ON" Christmas night of 1843, having obtained the permission of her Superiors, the Sister made, according to the reiterated demands of our Lord, "an act placing all her merits in the hands of the Most Holy Infant Jesus." As a reward she was favored with still more abundant lights and graces. " It seems," she says, " that I hear Jesus from the depths of the tabernacle addressing us these words: ' O ye my friends and faithful children, behold if there be any sorrow like unto mine! My Divine Father and my spouse, the holy Church, the delight of my Heart, are despised and outraged by my enemies. Will no one rise up . to console me by defending them against those who attack them? I can no longer remain in the midst of this ungrateful people. Behold the torrent of tears that flow from my eyes! Can I find none to wipe them away by making reparation to the glory of my Father and imploring the conversion of the guilty ?' Ah!" cries the pious Sister, "if a king, or even his ambassador, be treated with indignity by a foreign power, how quickly the whole nation rushes to arms to avenge the insult! Troops are mustered, and the death of numberless soldiers is accounted as nothing. And yet the holy and terrible Name of the God of hosts, of the King of kings, is despised and blasphemed, his day is profaned by sinners in infinite numbers, and no one is troubled thereat, no one thinks of Reparation. Behold, our Lord Jesus, the Envoy and Son of the God of armies, the Ambassador of the kingdom of heaven, demands a Reparation of honor to his Eternal Father, or war will be declared against us and France will suffer the chastisements of his wrath. "Will we pause to weigh the matter ? Will we hesitate in our choice ?" The Archbishop of Tours, who at that time was Mgr. Morlot, wished to see and examine the*writings of the Carmelite. We say her "writings," because the Mother-Prioress had required her to write all her revelations. The prelate approved in this regard the wisdom of her Superiors, and authorized Rev. Pierre Aileron, Superior of the Carmelites, and at the same time pastor of Notre Dame La Riche, to establish in his parish an Association for the Reparation of Blasphemy. This was on the model of the one in Rome, approved by Gregory XVI. August 8, 1843. Its members were thus enabled to gain the numerous spiritual advantages granted to the Roman association. The permission of Mgr. Morlot is dated March 15, 1844. The association, on being established, took for its patrons St. Michael the Archangel, St. Louis, King of France, and St. Martin. Those that belonged to it were to recite daily a Pater, Ave, Gloria, and the Golden Arrow before mentioned.
This, without doubt, was something— a first step towards the Work of Reparation. But more was required—namely, an archconfraternity similar to that of Our. Lady of Victory for the Conversion of Sinners. The Sister was very sorrowful. They saw her coming from her prayers pale, trembling, and bathed in tears. She continually offered herself in sacrifice to turn away the*divine scourges and obtain the salvation of her country. On learning that the usual prayer of St. Denis was " Give me souls!" she unceasingly repeated it, and begged the Sisters to do the same. In the meantime the Divine Master revealed to her more and more the enormity of blasphemy.
" You cannot understand," He said to her one day, "the malice and abomination of this sin. If my justice were not restrained by my mercy it would instantly crush the guilty, and all creatures, even inanimate ones, would rise up to avenge my outraged honor." " After this," the Sister adds, " he showed me the excellence of the Work of Reparation; how it surpasses all other devotions, is agreeable to God, to the angels, the saints, and is useful to the Church. Ah! if you knew the degree of glory you acquire in making but a single act of Reparation for blasphemy, in saying only once, in the spirit of Reparation, ' Admirable is the Name of God'!"
She again wrote: " This work is within me as a consuming fire. I continually beg our Lord to deign to save France; to establish in all her cities his "Work of Reparation, and to raise up apostolic men for this end. Thou seest, my sweet Jesus, that I, a poor unworthy creature,
can do nothing; vouchsafe, then, to enlighten the heart of him who can render thee this service with the knowledge of all that I suffer."
The Carmelites, forced to leave their monastery, lived for two years in a secular dwelling where cloister enclosure was almost impossible. Sister Saint-Pierre, still in her office . of portress of the interior, had much to suffer. But our Lord, in the very midst of the embarrassments and distractions of her charge, consoled her with new and consoling lights. In her great desire to comfort and strengthen those who came to her with their sorrows, she was inspired to communicate to them the devotion of the Gospel of the Circumcision, and of the Holy Name. Thus she writes of this devotion : " The demon uses all possible means to snatch from our Lord Jesus Christ the inheritance purchased by the cross, and he is ever seeking to rob this Good Shepherd of the lambs obtained at so great a price. To put this ravishing wolf to flight Jesus has made known to me that he wishes his sheep marked with his Holy Name, by bearing on their person the Gospel which announces to all nations that the Incarnate Word was named Jesus. This amiable Saviour has acquainted me with the virtue of his Sacred Name—that it would drive away the demon, and that all those placing themselves under its special protection would receive great graces." Her superiors permitted her to distribute printed sheets of this Gospel on which was stamped an image of the Infant Jesus. To this was added a piece of the palm blessed on Palm Sunday. These sheets were folded and enclosed in a little square sachet, marked upon the outside with the Sacred Heart and the instruments of the Passion. It was to be worn on the person in the same way as a medal attached to a scapular, etc. The pious Carmelite had thus in view the glorification of the Name of Jesus. Numerous graces came to confirm her faith and make her rejoice in the devotion. Every one wished to have these little sachets. On the sheets, beneath the Gospel, these words were inscribed :
" When Jesus was named, Satan, vanquished, was disarmed."
" Our Lord has revealed to me," says the Sister, "how glorious it is to him to have his victory celebrated by these words, for they make the demon tremble with rage; that he will bless all who wear this Gospel, and will defend them against the attacks of Satan. 55 (See p. 202.)
On the 17th of June, 1845, the Divine Master resumed his great design, and encouraged his servant to address the archbishop personally. The prelate very kindly visited the holy Carmelite, whose virtues he held in the highest esteem. Ushered into his presence, she knelt, kissed his feet, and humbly asked him to deign to accomplish the work he had so happily begun in authorizing the Association of Notre Dame La Riche; and she disclosed to him how strongly our Lord had urged her to request the official establishment of the Work of Reparation in the metropolis of Tours, formerly the centre of so many graces for France. In the kindest manner the prelate answered: "" My child, with all my heart I desire to establish the work and give it all necessary and well-deserved publicity; but there are obstacles in the way which are difficult to overcome. It is a hard task for us to incite our people to follow the ordinary practices of piety. Might not the proposal of new and additional devotions provoke the wicked to still greater blasphemy" Nevertheless he reassured her by declaring he saw in her revelations no stamp of illusion, but recognized in them the seal of God; and he exhorted her to still pray and solicit new light on the subject. He permitted her to recite the prayers of Reparation, and some time after accorded permission to have them printed. He also approved of a little book on blasphemy entitled Collection of Prayers, followed by " Little Office of the Holy Name of God," composed by M. Dupont.
"This little book," says the Sister, " authorized by the archbishop, at once became very popular, and by this means in a short time more than twenty-five thousand Prayers of the Reparation were distributed. Tours received numberless applications for them from persons in various cities who wished to propagate this devotion to the Holy Name of God, and everywhere they were recited with the greatest fervor. Our Lord revealed to me that this new harmony appeased his wrath, but that he still wished to have an association established such as he had demanded."