Laurent Amodru, the assistant pastor. That evening he opened the exercises with a few words. But what could he talk about to these souls, if not of the sufferings common to all: the war, the defeat... Then suddenly the priest, obviously inspired, uttered these words which sent a thrill through the congregation: “We will not cross the threshold of this temple consecrated to the BlessedVirgin without having promised to offer Her a silver heart, which will inform future generations that on this day, between 8 and 9 o’clock in the evening, a whole people prostrated themselves at the feet of After the capitulation of Sedan (September 2, 1870), the Prussians marched on Paris. It was no coincidence that it was in the evening of September 19, 1870, twenty-four years to the day after the solemn warnings of Mary at La Salette, that the capital officially entered a state of siege. Entirely cut off from the rest of France, Parisians had to endure the cold of an exceptionally harsh winter, hunger (they went so far as to eat the exotic animals from the Jardin des Plantes), and the bombardments of an implacable enemy. Our Lady of Victories and was saved by Her!” Let us retain the date and the hour... Particularly in the provinces of Western France, those very Christian lands still vibrating with the words of Saint Louis Mary de Montfort, still drenched with the blood of its valiant soldier-martyrs – Cathelineau, d’Elbée, Charrette – the cries of the people rose up to Heaven. Ever since the Battle of Le Mans, definitively lost by General Chanzy’s troops (January 12, 1871), it was no longer fear but terror that reigned over Brittany, Normandy, Maine andAnjou. “It is the Secret of La Salette Oratory of the Holy Face (in 1877), in the home of Venerable Leon Dupont (1797-1876), the holy man of Tours. At the time of the FrancoPrussian War, that great Christian said: “The Prussians are in Orleans. We don’t know whether they will come to Tours. In any case, nothing will happen except by the Master’s permission. Blessed be His holy name!... There is nothing to say, nothing to do but humble ourselves, our head in ashes, letting the justice of God pass through.”
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