conquered, Le Mans lost, and the Prussians were advancing, always advancing! They were now just a few kilometers out of Laval, very close to Pontmain. With no news of their soldiers, alarmed by stories of the pillaging of the Prussian army, even those with the most unshakable confidence began to falter. On the evening of January 15, when Father Guérin intoned Mother of Hope, the Saint-Brieuc canticle which usually concluded the prayers, he found himself singing alone. “Pray as we might,” said his parishioners, “God is not listening to us!” At his prompting, they finally agreed to sing with him, but their voices were mingled with tears... And yet, their deliverance was at hand. The evening of January 17 was especially cold, and the clear sky was studded with stars that twinkled with a singular brilliance. In the barn owned by the Barbedettes, the father and his two sons, Eugene (12 years old) and Joseph (10 years old), were pounding gorse to serve as food for the animals. Then, at around half past five, a woman entered. It was Jeannette Détais, who was in a very good mood, for she had news concerning the soldiers of Pontmain, and rather good news at that! Seeing the light in Barbedette’s barn, she had decided to go in because the oldest son, Auguste, was serving in the army. So they interrupted their work. No one knows what prompted Eugene, who had been so worried about his godfather, Auguste, to leave at that precise moment. “I wanted to see what the weather was like,”11 he would say later. Instead of “the weather,” it was a Heavenly vision that unfolded before his eyes. About fiftymeters across from the barn, above Augustin Guidecoq’s house, a beautiful Lady stood in the air, smiling gently at 11. The aurora borealis, an extremely rare phenome‐ non at that latitude, had lit up the sky several days ear‐ lier. Deeply impressed, Eugene was hoping to see another such spectacle. He saw a lot more and much better! verses filled the starry night, the Immaculate Virgin showed Her happiness at being hailed as Our Lady of Hope by gently raising Her hands – having held them down until then – to shoulder height. Then, moving Her fingers with consummate grace as if playing a piano, She looked at the children with a smile brighter and more engaging than ever. “Look, She’s laughing! She’s laughing!” they exclaimed energetically. And the little ones jumped and clapped their hands, repeating with an expression that no tongue on earth can express: “Oh, how beautiful She is! Oh, how beautiful She is! To Her, to Her; if I had wings, I would go to Her...” The entire assistance prayed, laughed, wept for joy. It was a unique moment in that divine drama. Shortly after these events, the humble apostle of Mary wrote: “Have you heard of the Vow we made to Our Lady of Hope on January 17? On that very day, shortly after the approval and subscription of the Bishop, the Blessed Virgin appeared in the diocese of Laval and smiled. She raised Her hands as a sign of prayer and protection while before Her they sang Mother of Hope, the hymn that I composed in 1848 when we founded our Union of Prayer, and which is now being sung everywhere. Is this not a reason to love Her more and more, and to devote ourselves to Her veneration and Her work? Pray to Her for your devoted servant and father in Our Lord. Fr. Prud’homme, ch.” As early as October 1871 he made a pilgrimage to Pontmain, questioned the visionaries, the parish priest and the nuns, who confirmed the marvelous coincidences recounted above, and obtained the joy of having Eugene and Joseph Barbedette as his altar boys. Until his death on February 1, 1882, he rejoiced at the memory of it and always spoke about it with vivid emotion. Magnificat Vol. LVI, No 5 127
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4MjU1NQ==