THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC: I WENT TO PLACE ALL UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Posted on August 23, 2022 by franksantucci

“If we acknowledge and honor the sacrifices of human beings for reasons of love, from the Mother Teresas, to heroes of war, from the first responders of 9/11, to the suffering parents of dying children, how can we fail to acknowledge the sufferings of Mary at the foot of the Cross for the salvation of the world?.” (Mark Miravalle)

While assisting those who were suffering so greatly from the cholera epidemic in Marseilles, Bishop Eugene and his uncle, Bishop Fortuné, arranged to focus the attention of the people of the city on concentrated prayer. The population had a special devotion to the small sanctuary of Notre Dame de la Garde on the hill dominating the city. The statue of the “Good Mother” which represented Mary’s “keeping guard” over the city and over the sea, was particularly loved by the people. Eugene wrote:

We are going to offer solemn prayers. Tomorrow we are bringing down the statue of Notre Dame de la Garde for exposition in the cathedral for three days. Afterwards we will have a procession of the Blessed Sacrament for all who wish to take part…

Letter to Casimir Aubert, 10 March 1835, EO VIII n 508

Writing to his mother some days later he describes this event:

We are now confronted by a quite ravishing spectacle. It is a holy explosion of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, which was displayed not only in the course of the journey down from the Mount to the cathedral, but is still going on with a sustained trust. …

Letter to his mother, March 1835, EO XV  n. 176

Two years later there was another outbreak of the epidemic:

On the feast of the Assumption, I officiated pontifically at the cathedral both in the morning and in the evening. I took part in the general procession and gave Benediction in the evening. On Sunday in the octave, I went to say Holy Mass at Notre-Dame de la Garde to place myself, all of our men, and the whole diocese, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, undated entry August 1837, EO XVIII

The same devotion was repeated in the epidemic of 1854 in Marseilles.

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One Response to THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC: I WENT TO PLACE ALL UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate says:
    August 23, 2022 at 13:28

    A phrase keeps playing over my mind, like a backdrop to these reflections on Eugene’s devotion to Mary, the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Heaven, the Immaculate Conception, Mother of God, our Mother of Tenderness… No matter her title, she [Mary] pondered all things in her heart from Luke’s Gospel.

    When I googled what she pondered one of the responses was “when Mary pondered everything in her heart, she was reflecting on Jesus’s words and actions and memorizing them so that she could relive them later, and for all eternity.” And she relives them when she lives and shares them – just as surely as she must have shared with Luke and others. Just as Eugene did with his community, in the letter to his mother and the entry into his diary. And these special devotions came out at other times in his life.

    Just as it seems Frank has been doing now with all of us. And this morning I am struck that we not only mourn with her or beseech her, but we must also celebrate with her. During an epidemic, or an outbreak, a sickness or even death there is always a reason to celebrate if we dare to look for it and bring it into the light.

    “We shall always look on her as our mother. In the joys and sorrows of our missionary life we feel close to her who is the Mother of Mercy.” (C 10) I think of her for a moment at the joy she must have felt after giving birth to Jesus and holding him, laying him tenderly in a manger and then presenting him to the three Wise men and shepherds. I wonder if too that is perhaps not also a place for us to renew our devotion to her who is always with us and ready to intercede for each of us.

    Do we share our joys and triumphs of life with her as well as our sorrows just as is suggested in Constitution 10? It seems to me that she is much more that just a safety net to call upon in times of struggle and sorrow. If we celebrate with her then we be able to become a lot more like her and isn’t that what love demands of us…

    Again I am struck with how each new day reveals new steps we can take on our journeys of life…

    Reply

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