The request of Our Lady of Victories in Paris during anticlerical days (I)

Notre Dame des Victoires in Paris was built in thanksgiving for Louis XIII’s defeat of the Protestant Huguenots at the Siege of La Rochelle — which, like Lepanto, was a victory of the rosary. During the war, Louis had ordered rosary processions throughout the kingdom; his queen, Anne of Austria, made a point of being seen at a public rosary recital every day, and over 15,000 sets of beads were reportedly handed out to Louis’s army.

(…) Not sure if Our Lady has time to deal with your troubles? Start reading the thousands — and thousands — of ex votos that line the walls: plaques with gilded lettering, testifying to graces obtained. There are 37,170, to be exact, in a variety of languages, with dates all the way up to the present. They record every kind of blessing under the sun: conversions, cures, preservation from dangers, children born, loved ones regained, soldiers kept safe, prisoners freed. There is a wall of military decorations here, too, left by grateful soldiers at Our Lady’s feet — in more Catholic times, officers used to come to this church to consecrate their swords to her. Perhaps some still do.

But Notre Dame des Victoires is unique for another reason: Our Lady chose it to be especially dedicated to her Immaculate Heart, which is where the 19th century parish priest Fr. Desgenettes comes in. Those were anticlerical days; hardly anyone bothered to come to Mass. After four years of seemingly fruitless labor in the parish, Fr. Desgenettes was terribly discouraged and felt tempted to resign. But one day while saying Mass at the altar of Our Lady of Victories, he heard an interior voice: “Consecrate your parish to the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Adapted from onepeterfive.com/history-lady-victory/