“But pray My children” At Pontmain, we are far from the lengthy discourses of theApparitions of the Miraculous Medal and of La Salette. In fact, no words were spoken. Two written sentences constituted Mary’s entire message to the world. But in those two sentences, what a lesson, what a teaching! But pray My children God will answer you in a short time My Son is letting Himself be touched More relevant than ever, this great recommendation, destined to be engraved in our hearts in indelible characters, is a compelling call to prayer. In this but there is an expression of maternal impatience. Our tender Mother is anxious to see us obtain the divine pardon, and prayer is the condition for it. In an excellent booklet, Father B. Bion comments on the first two words of the message. Here are a few excerpts from it. BUT PRAY! It seems to me that these two words, joined together in this way, reveal two great truths to us which derive from one another: the necessity and the power of prayer. – NECESSITY “Certainly, the one who does not pray will be damned and the one who prays will be saved. All the blessed, with the exception of little children, have been saved by prayer, and all the damned have been lost for not having prayed.” So says Saint Alphonsus Liguori. Indeed, what is man, if we consider him in himself and deprived of the help of God and His grace? Is there an expression capable of describing the nothingness of his power? Imagine the world at the time of the Flood; Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of punishment; Paris in the sinister days of the Terror, civil war, famine and bombing... feeble images of the world without grace. Let us add: feeble images of the world without prayer. For the ordinary condition, the necessary channel, the “means” of obtaining grace is prayer. Prayer is the essential condition of salvation: this is the first lesson that the Virgin of Pontmain gives us. Earlier, Our Lady of La Salette had asked the children: “Do you pray well, My children?” “No, Madame, not very well.” “Oh, My children, you must do it well, evening and morning!” Mary repeats this exhortation to us, and in order to engage us more firmly in prayer, She begins by giving us the assurance of the outcome of our prayer. “But pray!” It is as if, answering a request, She said yes. “Yes, however great your desolation, however profound your suffering, I will heal you. However numerous your desires, I will grant them if they are helpful for you, but pray!” Allegorical painting representing France kneeling in prayer and helped by Our Lady of Pontmain, who stops the enemy troops.
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