He was a Man of God (III)

Once the statue of Notre-Dame de France was installed, Edmond Fricoteaux thought he would be able to resume his normal activities: "mission accomplished!" But then a young man from Douai wrote to him about a dream he had had in which he saw the statue of Notre-Dame de France and at its feet a vast throng of statues from all over France. A few months later, four people (who had gone to Mass at the Carmel of Lisieux on the same morning) came to see Edmond with the intuition that many statues from all France would travel as Pilgrim Virgins from one town to the next, and the locals would propose vigils around Jesus and Mary. So Edmond concocted, little by little, the plan for the Pilgrim Virgins, which happened because the Holy Father John Paul II asked that the Jubilee year of 2000 be prepared in prayer with the Virgin Mary, as a "new Advent." Every bishop in France was contacted and 30 bishops accepted to be on the advisory committee. The chairman of the Conference of Bishops defined that this project would be the initiative of lay people, supported by seven bishops, leaders of major Marian shrines. Edmond confided the task of setting up the teams of leaders in all regions of France to a few friends. On Sept. 8, 1995, Bishop Brincard of Le Puy-en-Velay, blessed the 108 statues and icons that left the town to propose over 40,000 prayer vigils during that year throughout France. At this point the adventure became truly international After a memorable pilgrimage organized by Edmond to mark the coming of His Holiness John Paul II to Reims in 1996, 250 Pilgrim Virgins were blessed in Rome and in Constantinople (Istanbul). The movement grew over the next 4 years in 120 different countries until the Great Jubilee and the all night vigil in Bethlehem, which he had dreamt of for years to mark the 2000th Christmas, on December 24, 1999, in the Shepherds' Field. Thanks to Edmond a total of over 10,000 statues and icons were sent all over the world, and the "Mary of Nazareth" Project, now in full-swing, was one of its many fruits. Edmond had the gift of leadership and could easily attract others around him ? because of his joy, his enthusiasm, his energy, his contagious faith strong enough to move mountains ? but mainly because he was a man with a big heart, affectionate, human, humble, loyal and good. He was "a man of God" as the late Father Marie-Dominique Philippe once said of him. He has gone to his homeland, to the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he loved so well, to the light of God that he sought so hard. He is there, with his friend Rolande Lefevre, and so many other friends that have preceded him. He will surely watch over his family, his relatives, his friends and his projects, but he will greatly be missed and his loss is a great sorrow. And it is wonderful to note that God called him back on November 5th, the Feast of Saint Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, as if to underline the mystery of the Visitation of Mary which Edmond took so much to heart that he dreamed of seeing the statue reproduced a million times in a myriad of places and homes all over the world.