A story for every day...
True courage.
Between the small port of Auray in Brittany, and the famous village of Sainte-Anne, renowned for its famous pilgrimage, lived in a small hut Marc-Thomas and his son Vincent.
Marc was only fifty-six years old, but he was broken, ill and sick, and when the conscription came to take away his support, he was very sad. However, he submitted without a murmur: he was a Christian, he respected the law.
When Vincent left, he said to him: “My child, never forget that I consecrated you to the Blessed Virgin; invoke Her always, be faithful to Her, and you will come back safe and sound. If you die, She will receive you in paradise and you will not regret the earth.”
Vincent was incorporated in a regiment which left almost immediately for the Crimea.
I won’t tell you, here, how many trials Vincent was exposed to, but he said to himself, “Can a person consecrated to the Blessed Virgin do this?” If it was no, it was no for him. His friends laughed at him, but their jokes didn’t scare him any more than enemy fire.
One day, one of his comrades, irritated that he could not succeed in dragging him into his debauchery parties, hurled insults at him and wanted to force him to fight. “I will not fight,” said Vincent, “because neither of us has the right to deprive the army of a soldier; but tomorrow perhaps an assault will be made on Sebastopol, and then there we will see if we fear fire.”
The next day an assault was given, and near Vincent, the soldier who had provoked him fell wounded. At once a sortie of the besieged made the besiegers retreat, and the soldier was going to be abandoned under the feet of the Russians’ horses. Vincent moves quickly, takes the wounded man, loads him on his shoulders and brings him back to the camp.
When the wounded man could speak: “Oh my God! he said to Vincent, how could you run fast enough to escape both of us from the Russians’ weapons? – Oh! answered Vincent, I invoked the good Virgin Mary and I felt wings: She sent me Her angels, because I had to save your life: yesterday you wanted to kill me.
– It is true, says the soldier, your virtue bothered me and today I owe her my life. But I am converted and I want to consecrate myself to Mary like you.”
Do we, like Vincent, want to attract souls to Mary, like him, let us make our virtue useful: let us do good, always good, nothing but good, and let us know how to make it lovable, for Mary is the most lovable Mother.
(Marie Curo.)
