Does anyone here have any special connection or devotion to Our Lady of Victory? I have a neat little story. A few weeks ago, my 4-year-old daughter Sophie asked for a statue of Mary to put by her bed. Initially I looked for a statue that wouldn't be particularly breakable, and I found a few different ones but Sophie would shake her head and say it wasn't the one. During this time, I stumbled upon a beautiful old statue of Our Lady of Victory, made between the years 1900 and 1920 in France. It was on Etsy, and being a large vintage statue, it was a little pricey. So I saved it but didn't really intend on buying it. Our Lady of Victory is such a beautiful depiction of Mary, I have previously saved it to my phone as the background picture, and have an old prayer card like the one pictured above. I kept being drawn back to this statue saved on Etsy, and when Sophie caught glimpse of it one day, she exclaimed, "Oh Mama! That's the statue of Mary I want!" Still, I hesitated, due to the price. A couple of weeks ago, as you all know, we had a sudden inspiration to go see Sr. Wilhelmina's body and pray for our children, especially Sophie who's always insisted she'll be a nun, that they'll stay true to the Faith and find their vocations. My husband had woken up that morning after a dream where he was called by someone to make an 8 hour drive and "bring Sophie." He was then pretty shocked when I sprang upon him before he even finished waking up, "Do you want to drive 8 hours to go see a nun's incorrupt body, to pray for the kids' vocations, especially Sophie?" The visit had quite an effect on Sophie, and I've been daily agonizing over that statue of Mary, imagining Sophie growing up with it in her room, praying and having her desire for her vocation strengthened. Meanwhile 3 other people had put it in their cart. After the visit, I ordered a couple books from the nuns, one of which was a children's picture book all about the nuns at that convent. It arrived yesterday, and Sophie was so excited for me to read it to her. In the first couple pages, a young postulant arrives at the convent with a trunk of her belongings, and pulls out a statue of Mary to pray....And wouldn't you know, it is a statue of Our Lady of Victory, in the same exact colors as the statue I have saved on Etsy! The same larger size and everything! It's not a common statue, so what are the odds? Sophie was already saying about the postulant, "That's me! Is that me, Mama?" And I was like, "Isn't that the statue you've been wanting?" And she exclaimed, "Yes, it is!" So I told my husband and he told me to buy it. (Another funny detail in the story is that ever since we decided to move to the country, Sophie has begged for a "pink cow." It's been an ongoing joke we tell everyone, that we're going to have to find Sophie her pink cow. Well, in the book, the nuns are milking....a pink cow!! I was reading more about Our Lady of Victory, and apparently St. Therese went to the original Our Lady of Victory in France and prayed before the statue, for help to obtain her vocation. So Sophie is in good company! Sophie is the baby born on September 8, after a strange little miracle exactly one year before, where a purple flower appeared every single time I posted on Facebook through the whole day of September 8. The purple flower was the Mother's Day symbol that FB had created for Mother's Day, only available on that day in May...but it was September. I told my sister, "It's the Mother's Day flower. So either it's for Mary, or it means I'm finally going to have a baby!" (I'd been trying for 5 years.) So Sophie is the reason for the purple flower in my profile pic/name. Will you pray for Sophie, that she will learn to follow God with all of her heart? She does have an extremely strong will and temper, so she'll need lots of prayer (as do I, to be a better mother.) Thank you!
St Therese was cured from an illness when she was a child and a statue of Our Blessed Mother smiled at at her. Good for Sophie! Lovely story.
Amazing, love this story. Of course I will pray for Sophie. I believe you are a very good, and loving mother, PF.
I visited Our Lady of Victories church in Paris some years ago and I prayed at Our Lady's statue. I was sorrounded by the scent of roses as I entered the church. I believe St Therese had great belief in the efficacy of Masses offered in that church. Her father St Louis Martin attended Mass at that church whenever he was in Paris on business. Sounds like Sophie has a very special calling. She will need a strong will to follow her dream.
Yes, apparently St. Therese's famous cure by "Our Lady of the Smile" happened halfway through a novena of Masses her father had asked to be offered for her at Our Lady of Victories. She was troubled for a while afterwards, wondering if she'd imagined Mary's smile, but when she went to pray before the Our Lady of Victory statue, she received the grace of knowing Mary had truly appeared to her and cured her. And she prayed about her vocation. I wish I'd known of Our Lady of Victories when I was in Paris. I missed so many opportunities to visit holy places because I was young and hadn't thought to research these things before traveling through Europe.
Although my story of Our Lady of Victory is a sad one for me, it has not diminished my Catholic Faith. In 1992 my husband and I relocated from New Orleans (a very Catholic place with a Catholic school attached to 99% of all church parishes) with a 3 month old and 21 month old to a nice community about 20 miles south of Atlanta (very Baptist but with a small Catholic Church there). Once settled I asked the parish priest if there were like minded parishioners like myself who would like to start a Catholic school. There was property across the street from the church that would have been perfect. He laughed and said if I came up with 5 million dollars he would build a school. I prayed that by the time my kids were of school age something would happen. In 1997 the City of Atlanta was booming. The Archdiocese of Atlanta decided to build 4 regional Catholic schools, 3 in North Atlanta and 1 down south near us. We were elated. A regional school serving 11 parishes was built, with heavy funding coming from 132 families in the area. Our Lady of Victory opened her doors in the fall of 1999. The principal hired was an ex nun who, when I look back on it was— Woke before we ever knew what Woke was. She hired many teachers that were not suited to teach in a Catholic school. My son’s teacher was very pro -choice, and he came home from school visibly shaken that he had to defend his pro-life beliefs to his teacher. On December 8, 1999 the first principal was relieved of her duties. The second principal was a retired Catholic school principal who, unbeknownst to those that hired her, was in the early stages of dementia. She lasted 2 years. The third principal decided that the second principal had botched up the curriculum of the fifth grade so bad that some subjects were going to be retaught from fourth grade. Meanwhile 92 out of the original 132 families had left the school by the end of the third year of its opening. The Archdiocese refused to talk to the parents who had bankrolled the school about these problems. When I wrote a letter to the archbishop (which was hand delivered to him at an ordination to make sure he received it) his reply was that”maybe we didn’t belong there.” After 3 years we left. Our children went to CCD at our church parish thru high school and received all their sacraments. Once our youngest left for college my husband quit going to church. Although he never talks about it I suspect it had to do with the arrogance of the archbishop and those calling the shots from the Archdiocese. Neither of my children practice their faith. Last year the school shut its doors, and a K-12 campus, which used to house the high school, opened up with a new name, St. Mary’s. Our Lady of Victory, Pray for us.
Sad story but don’t give up, because people failed you, not God. Persevere. QUOTE="Denise P, post: 420225, member: 4521"]Although my story of In 1992 my husband and I relocated from New Orleans (a very Catholic place with a Catholic school attached to 99% of all church parishes) with a 3 month old and 21 month old to a nice community about 20 miles south of Atlanta (very Baptist but with a small Catholic Church there). Once settled I asked the parish priest if there were like minded parishioners like myself who would like to start a Catholic school. There was property across the street from the church that would have been perfect. He laughed and said if I came up with 5 million dollars he would build a school. I prayed that by the time my kids were of school age something would happen. In 1997 the City of Atlanta was booming. The Archdiocese of Atlanta decided to build 4 regional Catholic schools, 3 in North Atlanta and 1 down south near us. We were elated. A regional school serving 11 parishes was built, with heavy funding coming from 132 families in the area. Our Lady of Victory opened her doors in the fall of 1999. The principal hired was an ex nun who, when I look back on it was— Woke before we ever knew what Woke was. She hired many teachers that were not suited to teach in a Catholic school. My son’s teacher was very pro -choice, and he came home from school visibly shaken that he had to defend his pro-life beliefs to his teacher. On December 8, 1999 the first principal was relieved of her duties. The second principal was a retired Catholic school principal who, unbeknownst to those that hired her, was in the early stages of dementia. She lasted 2 years. The third principal decided that the second principal had botched up the curriculum of the fifth grade so bad that some subjects were going to be retaught from fourth grade. Meanwhile 92 out of the original 132 families had left the school by the end of the third year of its opening. The Archdiocese refused to talk to the parents who had bankrolled the school about these problems. When I wrote a letter to the archbishop (which was hand delivered to him at an ordination to make sure he received it) his reply was that”maybe we didn’t belong there.” After 3 years we left. Our children went to CCD at our church parish thru high school and received all their sacraments. Once our youngest left for college my husband quit going to church. Although he never talks about it I suspect it had to do with the arrogance of the archbishop and those calling the shots from the Archdiocese. Neither of my children practice their faith. Last year the school shut its doors, and a K-12 campus, which used to house the high school, opened up with a new name, St. Mary’s. Our Lady of Victory, Pray for us.[/QUOTE]
Prayers for Sophie. It was the statue of Our Lady of Victory that seemed to alive and cured St Therese when she was a young child and very ill. 'Our Lady of the Smile'
So sorry for you and your family Denise, my heart goes out to you. I lived through this twice, and there is nothing sadder to have a front row seat to a Catholic school closure. As you learned, it can have a devastating impact on students and their parents who feel very much abandoned. From my experience, the foundation of Catholic education began to crack in the late 60's when progressive nuns and lay teachers began to infiltrate Catholic schools. By the time I graduated in the 70's my school was full on woke, and we were fully aware of what we had lost.
There may have been two statues of Our Lady of Victory in her house, I see both of these images quoted widely. Devotion to Our Lady under this name was very popular in France at that time: http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/my-...of-mary-our-lady-of-victories-may-7-2017.html
Oh Denise how terrible. Shame on those who let this happen. Sadly it is the story of many Catholic schools since VII. I was never able to send my children to Catholic school. It broke my heart. But as in your case devout children turned into faithless adults and my husband left the Church for the Lutherans. This is the world we must live in--the worst chastisement i think--to see ones children lose the faith. I keep praying and trusting. "No one who ever hoped in Me was disappointed." God says this over and 8over in scripture. I am counting on it!
I have dear friends whose daughter had an apparition of Jesus at 4 years old. She is now in her 20s in a convent becoming a Nun. So glad you bought the statue!!
