BLESSED MARY OF PROVIDENCE
(Source: "The
life of Me're Marie De La Providence, Foundress
of the Helpers of the Holy Souls " PP 22-24, by
Lady Georgiana Fullerton)
Born: 25 March 1825 at Lille, France
Died: 7 February 1871 at Paris, France of Cancer
Beatified: 26 May 1957 by Pope Pius XII in Rome, Italy
Canonization: pending
Memorial: 7 February
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The
first whispering of grace of her special vocation
for the Holy Souls in Purgatory happened at an
early age. Two of many episodes that illustrate
this are below:
Long
ago a ray of this sublime understanding was given
to a little girl playing in the summer fields
and chasing butterflies. Awestruck and wondering,
she paused, and after a long halt called to her
companions. Childlike, she tried to explain in
metaphors that strange enlightenment:
'If
one of our friends was imprisoned in a house
of fire,' she said, 'how we should rush to
her help. Then think how we should try to deliver
the souls in Purgatory.'
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Thoughtfully
the little group listened. That child, as Mother Mary
of Providence, was granted in after years a very real
participation in the mysterious sufferings of Purgatory
and the way she spoke of them made older people pause
and listen.
The
second episode happened on the feast of All Saints,
1853, that Eugenie Smet received a stronger reinforcement
of her special vocation to the holy souls.
As
she was praying with her head bowed down before our
Blessed Lord in the Sacrament of His Love, the idea
of an association of prayers and good works in behalf
of the dead was rising distinctly before her eyes.
But then came the doubt - was it God who was inspiring
here with thought or was it the result of her own fancy?
In unhesitating faith she determined to ask Our Blessed
Lord, by some unmistakable sign, to give a token of
His Will. If you want me to begin this work my Lord,
make at least one of my friends, think of something
and let her speak to me about it as soon as I come
out of Church.
She
slowly descended the long flight of steps of the Church
to the village square, anxiously thinking over the
prayer she had made. Her heart sank within her when
she reached the bottom of the stairs and no one had
spoken to her. But just at that moment a young girl
at her own age, a great dear friend to hers, came forward
and said,
"Dear
Eugenie, I am so glad to have met you. During Benediction
I had an inspiration. I thought of offering to join
you in doing everything we can during November for
the Souls in Purgatory. Have you indeed had that
thought?"
The
rest is history. On January 19 1856 she founded the
Society of Helpers of the Holy Souls in Paris, France.
The
day following the ceremony of beatification, on May
26, 1957, Pope Pius XII summarized, in a speech, the
essence of the message left by Sister Mary of Providence:
"Whoever
acts thus in a manner devoid of all personal interest
and selfishness, and consecrates himself to the universal
work of redemption, will know, like Mary of Providence,
the suffering and the travail, but also the invincible
security of those who are established on the strength
of God Himself and await with humble confidence the
hour of endless triumph:
In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put
to confusion (Psalm 70: 1)."
The
Father loves His dear ones in Purgatory.
