The Third Day of July

St. Anne is the worthy Grandmother of Jesus.

The holy patriarch Jacob was a simple-minded man leading a wandering life, a shepherd. Nevertheless, because he was the father of Joseph, the savior of Egypt, the great king Pharaoh, albeit so proud, received him at court, overwhelmed him with marks of esteem, conversed familiarly with him, and caused some of the finest land in the territory to be given to him and his children. The honor of children redounds to that of their parents, and so it should be, since, says the Scripture, were it not for their parents the children would never have been born. Well then! St. Anne was the Mother of the glorious Virgin Mary, and Mary was the Mother of JESUS! In what honor, then, must she have been held by the King of the universe, by the Father of JESUS! What homage, then, is there not due to her from the human race, to whom, by means of her Daughter, she gave a Redeemer! Anne is the Grandmother of the Savior of the world! The Saints are always represented with the attributes of their special claim to heavenly glory and to our worship: St. Paul with the sword which was the instrument of his martyrdom; St. Joseph with the lily emblem of his purity; St. Louis with the crown of thorns, recalling his devotion to the Passion of Our Savior and to the Holy Sepulchre. The pious artists of the middle ages represent St. Anne holding on her knees her glorious Daughter, the Virgin Mary, who herself is holding the Infant JESUS in her arms. An ingenious idea indeed, but a very just one, since the glory of Anne is being the Mother of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord God JESUS.

The real merit before God of this great Saint is not so much her having given birth to the Mother of the Savior, as her having been found worthy of becoming so. Even as Mary was the worthy Mother of God, even so was St. Anne his worthy Grandmother. A woman having once, while speaking to JESUS, exclaimed: "Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that gave thee suck." He replied in a way to show that His Mother’s real happiness consisted in her sanctity, which had caused her to be chosen for this dignity, the highest to which a creature could aspire. As much may be said about St. Anne, and we may thence conclude that her sanctity was very great. Have you ever attentively observed a lily? The leaves nearest to the ground are of dark green; they are large, thick and somewhat coarse. Nothing in them announces the glorious flower that will surmount them. But, in proportion as the leaves grow higher on the stem, they become smaller, finer and are of a lighter and more delicate hue, as if nature were striving to form that balmy masterpiece which, in the words of the Gospel, surpasses all the magnificence of Solomon. Even thus, on the royal stem of David, whence the Messiah was to spring, there were some disfiguring shoots, I mean to say some souls but little worthy of Him who is called the Lily ot the valleys, there were sinners, such as Joram, Ozias, Manasses, Amon. But it was fitting that the more immediate ancestors of JESUS should be Saints, especially the two last, Joachim and Anne. Otherwise, the Jews, who had known the parents of Mary, might have said to JESUS, what they said to the man who had been born blind: "Thou wast born in sins and dost thou teach us?" There is no doubt then that these two holy persons merited the eulogium pronounced by the Holy Spirit on Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist: "Both were just in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the commandments of the Lord without blame."

EXAMPLE.

It so happened that there was an expedition to Egypt of 400 Canadian boatmen who were sent for by the English government to aid the British soldiers in passing themselves and their baggage up the rapids of the river Nile. This brave band consisted of French, English, and Irish Canadians and about seventy Indians.

It was towards the end of October, that these Canadians commenced the passage of the Nile rapids and many were the feats of daring and cool courage accomplished by them. The mothers of many of these brave fellows had, on parting with them, specially recommended them to the protection of St. Anne and impressed on their minds that never was St. Anne invoked in vain. On one occasion, a boatman perceived that his boat was being driven against a most dangerous rock in the midst of a formidable rapid. Snatching up his only remaining oar, he hurled it into the middle of the rapid, calling out: "Good St. Anne of the Canadians, save me!" After having passed through awful whirlpools for upwards of a mile, he arrived safely on the shore. "St. Anne’s oar saved my life," he exclaimed. A few days afterwards, this brave man perceived one of his companions in danger of perishing in a rapid which he himself had just passed with difficulty. Not being able to go to his assistance, he threw him his oar, calling out: "Catch hold of St. Anne’s oar and fear nothing." The other man soon reached the shore and they decided on bringing the miraculous oar to Canada and laying it at the feet of the statue of St. Anne de Beaupre.

PRAYER.

Great St. Anne, like thee I also have glorious privileges! By my baptism I became a child of the Eternal Father, a member of JESUS-CHRIST, a temple of the Holy Ghost, a brother and fellow-citizen of the Angels and the Elect. But, alas! I am altogether unworthy of these privileges! By how many vices and sins have I not dishonored these names which are a thousand times nobler than that of a king! How greatly should I fear that they should lead to my everlasting confusion and condemnation! For the Judge of the living and the dead will ask much of him to whom much has been given. My charitable Protectress, thou canst plead for my entire conversion and complete change of life; and I beg thee to do so. Plead for me with the Advocate of sinners, that she may obtain me the grace of repentance and the pardon of all my iniquities, the strength to fight against those inclinations which most defile my soul, as well as the lights to perceive how worthy is our God of being loved and how great is my obligation of serving Him with all my strength. Thus wilt thou rejoice the Hearts of JESUS, and Mary and glorify the august Trinity, and there will be one soul the more to love It here on earth and to sing Its glories with thee in Heaven.

Good St. Anne, obtain for me the victory over my predominant fault.

PRACTICE.

Ask of God, through the intercession of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the virtues proper to your state of life and the grace worthily to fulfil all its obligations.

The Second Day of July

St. Anne is the Mother of Mary and the Grandmother of Jesus.

The sacred Scriptures, so scanty in details as to the Blessed Virgin, are wholly silent on the subject of her glorious Mother, not even mentioning her name: the ever blessed and beloved name of St. Anne having been transmitted to us only by tradition and by the gratitude of Christian nations. But is not what we know about her quite sufficient? It is her glory to have been the Mother of Mary and Grandmother of JESUS.

St. Anne is the Mother of her whom the Saints proclaim to be their Mother, whom the devils fear, whom the Angels bless and revere, whom God loved above all others of his creatures. She is the Mother of her who, after God, sees none superior or equal to herself either in holiness, in glory, or in power. She is the Mother of her who was promised to Adam as the last resort of himself and his descendants after the shipwreck of their innocence. She is the Mother of her who was typified by the various holy women of the Old Testament and sung by the Prophets. She is the Mother of her who was immaculate in her Conception, who was a Virgin and yet a mother, and the Mother of virgins, who never knew the stain of original sin nor of present sin, not even the slightest shadow of an imperfection. She is the Mother of her who is purer than the Angels, holier than the Archangels, higher than the Thrones, more powerful than the Dominations, more enlightened than the Cherubim, more inflamed with divine love than the Seraphim. She is the Mother of her who is called and who is the eldest Daughter of the Father, the true Mother of the Son, preeminently the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. She is the Mother of her who is "full of grace," the fountain-head and channel of all grace; of her who from out her own plenitude has bestowed and still bestows ransom on the captive, strength to the weak, sight to the blind, consolation to the afflicted, hope to the desponding, an overflow of joy to the Angels, human flesh to the Divine Word, a Worshiper worthy of His greatness to the Eternal Father, a temple worthy of His holiness to the Holy Ghost. Anne is the Mother of her who is the ladder to heaven, the anchor of the shipwrecked, the star of the mariner, the bridge whereby God crossed the abyss which separated us from him. Lastly, St. Anne is the Mother of her whom no tongue, not even an Angel’s, can worthily praise, whose greatness cannot be conceived by any created intelligence, whom no heart, save that of her Son, can sufficiently love: St. Anne is Mother of the Mother of God!

St. Anne is the Grandmother of JESUS-CHRIST, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Mediator, our Advocate, our Pontiff, our Victim, our Bread of Life, our King, our Lord, our God. She is the Grandmother of Him who was before Abraham and all ages, of Him who, in the beginning, rested in the bosom of God, who was begotten by the Father before the commencement of all things, who is God like unto His Father, by whom all things were made and who sustains and preserves all things by His power and word. Yes, the Heir of the universe, the Angel of good counsel, the Strong, the Hope of nations, the Desire of the eternal hills, the Father of centuries to come, the Conqueror of hell, the Destroyer of death, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, JESUS, our Light, our Way, our Life, JESUS, the only Son of God the Father, is Grandson to St. Anne! A very noble born lady was accustomed to dress very simply and to wear neither diamonds nor other jewels. On one occasion, when surprise at this simplicity was testified, she pointed to her two sons, whom she was bringing up most carefully and who gave great hopes for the future. "Here are my jewels," she said. Might not Anne also say, when pointing to JESUS and Mary, "Here are my jewels!" The Wise Man has said that children are a crown to their parents: what a crown is JESUS! what a crown is Mary! JESUS has said that a tree is to be judged by its fruits: Anne is the tree, Mary the flower, JESUS the fruit! O glorious and well-beloved Saint, thou art indeed truly and singularly the most blessed of women after Mary, Mother of JESUS our God, to whom be honor, glory, adoration, blessing and praise, world without end!

EXAMPLE.

From the records of the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre.

In the month of July 1884, a pilgrimage arrived from St. Alban’s and among the pious pilgrims may be mentioned Eliza Perron, a young lady aged 18, a daughter of Joseph Perron, miller of St. Alban’s. The previous year, having visited Lowell, Mass, she had contracted an illness for which the doctors attended her for a whole year, but with out procuring her any alleviation. She had an abscess in her left leg which obliged her to use a crutch in walking. Finding human means failed her, she decided on making a pilgrimage to St. Anne’s and asking her cure of that great Saint. On July 2, she went to Confession, heard Mass and received Holy Communion at St. Alban’s, but without perceiving any amendment in her state. Again on July 3, she approached the Holy Table in the sanctuary of St. Anne de Beaupre , but there was no change for the better up to the time of her venerating the relic. At that moment, however, something extraordinary seemed to take place within her which she herself could not describe, but, on rising, she found herself completely cured and able to move away without her crutch which she left on the altar-step and has never since required.

PRAYER.

Eternal Father, I bless Thee for having from all eternity chosen St. Anne from among all the daughters of Adam, to be the Mother of Mary and Grandmother of Thy Son made flesh. JESUS, only Son of God, I thank Thee for having vouchsafed, for our salvation, to become Son of the Daughter of this glorious Saint. Holy Ghost, I praise Thee for having rendered St. Anne worthy of her high vocation. Blessed Anne, I rejoice in thy happiness and glory; I rejoice for thee and also for myself. For I know that, like thy blessed Daughter, thou art eminently good and filled with compassion for the unfortunate, and that thou askest no better than to use thy influence with JESUS and Mary in favor of those who invoke thy name. Behold, I now invoke thee from the depths of my misery: thou knowest the grace that I desire to obtain by celebrating this month which is consecrated to thee. Do thou vouchsafe to ask it for me, a poor sinner quite undeserving of all grace, only meriting chastisement; and certainly I shall obtain it, if such be God’s Will and if it be for the good of my soul. However this may be, there is one grace which thou wilt not fail to obtain for me, and which I prize above every other: that of never again offending my God, of loving JESUS and Mary, and of one day seeing them face to face and praising them with thee for all eternity.

Good St. Anne, obtain for me by thy prayers that I may love JESUS and Mary above all things.

PRACTICE.

When you pray to St. Anne, do not fail to ask of her the love of JESUS and Mary. It is the most beneficial prayer you can offer, and will always be granted.

July - The Month of Saint Anne

Holy Church has a particular dedication for each month of the year. May is dedicated to our Blessed Lady and June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. July is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of our Lord, the price paid for our salvation which was part of our Lenten devotions. However, during the month of July, we shall take a diversion from the official dedications and reflect on Good Saint Anne, the mother of our Lady and the grandmother of Jesus. This is especially appropriate since the festival of Sts. Anne and Joachim is celebrated on the 26th of July. Additionally, St. Anne is one of the most beloved of all the saints and thousands of pilgrims will be making their way to her shrines in Auray and Apt (France) Jerusalem (Palestine), Fall River and Sturbridge (Massachusetts), Isle la Motte (Vermont), Detroit (Michigan), New York (New York), Scranton (Pennsylvania), New Orleans and Metairie (Louisiania), and of course the world center of devotion, Saint Anne de Beaupre, Quebec. In spirit let us join them each day as we pray our devotions and grow in our love for this good saint.

Our reflections will be taken from the Pilgrim's Manual of St. Anne de Beaupre written by a Redemptorist Priest. I have rearranged the material to keep the order we have been using over the past months and edited only spelling and obscure words no longer in use.

It is my hope that you will find these devotions profitable. Let us pray for one another.

Fr. Scott, C.Ss.R.

The First Day of July

St. Anne has a right to our homage.

It is an article of faith that the worship of the Saints is not only permissible, but also most agreeable to God and beneficial to our own souls. The Catholic Church, the infallible teacher of the truth, has condemned all who deny this. This teaching is based not only on the Scriptures and sound reason, but also on the immemorial tradition of Christian nations. St. Paul commanded that honor should be given where honor was due. Now, who could be more worthy of honor than those great servants of God, those glorious members of JESUS-CHRIST, those temples of the Holy Ghost, who, by their labors, their examples, sufferings and their prayers have done so much for the glory of God and the salvation of souls? And has not God taught us to honor them by Himself bestowing on them the gift of miracles both during their life and after their death? But heretics reply: You are wrong in invoking them and praying to them. But why? It is quite allowable to ask prayers of my friends, of even the worst of men: St. Paul himself gives me the example, since in his Epistles, he asks for the prayers of the faithful; and why then may I not solicit the prayers of those already dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem? Why should this privilege be denied me, since they, being already united to God, delivered from the dangers of this life, and freed from all the trials and miseries of life, can have no other care than for such of their brethren, as are still in exile here below.

Among all the Saints now reigning in glory, few have more right to our homage than St. Anne. Is not her being the Mother of Mary, a sufficient proof of this? This is the very reason that this devotion is so beneficial to us. Mary is our great and universal Mediatrix with JESUS-CHRIST, it is she who renders our prayers agreeable to Him and seconds them with her all-powerful intercession; it is she who opens the treasure-house of the merits of JESUS-CHRIST when she will, and as she will, and in favor of whom she will. So that whoever merits Mary’s favor is certain of having his name written in the book of the predestined, and this doctrine is held by all the Saints. Now, who does not perceive that doing honor to her Mother is one of the surest ways of attracting the merciful eyes of our all-powerful Queen? The Holy Ghost tells us to honor our parents, since without them we should never have existed. This law concerns Mary the same as it concerns the other children of Adam: after God, it was to St. Joachim and St. Anne that she owed her existence, and what an existence! The happiest, the most glorious that can be conceived and one which will always remain unequaled. After her Divine Son, Mary fills the highest place in the universe and this happiness comes to her, after God, through St. Joachim and St. Anne. How deeply then must she love them and how gladly behold the honors paid them!

It is not that St. Anne has any need of our homage, she is in perfect bliss, and nothing that we can offer her is to be compared with the homage she is receiving from the Saints, the Angels, St. Joseph, Mary and JESUS. She does us credit and honor by accepting the marks of our devotion, even as a great Queen seated on her throne and surrounded by her court, would do great honor to some simple peasant by returning his salutation. But she is so good that she is pleased to accept every pious offering we make her; in one way, she even takes more pleasure in our homage than in the praises offered her by the heavenly citizens, since, like all noble hearts, like Mary, like JESUS, like the Eternal Father, her chief delight is in lending ear to the prayers of the miserable and afflicted. She loves our prayers too, because they afford her an opportunity of conferring benefits upon us.

EXAMPLE.

We read of the following miracle in the Annals of St. Anne:

While living in Lowell, Mass., U.S., one of my little girls, aged three years, was taken seriously ill and we called in an experienced doctor. After attending her for a week, he acknowledged that he could do nothing for her. Another doctor who had been summon ed, visited her daily and did all that lay in his power to alleviate the terrible sufferings of his little patient, but, at the end of a fortnight, found her state so aggravated that he said death alone would bring her relief.
One Saturday evening, her state was so pitiable that every one expected an immediate termination to her sufferings. She appeared to be dying, and a cold sweat bedewed her face. Three times she fainted away, and on the third occasion, she remained insensible a very long time. As our only recourse, I then fastened a medal of St. Anne round her neck, promising to make known the grace that the great miracle-worker had obtained for us, if she would but restore my beloved child to health. My prayers were heard and my child is now in a state of perfect health. It is to St. Anne alone that we owe this blessing, for the doctors had been unable to cure her malady.

E.B. St. Boniface, Manitoba.

PRAYER.

Blessed was the womb that bore thee, O Mary! and the breasts that gave thee suck! Blessed was she who had the happiness of carrying thee in her arms, of watching over thy slumbers, of imprinting kisses on thy fair pure forehead, of seeing thee respond to her caresses by thy first sweet smile! Blessed was she who had the happiness of hearing thee call her "Mother"! Blessed was she whose glory it was to teach thee, "the Seat of Wisdom," how to speak, to pray, to walk!

Glorious St. Anne, I rejoice with thee because thou wert chosen by God to fulfil so great a destiny; I take part in the joy which thrilled through thee when, beholding Mary seated on the right hand of JESUS higher than the elect, than the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, thou didst say to thyself: "She is my daughter!" Great Saint! be thou for ever filled with joy at thy great happiness, but vouchsafe not to forget a poor sinner who cries to thee. I ask but one grace: ask thy most admirable daughter to take me under her special protection. Obtain this favor for me and I will ask no more; for if she deigns to protect me, I am sure of salvation.

St. Anne, Mother of her who is our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope, pray to her for us!

PRACTICE.

Make the firm resolution of saying daily three times "Glory be to the Father, etc. " in honor of St. Joachim and St. Anne after your evening prayer, or after your beads, if you say them, every day. Or you may say twice "Hail Mary, etc." with the same intention.

The Thirtieth Day of June

The Three Hearts,

Let us, Christians, terminate the devotions of the month of June by a meditation on the wonders of the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, that triple abyss of perfection and graces. Let us contemplate these three Hearts so closely united at Bethlehem, in Egypt, and at Nazareth; they were animated with the same thoughts and the same feelings, the same tastes and aspirations. Never has there been, nor could there ever be amongst three Hearts, so perfect an understanding, so deep a sympathy, so absolute a resemblance. If it is said of the first Christians that they had but one heart and one soul, (Acts, iv. 32); with how much greater reason may it not be said of the only Son of Mary, of His Holy Mother, and of His tender foster father! Contemplate these three perfect Hearts: that of Jesus is the Heart of a God, the tabernacle where resides the Majesty of the Most High; that of Mary is the cradle of love, where an Infant God reposed, and the pure and fruitful source from which He drew His life. And what must not have been the merits, the virtues and perfections acquired by the Heart of Joseph during the thirty years of unceasing contact and intimacy with the Sacred Heart of Jesus? He could indeed exclaim with truth what fervent souls love to repeat: "At all times and in all places, I possess the God of my heart and the Sacred Heart of my God." Reflect on these three loving Hearts; they loved God more than all the Saints together they love us also more than all our relatives and friends on earth, more than all the blessed in Heaven. No one is excluded, rich or poor, just or sinner; each has a place in these Hearts burning with love. They love us in our joys and in our sorrows, in our triumphs and in our tears; they love us tenderly, they love us always, in life and in death.

Christians, your Savior tells you that "what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mark, x. 9). In His divine plan, God united intimately the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; let us, therefore, never separate them in our hearts. When adoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us also bless and venerate the holy Hearts of His Mother and His foster-father Joseph; since they love us so tenderly, let us invoke them with confidence, and say often:

Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Heart like to the Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
Heart of Joseph, always faithful to Jesus and Mary, intercede for us.

And when the awful moment comes for each of us, when the soul passes from this tabernacle of earth to its eternal home, may the last words on our lips and in our hearts be those cherished names, Jesus! Mary! Joseph!

EXAMPLE.

A pious lady who died in 1860, at the age of thirty-two years, had a great devotion to the most holy Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. She took a particular pleasure in often invoking the names of the Holy Family, and in teaching them to her little child when seated on her knee. In her joys and sorrows, she never wearied repeating the holy aspirations: Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Many a time were tears of devotion seen to fill her eyes whilst she pronounced those blessed names. She appeared then in a sort of ecstasy, and her heart was inflamed with devotion to the Holy Family, whom she wished, she used to say, to love in the name of all hearts. During a long and painful illness with which she was seized, she frequently cried out: "Jesus, Mary, Joseph, when I have suffered sufficiently, call me to you." Towards the end, being scarcely able to speak, she breathed but one name: "Jesus, Jesus." That name was her great consolation, her last cry of hope and farewell. At length, after a lingering martyrdom, she gently expired, her hand on the head of her child to bless it, her eyes raised to heaven and the name of Jesus on her lips. O beautiful and precious death! O ever blessed names, Jesus, Mary, Joseph! O Hearts burning with love and tenderness!

PRAYER.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.

PRACTICE.

Recommend yourself frequently to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in life that they may be at your side in the moment of death.

The Twenty-Ninth Day of June

The Communion of Reparation.

A few years ago, in the diocese of Avignon, in France, a pious practice was instituted, called the Communion of Reparation. Eagerly adopted by fervent Christians, and sanctioned by the greater number of the bishops of France, it was made known to the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX, who deigned to approve and enrich it with many indulgences. "The Communion of Reparation," he said, "is a divine work, destined to save society." More than a hundred thousand persons are enrolled as associates, and divided into sections of seven members; they communicate once in every week on a day assigned to each. These fervent souls offer to the King of kings, hidden under the Eucharistie veils, the tribute of homage and adoration which is refused Him by so many ungrateful men, and make reparation for the outrages committed against His love and majesty. They assume the office of comforter to Him who is the comforter of all the afflicted, and their mission is not limited to this, for, imitators of the boundless charity of that divine Master, they act as mediators between Him and guilty souls; they plead the cause of sinners, and offer themselves to Him as victims of expiation, to obtain their conversion and salvation. They are truly apostles and mediators, and by averting from the guilty the punishments of God’s justice, they draw down on their own hearts graces of divine mercy. How holy and glorious is this twofold mission, how it must console the adorable Heart of Jesus! Is it not what He asked Himself of His humble servant, Margaret Mary: "I enter into this heart of thine which I have given thee, so that by thy ardent love thou mayest make reparation for the injuries I receive from lukewarm and cowardly hearts, which dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament."

Christians, let us joyfully enrol ourselves in this fervent band of the Communion of Reparation. Let us weep over the wounds inflicted on the Heart of our Master. Let us bewail the little love which is shown to Him, and on the day assigned to each, let us go to the holy table as victims consecrated to the glory of our Lord in the Sacrament of His love. Let us say to Him: Jesus! Thou art disowned by many, but I adore Thee; Thy sacred Body and Blood are despised, but I make them my nourishment, my drink, my delight. I beg forgiveness, my God, for those who love Thee not. Could I hold in my hands the hearts of men, I would cast them all into the furnace of Thy holy love. "Father, forgive them: spare, Lord, spare Thy people." It is Thy children s cry, the cry of love. Lord, Thou wilt hear it and grant pardon.

EXAMPLE.

A zealous priest wrote as follows:

Our work of the Communion of Reparation makes rapid progress and produces abundant fruit. The communions of the associates are most efficacious in obtaining the conversion of sinners. An Englishman, a Protestant, who, on account of ill health, had taken up his abode in my parish, was reduced to the last extremity. I visited him and endeavored to persuade him to embrace the Catholic faith and thus secure his salvation. "I was born a Protestant," he replied, "and I will die a Protestant." Despairing of converting him by arguments, I assembled the associates of the Communion of Reparation, and I implored them to ask most earnestly of the Sacred Heart of Jesus the conversion of this poor invalid, who was on the point of dying in heresy and impenitence. The associates offered their communions and prayed much for him during that day, and when I went again to see him, he said, with a sweet smile : "I am convinced of the truth, I will become a Catholic." He made his abjuration in the presence of several witnesses, and received the Sacrament of Baptism with tears of joy. "Father," he said to me afterwards, "how happy and peaceful I feel; it seems as if I were returning to life." A few days later he received the Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction with sentiments of the tenderest piety, and the archbishop administered to him the Sacrament of Confirmation. Is not this an example of the consoling fruits of the Communion of Reparation? Oh! may this admirable work be known and propagated everywhere.

PRAYER.

O good and loving Heart of Jesus, we understand full well Thy sadness and sorrow! We will strive, henceforth, to offer Thee, by our fervent communions, our acts of reparation and our daily sacrifices, some small amends for the outrages Thou receivest from those who have been redeemed at the cost of Thy blood. Amen.

PRACTICE.

Make a Communion of Reparation each week on the same day other than Sunday. This is in addition to Sunday Mass.

The Twenty-Eighth Day of June

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, and France.

"GOD loves the Franks," said St. Gregory of Tours, "and it is through the Franks that He loves to manifest His power." All nations are equally dear to God, but France must, indeed, be an object of predilection to Jesus, because it was in France that He revealed the ineffable tenderness and infinite riches of His Divine Heart. It was in that favored country, that Jesus first manifested and proclaimed that His Sacred Heart was open to all men. How great and magnificent a gift was this and what a signal honor! On account of the wonderful apparition at Paray-le-Monial, where Jesus appeared to His humble servant, a French nun, may we not say of that privileged town, what the prophet said of Bethlehem: "Thou art not the least of the cities of Juda." To the general favors bestowed on all countries, the Savior willed to add a special one to France, the nation once called most Christian. "My Heart wills to reign in the palace of her kings, to be emblazoned on her banners and engraved on her arms, in order to render her victorious over all her enemies and those of Holy Church. I am preparing for France a torrent of graces when she shall be consecrated to my divine Heart, and all nations shall profit by the blessings that I shall bestow on her" Jesus Himself, when speaking to Saint Margaret Alacoque of the king of France, called him "the eldest son of my Sacred Heart." He promised to that favored land a torrent of graces which would be a treasure and pledge of hope for that now unhappy country, distracted by her infidel children. France was the cradle of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, France was the first to receive the glorious mission of being its apostle, of propagating and defending it throughout the world by the voice of her missionaries, by the pastorals of her bishops, and the blood of her martyrs. "We should bless the Lord who has loved and favored France with such privileges, and instead of being jealous of her honors, we should rejoice and exclaim: "He hath not done thus to every nation" (Ps. 147). But, alas! we have no need to envy France. May we not tremble at her fate, for has she as a nation returned Jesus love for love? No, a culpable indifference and a proud rationalism have drawn down upon her the most dreadful punish ments, and that country, according to universal testimony, is passing through the most sorrowful and critical period of her history.

Christians, let us not lose courage at the sight of the miseries which overwhelm that once privileged land, or our own beloved country; let us have recourse to the merciful Heart of Jesus. It is that Heart alone that can find a remedy for the social evils we see on all sides. "How powerful is this Divine Heart," said St. Margaret Mary, "to appease the anger of divine justice provoked by the multitude of our sins, and to avert the terrible calamities with which we are threatened." Let us beg of that tender Heart to bless our country, and to bless also and restore religion to France, that she may deserve to bear once more, the glorious title of "the most Christian nation and eldest daughter of the Church." Then her brave sons will be able to cry out as did their forefathers of old; "May Christ reign who loves France."

EXAMPLE.

Paris was besieged by the Prussian army. Rome had just fallen into the sacrilegious hands of the Piedmontese, and the Communists were plotting in secret their terrible plans. Who was there to come to the assistance of the Holy Father? Who was there to save France? Holy souls cried out, "It is the Sacred Heart of Jesus which will save us; let us make to It a national vow." And what was this national vow? It was a promise to offer in the name of the whole nation, the solemn expression of their repentance by raising a memorial church in Paris, dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Paris, which had been the scene of the greatest disorders, possessed no temple in honor of the divine Heart of Jesus: in no place therefore would an expiatory church be better placed or become more publicly known. There is a spot in Paris which in former times was bedewed with the blood of St. Denis and his companions, called the quarter of Montmartre, or the hill of the martyrs, and it is there that the memorial church of France was built. The national vow was addressed to the Sacred Heart, because this divine Heart is the highest expression of the love of God for men; and because France has in a particular manner wounded the Heart of Jesus which has loved her so much; it is therefore to the Sacred Heart that the expression of repentance and hope should be addressed. Nothing, indeed, could be more Christian or more patriotic than such a vow; it received the blessing of the holy Father and the sanction of the French episcopate. Alms were asked, the funds increased, and subscriptions flowed in from all sides; the first stones were laid and blessed, and now there arises from the heights of Montmartre, the great Basilica which bears testimony to the regret of the French people for the past and their confidence for the future. On its principal front is engraved in letters of gold, the following dedication:

"Christo ejusque sanctissimo Cordi,
Gallia poenitens et devota!"

"To Christ and His Most Sacred Heart
from a devout and repentant France."

PRAYER.

Remember O infinitely good and infinitely merciful Heart of Jesus, Thy love for your repentant children. Remember the blessings which Thou hast showered down on us and Thy mercies towards us. However guilty we are, reject not our humble prayer, and bring all nations to the happiness and truth of the Catholic faith. Amen.

PRACTICE.

Pray for the conversion of all nations to the Reign of the Sacred Heart.