A pious priest of the Diocese of Bayonne, the Abbe Cestac, is the
founder of two Religious Congregations in the aforesaid city, viz.,
the Servants of Mary, who devote themselves to the work of the Sisters
of the Good Shepherd, though not cloistered: and the Bernardines, who
are contemplatives. To one of these devout Religious the Blessed
Virgin deigned to make the following communication, which is contained
in a letter from the Abbe Cestac to M. Dupont of Tours.
'_Anglet, near Bayonne._
'SIR,
'It is not exactly correct to say that the Blessed Virgin appeared to
a good, simple saint of the Community, but rather, I should say, that
this soul received a supernatural communication from this Divine
Mother, or at any rate conceived she had received such communication
from on high. She was at prayer, when a ray of divine light illumined
her soul. She saw in spirit the vast desolation caused by the devil
throughout the world, and at the same time she heard the Divine Mother
telling her that it was true that hell had been let loose upon the
earth; but that the time had come when we were to pray to her as Queen
of Angels, and when we were to ask of her the assistance of the
heavenly legions to fight against these deadly foes of God and of men.
'"But, my Good Mother," answered this soul, "you who are so kind,
could you not send them without our asking you?"
'"No," she answered; "because prayer is one of the conditions required
by God Himself for obtaining favours."
'And the soul believed she heard the prayer I send you. Naturally, I
was made the depositary of this prayer, and my first duty was to
submit it to my Lord Bishop, who has benignly deigned to approve of
it. It was then that Our Lady made known to me that I should get it
printed at the expense of her Work, and distribute it gratis. Since
that time, this prayer has received the approbation of their Lordships
the Archbishops and Bishops of Tours, of Toulouse, of Besancon, of
Tarbes. It is being reprinted at Lille, it is being translated into
Spanish, and spread far and wide.
(Signed) 'CESTAC,
'Priest of the Diocese of Bayonne.'
It would appear that the devil was terribly enraged at the publication
of this prayer, for the Abbe Cestac in a recent letter to M. Dupont
tells him that the very day on which he sent to Tours 20,000 copies
with an offering of 300 francs for the tomb of St. Martin (sent to him
for that purpose), a large building three storeys high, was cast to
the ground: while a similar misfortune befell the same Community at
another of their establishments, some distance off. In neither case,
however, was anyone hurt! This occurred on the 11th of November, 1863,
Feast of St. Martin of Tours. The Abbe Cestac adds that Providence
came to the aid of the good Religious, and enabled them to restore
their injured property. It is likewise affirmed that seven printing
presses were broken while in the act of printing the prayer, and that
the only place at which it could be printed was at Le Puy, where there
is a celebrated Shrine of Our Blessed Lady, to which crowds of devout
pilgrims flock.
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_Copies of this "Miraculous Prayer" at 1s. the 100 can be had of_