming of JESUS-CHRIST by preaching penance. St. John himself prepared for his ministry by a thirty years life of penance. Before commencing His preaching, JESUS, Son of God though He was, passed forty days of most rigorous penance in the desert, and it was penance on which He laid the most stress in preaching. "Do penance," He said, "for the kingdom of God is at hand." The word penance wounds the ear of the natural, the old man; for to him, penance means death, and he wishes not to die but to live, even if he drags us with him to the eternal flames. But we cannot listen to the promptings of the old man, i e. our sinful flesh: it was not for this that we were baptized. "At baptism," says St. Paul, "our old man is crucified with Him that we may live to life everlasting." In this matter there is no middle course. We were conceived in iniquity and clothed with a flesh which is ever in revolt against the law of God. Therefore we must either do penance, says our Lord, or perish everlastingly.

If you read the lives of the Saints, you will see that they were all much given to penance and we always picture them to ourselves as very mortified men. This virtue, too, was more especially practiced by St. Anne. It is true that on this point also we are reduced to conjecturing the truth, but our conjectures amount to a certainty. Anne was preeminently given to prayer, as we have already seen, and as is proved by her sublime sanctity. Now, prayer goes along with mortification; prayer unaccompanied by mortification is only an illusion, or at the least, is not long practiced. Prayer is the cry of the soul, and sensuality is the cry of the flesh or the animal man: if the soul does not subdue the flesh by penance, it becomes sensual, carnal, it is weighed down and can no longer raise itself from earth to converse with God. Likewise the holy women Judith, Hannah the mother of Samuel, Esther and Anna the prophetess joined perpetual fasting to the prayers which they offered up by day and by night, and it is but right to believe that the Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary was in no way inferior to those illustrious Saints. It may well be said that a well-made prayer is in itself a mortification, and that fervent, persevering, continual prayer, like St. Anne’s, is an uninterrupted penitential exercise. Constant mental application to heavenly things is a powerful means of bringing the flesh into subjection, of overcoming its instincts, of forcing it to sympathize with the aspirations of the soul. Violence to ourselves must be done before we can remain for half-an-hour or an hour on our knees, motionless, our eyes closed or cast down, repressing all wandering and flights of the mind so soon as they are perceived. What then must it be to pass two, three, five, six consecutive hours in this exercise, and this not only occasionally, but every day of a long life, as many Saints have done and, as we can hardly doubt, St. Anne did? Nor must we imagine that the consolations they felt in their prayer, prevented their feeling the irksomeness of such constant restraint. Like other men, the Saints usually experience great aridity, dryness and desolation in prayer, as we are told by St. Alphonsus who had himself experienced it. Faithful soul, place yourself under the protection of your holy Patroness and resolve to enter courageously on this salutary way of penance. Whoever you may be, you have sinned, and sin has to be expiated here below or in another life. The sufferings here below, even the greatest austerities practiced by the Saints, are as nothing in comparison with those of Purgatory; and besides they gain merits; they help us to advance in interior virtue and draw down on us divine favors and heavenly consolations. But do not take fright: I do not wish you to practice the austerities of the Saints, but only those which are indispensable and which are:

I. Unless for some just reason and legitimate dispensation, observe punctually the fasts and abstinence imposed by the holy Church.

II. Be courageous enough to impose on yourself some mortification on Fridays, Saturdays, on the eves of the feasts of Mary, and daily during the novenas which you make in honor of St. Anne. "Prayer is good with fasting and alms," as the Archangel Raphael told Tobias.

III. Support patiently and uncomplainingly all the annoyances which you meet with daily; accept in the same way, as if sent by God, all the affronts, unjust treatment, persecution which men make you suffer.

IV. Frequently make acts of contrition for your past sins,

V. Lastly, whatever may be the state of your soul, whether you be joyful or sorrowful, experiencing consolation or a prey to dryness and distaste, be always faith ful in the discharge of all your devotional exercises, neither diminishing nor abridging them, whatever effort it may cost you, and being always on your guard against voluntary distractions.

EXAMPLE.

A Sister of Charity, Quebec, writes as follows:

For thirteen years I had been suffering from dyspepsia when, in the winter of 1881, I was confined to the infirmary for two months. The stomach was so much affected that the roof of the mouth swelled up, and at length an abscess forming there, my sufferings were most acute. The doctor’s lancet gave me relief from this abscess, but I remained with a constant spasm that tormented me for a whole year. In the month of March, 1882, 1 had to return to the infirmary, for the spasm had become still more persistent and gave me no rest either day or night. I felt that my strength was nearly exhausted and I had even been advised to prepare for death. I then made a solemn promise to St. Anne that in return for my cure, if she would but grant it, I would (with my Superior’s permission) make a pilgrimage to St. Anne de Beaupre, and if, at the end of a year the improvement continued, I would make the miracle known in the Annals. I then took a spoonful of the water of St. Anne’s fountain, and with all possible faith prayed: "Good St. Anne, I pray thee to cure me." Hardly had I uttered the invocation when the spasm ceased. It was then nine o’clock at night and I fell into a peaceful sleep which lasted eight hours. The next day I was perfectly well and could even go out without fatigue. Ever since then I have enjoyed excellent health.

PRAYER.

Great Saint! Thou didst join severe penance to admirable innocence of life; and I who have so often offended God and deserved Hell, I hardly even know the meaning of the word penance. What confusion for me and what folly if I leave the rigorous expiation of my sins to a future life, while I might have obtained pardon for them here by means of much less suffering! Nor can I dispense with penance without exposing myself to eternal damnation! My powerful Protectress, I stand in urgent need of thy help in this matter. Aid me, I pray thee, to commence at once those practices which are indispensable to Christian mortification, such as the observance of the prescribed fasts and abstinence, the abandonment of all pleasures which are forbidden, dangerous, or useless to my bodily health, patience in the troubles of this life, perseverance in prayer and pious exercises, notwithstanding the dryness and distaste I may feel for them.

St. Anne, obtain for me a spirit of compunction and the courage to do penance.

PRACTICE.

See the consideration above.

The Twenty-Seventh Day of the Month of St. Anne

St. Anne’s Love for Jesus-Christ.

Instead of considering in a general manner St. Anne’s love for God, let us more particularly study her devotion to the person of Our Lord JESUS-CHRIST. We have already said that JESUS was the great, the principal object of devotion to the Saints of the Old Testament, as well as to those of the New. They were justified by faith, by confidence in the JESUS to come, even as we are justified by our faith, our confidence in the JESUS Who has come. Just as we read His life in the gospel, they read it in the prophets; and the consideration of His humiliations and sorrows was their chief incentive to advancing in virtue. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, denied himself to be the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, rather choosing to be afflicted with the people of God, than to have the pleasure of sin for a time. This too was the case with all the just of those times, and particularly with St. Anne, the glorious Grandmother of JESUS.

With what pious sorrow would St. Anne read these word of Isaias: "Christ shall grow up as a tender plant, as a root out of thirsty ground." "There is no beauty in Him nor comeliness; we have seen Him and there was no sightliness that we should be desirous of Him" "He was the most abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity." "Surely, He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows, and we have thought Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted." "He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins." "By His bruises we are healed." "All we like sheep, have gone astray, every one has turned aside into his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." "He was offered because it was His own will." "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter; and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer and He shall not open His mouth."

JESUS, the mysteries of His life, the benefits conferred by Him, His humiliations, His sufferings, such are the ordinary topics of David’s psalms: the Savior Himself affirms it in the gospel. We can hardly doubt that St. Anne, who took such delight in these sacred songs, penetrated their meaning by the assistance of the lights which the Holy Ghost imparted to her. What then must have been her sentiments when she read these complaints of our Redeemer to His Father: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" "My God, I have cried unto Thee and Thou hast not heard me. " "I am a worm and no man; I am. the reproach of men and the outcast of the people." "They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones." "They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lots." "They have given me gall to eat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." "My heart has become like wax melting, my strength is dried up, Thou hast brought me down to the dust of death." In the legal ceremonies and sacrifices, Anne found again what she had read in the sacred Books. She saw our Savior in the paschal lamb, in the two lambs that were immolated every morning and evening in the temple, in the scape-goat on whose head were laid every year the sins of the people and which was then sent forth into the desert to become the prey of the wild beasts. She well understood that the blood of an animal could not purify man from his sins, that the blood of a God-man alone could do this. With what ardor then did she not hasten His coming by her prayers and penances! With what piety did she not take part in the paschal feast, in which she seemed to be feeding on the flesh and blood of the divine Lamb! And when she was at Jerusalem, with what love did she not assist at the sacrifices which prefigured that of Calvary!

Faithful soul, happier than St. Anne, you can really possess JESUS-CHRIST. You know all that He has done and suffered for you, you can daily be present at the holy Sacrifice, which is not a mere figure, but a substantial renewal of that of the Cross; each day you can partake of His Flesh, drink His Blood, receive His Divine Person in your heart! Every day you can speak alone with Him in the churches. How totally unworthy of your divine Patroness will you be if you feel naught but indifference for these august mysteries! How can she love you and listen favorably to your prayers, if you bestow but scanty affection on Him Who here below was the object of her thoughts and affections?

EXAMPLE.

Reginaldus, the king of Hungary’s chaplain, recounts having been witness in 1074 of the following prodigy. In a town of Hungary called Nissa, there lived a young nobleman named Emmerich who, having inherited great wealth from his parents, spent everything in crime and debauchery. Having fallen into extreme misery and destitution through his dissolute life, he undertook a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella, from his very childhood having had great devotion to that Saint, as well as to St. Anne. During his toilsome journey he was, on one occasion, completely discouraged at the consideration of his own unhappy position, and throwing himself on his knees, he burst into tears and begged God to pardon him, raising his hands to Heaven, and exclaiming: "My Father who art in Heaven, I have sinned against Thee and am not worthy of being called Thy son. Trusting in Thy infinite mercy, however, I beg of Thee to assist me in my great need; I promise Thee to change my life and henceforth to serve Thee faithfully until the hour of my death."

Hardly had he ended this humble prayer when St. James appeared to him in the guise of a pilgrim and urged him to have recourse to St. Anne: "For," said he, "she is the mother of the afflicted and never refuses her assistance to those who invoke her. She will intercede for you with her Grandson JESUS and will deliver you from your sad state." The young man having asked in what way he could best honor St. Anne, received the following answer from the apostle. "Every Tuesday, with a contrite heart and great confidence you will recite three times the Pater and Ave in her honor, and you will burn a candle before her statue." After saying these words, the apostle St. James disappeared.

The young man commenced practicing this devotion, and, on various occasions during his journey, he experienced the effects of the special protection afforded him by St. Anne. At length he arrived at the court of the king of Hungary, where he obtained so advantageous an appointment that, in a short time, he amassed a large fortune. He then returned to his native city, paid all his debts, turned his house into a chapel dedicated to St. Anne, exhorted all his friends to place great confidence in this good Mother, and propagated the devotion of specially honoring her on the Tuesday. When at seventy years of age, he fell sick and his last hour approached, St. Anne appeared to him, accompanied by JESUS and Mary, and thus surrounded, he gave up his soul to his Creator.

PRAYER.

How ashamed ought I to be at my indifference towards a God who died for me, and Who, out of love for me, remains ever present on our altars! That very excess of Thy goodness, my JESUS, which ought to fill my heart with burning love, only seems to increase my tepidity: were Thou less lavish, I might, perhaps, be more desirous of Thy presence. St. Anne, my gentle Patroness, intercede for me, miserable sinner though I am, so that my stony heart may be softened, my icy heart melted, and that at the thought of the crib where JESUS was born, of the Cross on which He died, the altar on which He is daily offered, of the tabernacle where He remains ever present, I may feel myself impelled to give Him love for love, to renounce myself and to live only for Him.

St. Anne, obtain for me great love towards our Lord JESUS-CHRIST.

PRACTICE.

Take every means of increasing your devotion to JESUS crucified, to JESUS on our altars as a Victim, to JESUS present in the tabernacle, to JESUS, the Bread of Life. Take pleasure in making the way of the Cross, in being present daily at Mass, in visiting the Blessed Sacrament, in receiving Holy Communion. Often ask St. Anne to obtain for you the grace of performing these holy devotions with great fervor. Believe me, she will thereby be more disposed to listen to your prayers for temporal favors.

The Twenty-Sixth Day of the Month of St. Anne

St. Anne’s Faith and Hope.

The worthy servants of the Saints are not those who content themselves with invoking their help in the time of trouble and need, but those who imitate them in the practice of those virtues which are most worthy of admiration. And this admiration is a sure means of interesting the Saints in our favor. We have already, in several places, spoken of the virtues practiced by our dear and good St. Anne; the remainder of our month shall be devoted to a fuller consideration of them. We will begin by the theological virtues.

Faith is the foundation, the source or the root of all supernatural life and of all Christian virtue. It is the want of faith or the weakness of their faith which causes so many Christians of the present day to live as heathens. Faith, and the hope that springs therefrom, were, according to St. Paul, the two virtues which shone the brightest in the Saints of the Old Testament. In fact, if these eternal truths are occasionally somewhat obscured to us, they must have been still more obscure to them, for JESUS-CHRIST had not yet come on earth to preach these truths to them.

Religion was then composed of shadows and figures, its sacrifices represented JESUS- CHRIST, but did not contain Him; its sacraments, its ceremonies did not confer grace as ours do, but only served to awaken piety. Like us the people of those days looked to JESUS-CHRIST for salvation, like us they hoped for Heaven; but, unlike us, they did not possess JESUS-CHRIST; they had no Blessed Eucharist, that pledge and foretaste of Heaven on earth; and also the gates of Heaven were shut against them. If, as our Lord JESUS-CHRIST says, a tree is known by its fruits, St. Anne’s faith and hope must have been great indeed, since they bore such excellent fruit.

What was that fruit? It was Mary! For the greater glory of that holy woman and in order that the birth of the Mother of God might be attributed to her virtue rather than to any natural cause, so that the whole human race and JESUS Himself the chief of the human race should be indebted to her, divine Providence ordained that the blessed Anne should be barren like Sara, Rebecca, Rachel and the mother of Samuel; and the Holy Ghost inspired in her a lively desire of obtaining an offspring from the divine goodness, so that the noble and holy life of Abraham might be continued. But in vain did Anne pray, watch, fast, give alms; God seemed to be deaf to her prayers. Did Anne become discouraged? No; her confidence seemed to increase in proportion as her trial was prolonged, and as her prayers became the more fervent, the more did God apparently refuse to grant her petition. She thereby made herself worthy of an incomparably more excellent grace than the one she was asking for: she asked for a child as an heir to Joachim’s name, she obtained a Daughter through whom she herself became heir of the benediction promised to Abraham, and Grand mother of the Savior of men, of the Son of God.

Let us learn from this, in the first place, that when God delays granting our petitions, He does so out of His Goodness for us. Let us take an example, and for the consolation of pious souls, let us take it in the spiritual order. You have some notable fault, some weakness, some imperfection prejudicial to your progress in the spiritual life ; for many long years you have been asking God to deliver you from it, and He has not yet done so. Why? For your greater benefit. This fault humiliates you, disconcerts you, enables you to recognize your own powerlessness, the inutility of all your resolutions of doing better, if those resolutions are not aided by grace; this fault makes you pray, and consequently causes you to make many acts of faith and confidence; it strengthens these two virtues in you, putting them to the proof; it intensifies your hunger and thirst for righteousness. If God had at once granted your prayer, you might perhaps have attributed your victory to your own strength; now, the very slightest particle of pride would do you more harm than all your repeated falling into a fault which you detest and which humiliates you.

Let us also learn that a prayer worthily offered is always heard, as we are infallibly assured by JESUS- CHRIST, although not always according to our desires. St. Anne probably asked for a son, and God gave her a daughter. But in truth, was not this Daughter infinitely more worth to her and to us than the twelve sons of Jacob? Every prayer, that is worthily offered, is a means of eventually obtaining salvation and the graces necessary for attaining thereto. After we have prayed then, let us leave the Holy Ghost at liberty to amend our petitions, if He judges best so to do; and if, in the place of the milk and honey of temporal graces, which we have asked, He gives us the bread of the strong man, i.e. some grace more beneficial for our eternal salvation, let us rejoice thereat. Now this is what always takes place when we do not obtain what we have asked for; for our Savior’s promise assures us that an humble, confident and persevering prayer is always granted.

EXAMPLE.

Pierre van Tomme, born at Bottelaere, near Ghent, living in Tournai, and employed in Casterman’s printing-office, was struck with paralysis and became so completely helpless that he had to be waited on like a little child. In this lamentable state, he passed two years at the hospital and two others in his own house, after which he perceived some slight improvement in his right leg and arm. Aided by two crutches, he had managed to apply himself to some out-of-door occupations when, to add to his misfortune, he was attacked by an acute chest-affection, which lasted two years and was declared to be incurable by the physicians. During all this time, he had not been able to leave the house. Not knowing where to seek relief, he thought of returning to his native village, where St. Anne is specially honored, and, if possible, of making the circuit of the sanctuary dedicated to her. His desire to undertake this pilgrimage increased, and he, although three weeks previously he had received the last Sacraments, finally resolved on undertaking it. Taking his crutches and, aided by a friend, he arrived with great difficulty at the railway-station, where his wife took leave of him weeping, for she feared he would die on the road and that she would never see him again. He soon arrived at Ghent but how could he proceed to Bottelaere which was at two leagues distance? After three days of most painful efforts in dragging himself along, he succeeded in arriving there, on July 22nd, 1857.

We will here remark that the devotion to St. Anne at Bottelaere dates as far back as 1543, and its parish-priest writing to the Bollandists in 1727, speaks of the many and divers miracles there performed through her powerful intercession. A curious fact, worthy of remark, is that in spite of its great age, the holy statue has no signs of decay and, what is most singular, by passing a handkerchief over it, we can at any time attest that it is never defiled by a .particle of the dust that is necessarily occasioned by the thronging of pilgrims and the necessary cleaning of the church.

Nor has the devotion to St. Anne in Belgium in any way diminished with the lapse of years. In the year 1860 at Alost and at Bottelaere, a magnificent jubilee was celebrated in her honor, amid crowds of people who flocked there from all parts of Flanders.

About twenty years ago, the town of Ghent built a superb basilica under the invocation of St. Anne, and in Antwerp, the Redemptorist Fathers celebrate Mass in her honor every Tuesday, at which there is always a large concourse of the faithful. To return to Van Tomme. From July 22nd until the fol lowing Sunday, he fasted rigorously, only taking a little milk for nourishment. His intention had been to visit the church the following Tuesday, in order to hear the Mass which from time immemorial has always been celebrated there every Tuesday in honor of St. Anne. But having learned on the Saturday that the following day was St. Anne s day, he changed his mind. On the Sunday morning he made one last effort and taking his crutches and aided by his friends, he arrived at the church, where at the sight of the miraculous statue of St. Anne, he felt a shivering in all his limbs. Hardly had he seated him self than he felt himself growing worse and worse, and he changed color to such a degree that those present hastened to his assistance. Not being able to understand what was the matter with him, Van Tomme thought his last hour had come. In the meanwhile the Mass had begun and suddenly he heard a voice of extraordinary sweetness whisper in his ear: Walk without your crutches. He asked one of his friends, who it was that had spoken to him. The latter, seeing no one, begged of him to be silent. The thought then occured to Van Tomme that the voice which he had just heard must be St. Anne’s and begging the Saint to repeat her words and tell him what to do, he again heard the same voice saying a second time: Walk without crutches. Van Tomme at once took his crutches and hastening to the statue of St. Anne, deposited them at its feet and, returning unaided to his seat, threw himself on his knees, a thing he had not been able to do for ten years. Every one present at the High Mass witnessed this miracle and many were so impressed by it that they wept and sobbed. After the Mass the venerable parish-priest, Rev. G. Van der Maeren, sent for Van Tomme to the sacristy: "Father," were his first words, "I am cured! JESUS, Mary, what have I done to deserve such a favor" In the afternoon, Van Tomme returned to the church to Vespers and every day of the novena he attended Mass, walking quite upright and with great facility. Thousands of people flocked from all quarters to ascertain the reality of this miraculous cure.

On August 4th, Van Tomme returned to Tournai in perfect health.

PRAYER.

Great Saint , how far am I from resembling thee! I am so ready to lose patience and courage, to give up praying when God does not see fit immediately to grant my prayers! And this is why I remain in such misery and so poor in virtue. Prayer is the key of all the heavenly treasures, and I know not how to pray, because my faith is so weak and my wavering confidence fails me at the slightest delay. My powerful Protectress, come to my aid, grant that, trusting in the promises of JESUS-CHRIST, my confidence and fervor may be increased in proportion to the delay which it pleases God, in His goodness, to subject me to, that, like thee, I may obtain more than I dare ask for. Henceforth I desire constantly to recall to mind that I was created for Heaven and not for this earth, not for time but for eternity; that, consequently, what I ought to ask for above all, is the salvation of my soul, which salvation is assured to all who pray well and persevere in prayer.

St. Anne, obtain for me a lively faith and an unlimited confidence in the divine goodness.

PRACTICE.

One of the greatest graces we can ask of God through St. Anne’s intercession is an unshaken confidence in the promises made by JESUS-CHRIST to prayer.

The Twenty-Fifth Day of the Month of St. Anne

St. Joachim and St. Anne Witness Mary’s Arrival in Heaven.

St. Stanislas Kostka always manifested a great desire that his death might occur shortly before the Feast of the Assumption, so that he might be present at the heavenly celebration of that glorious day. He asked and obtained this grace through the intercession of St. Laurence. If then the anniversary of that great event causes such great rejoicing in Heaven, that the elect experience an increase of happiness which, in the words of the above mentioned young Saint, is as a fresh Paradise within Paradise, what can we think of the very day itself when this Queen of all hearts made her solemn entry there in body and soul? And, if this day was such a glorious one for all the inhabitants of Heaven, what must it have been for the two Saints who had been deemed worthy of being her parents?

After her divine Son’s Ascension, Mary had hut languished on earth, and it was only her submission to the divine Will which had enabled her to continue to dwell here and to calm those loving transports which might, at any time, have severed the frail bonds that held captive her pure body which was, so to speak, spiritualized by divine love. The Angels and blessed were burning with the desire to behold her amongst them, that she might take possession of the throne destined for her. It seemed to them as if something was wanting even in the beauty of Heaven until she should have arrived. As for Joachim and Anne, they had so ardent a desire of seeing their blessed Daughter glorified that, while accepting the Will of God Who still retained her in exile, it seemed to them as if their happiness, immense though it was, would be incomplete until her arrival.

Yielding at length to so many ardent desires, the Lord permitted that death, or rather love, should sever the chains of the illustrious exile; and, when after a momentary separation from her body, her pure and holy soul was again united to it and had glorified it, JESUS gave the signal for her triumph. Accompanied by a countless multitude of Angels, He went to meet her, says St. Bernardine, and taking her by the hand, took His flight with her to Heaven. What a marvelous spectacle then met the eyes of the blessed Anne and her glorious spouse! Their Daughter, incomparably more beautiful than the Seraphim, completely eclipsed the natural sun by her brilliance, for she was clothed with the glory of the sun of righteousness. Supported by her divine Son, she soared gently towards the heavenly dwellings, beautiful as the dawn which gilds the clouds with its earliest rays, fragrant as the aromatic incense that exhales in the temple.

All hearts were drawn to her, and, although the Angels were dazzled by her beauty, they rejoiced in it and would willingly have still further enhanced it, even at their own expense if it had been possible. All of them pressed around her to gaze on her again and again and drink in the sweet odors of her virtues. On beholding her approach, those Angels who had remained in Heaven asked: "Who is she that cometh up, fair as the moon, sweet and comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army set in array?" And those who surrounded her replied: "It is Mary, our Queen, the Mother of our King JESUS!" When the sacred procession had arrived in Heaven, Joachim and Anne beheld the Son of man presenting their beloved Daughter to the Eternal Father, who, tenderly embracing her, crowned her Queen of the whole universe. Then all the choirs of Angels approached to offer her their homage and fealty; then the Saints drew near, greeting her as their co-redemptrex and their Mother. And when, in their turn, her most blessed parents approached, what feelings filled their hearts? In what terms can they have expressed themselves? "Our Lady! blessed be God for having given Thee to mankind; blessed be He for having vouchsafed to be born of thee, to deliver us from sin and death! Blessed be He for having chosen us, all unworthy as we are, to have given thee existence! Happy was the day when thou was born in our house! And now, Mary, we shall never beseparated from thee; we shall always behold thee, thy happiness will for ever increase ours. Blessed for ever be the Lord Who by casting His eyes on thee has made us the happiest of parents." "And blessed are you also, revered father and most-beloved Mother," would Mary reply, "blessed are you for ever for having obtained my birth by your prayers and thus having given me that existence which enabled me to fulfil the highest destiny to which a creature could be called to fulfil, and also for having obtained for me so many graces of predilection! Blessed are you for all the tender care with which you surrounded me; blessed are you that, not withstanding your great love of me, you consecrated me to the Lord. Next to Him, you shall be eternally the dearest objects of my grateful love."

Pious reader, we leave you to ponder on these ineffable subjects; your own heart will say more to you than can be expressed by our words which are all unworthy of so sublime a theme.

EXAMPLE.

A Sister of Charity of Quebec writes (Jan. 12th, 1886): One of my brothers, had left his family, his wife and his country to go, and like many others, seek better fortune in the United States. During the first years of his absence, he corresponded frequently with those he had left behind him, but gradually he neglected this duty till, at last, we had no news of him for ten years. Our greatest trouble was knowing that he was completely neglectful of all Christian and religious practices.

During the course of 1885, it was my privilege to be frequently at St. Anne de Beaupre and I profited by it to pray fervently that our "prodigal son" might be restored to us. I felt so confident that my prayers would be heard, that I even fancied I might recognize my brother among the throng of pilgrims from all parts that flocked to the shrine.

My last pilgrimage was drawing to a close, but before leaving I went to bid farewell to the Saint and casting myself on my knees and looking up at the numerous ex-voto offerings decorating the trellis-work around her statue, I said to her: "Good Mother, thou dost grant grace to every one; for three years I have been asking thee to find for me, my lost brother. Thou knowest that I am uneasy about his eternal salvation and yet thou seemest not to hear my one ardent prayer. Tell me, I beseech thee, whether he is still living." At that moment I seemed to hear an interior voice saying to me: "You shall know." I left with my heart at ease, for I was filled with hope. Imagine my surprise when, the very next day, I received a letter from a person perfectly unknown to me or my family, announcing that my brother was still living but was lying dangerously ill in a Protestant hospital in New York. Though rejoiced to hear of his being still alive, I felt the greatest uneasiness when I thought of his state of isolation, perhaps deprived of necessary care and attention, and still worse of his religious state. I again addressed myself to St. Anne, pleading for this poor lost sheep in danger of being eternally lost, if the good shepherd did not Himself cure the wounds of his soul and draw him into His own Divine Heart. Again St. Anne showed herself to be a loving Mother, and she so disposed of events that I was enabled to go myself to New York and removed my weak and dying brother to a Catholic hospital. After my return to Quebec, the Rev. Jesuit Father to whose special care I had commended our poor Oliver, wrote me word that he had died in the best dispositions, reconciled to the God he had served in his youth.

PRAYER.

My sweetest and most amiable Mother Mary, I rejoice in thy happiness and glory more than in all the favors thou canst grant me; and I bless the Lord for having made thee so beautiful, so holy, so lovely; I rejoice that He loves thee more than all His other creatures together. Why cannot I love thee as thy greatest servants have loved thee, as St. Bernard, St. Stanislas, St. Philip Neri, St. Alphonsus! Why cannot I even surpass them and be the foremost among the hearts that love thee! If my desires are acceptable to thee, do thou accomplish them, for thou canst do so. Blessed parents of our lovely Queen, if you cannot always obtain for me the temporal favors I ask, you cannot refuse to pray for me when I call on you to obtain for me the inestimable gift of the love of JESUSand Mary. Obtain for me this love and I shall be satisfied.

St. Joachim and St. Anne, obtain for me that, next to JESUS, I may love Mary above all.

PRACTICE.

Like her divine Son, Mary specially favors those who not only implore her aid in time of need, but also love her with a pure and ardent love and rejoice in her happiness.