ABOUT SIX MONTHS had elapsed during which time Sister Mary of St. Peter was continually showered with unusual graces, being particularly enlightened on the Mystery of the Incarnate Word, when suddenly our Lord once more called her to work anew for the establishment of the Work of Reparation. Foretelling a disaster that was soon to befall the nation, the Saviour spoke to His emissary as follows:

"Imagine what will be the state of things in this country when soon my powerful arm will shake this throne and overthrow him who is now seated thereon."

During the following week, on December 2, 1847, the call she had was more urgent than ever as our Lord, appearing to her covered with wounds, spoke to her as follows:

"The executioners crucified Me on Friday but Christians crucify Me on Sunday. Ask then in My Name the establishment of the Work of Reparation in the Diocese of Tours, in order that My friends may embalm My wounds by their prayers and their acts of sacrifice, and thus obtain mercy for the guilty. My daughter, the storm is already rumbling but I shall keep My promise, if My wishes regarding the Reparation be respected and acted upon. Speak with humility, but at the same time with a holy freedom."

Sister Mary's revelation was promptly relayed to the Archbishop. However, when a full month passed by and there was yet no action by the diocesan authorities to arrange for a personal interview with the Carmelite, she was favored on January 4, 1848 with an extraordinary revelation which she reported as follows:

"Our holy Mother St. Teresa has appeared to me in the interior of my soul and told me that she was especially deputed by God to fight those who were stopping the Work of Reparation. She also said that the demon was doing his utmost to prevent the Devotion from spreading. She then made known to me that in spite of all the opposition hurled against it, the Work of Reparation through the Holy Face Devotion will one day be the honor of the Order of Carmel, and she assured me, moreover, that the Devotion is in every way conformable to the spirit of the Carmelite vocation whose sole aim is the glory of God and the needs of the Church. For that reason she urged me to devote myself to it with unremitting fervor. Finally, it was revealed to me that in addition to being designated by God as the powerful protectress of the Work of Reparation, our holy Mother St. Teresa was assigned to me as a consoler in my various trials. Since then I have felt my soul closely united to this great Saint who is a model of zeal for the glory of the Most High."

The following month, on February 13, 1848, our Lord revealed to Sister Mary that the rumbling storm about which He warned her was close at hand.

"During my evening prayer," she wrote in her report to the Prioress, "our Lord made known to me that terrible woes were impending, and He said: 'Pray, pray, for the Church is threatened by a fearful tempest!' The Saviour made me understand that His justice was greatly irritated against mankind for its sins but particularly for those that directly outrage the Majesty of God — that is. Communism, Atheism, cursing, and the desecration of Sundays.

A week later, the Sister writes again:

"On Sunday, February 20, having offered Holy Communion in reparation for the outrages against the Divine Majesty, it was made known to my soul by an interior light that the crisis was at hand. I heard these words: 'The Lord has strung His bow and He is about to discharge His arrows!' Realizing how shamefully God had been outraged, I could no longer remain neutral, as it were, and so entering into His designs of justice, I answered, 'Strike, O, Lord!' I longed for God's honor to be vindicated. Praying God to strike as a Father and not as an angry judge I saw that His stroke would not be a mortal stroke. I comprehended that this scandal, if I may so express myself, must of necessity come to pass. For more than four years had the arm of the Lord been raised over our guilty heads."

Almost immediately following this communication, news of a serious revolution in Paris shook the very foundations of the French government and all of Europe. King Louis Philippe, who after eighteen years felt himself securely established as monarch of France, was forced to flee with his family into exile.

Learning of this, Sister Mary of St. Peter redoubled her zeal in making reparation so that she now prayed almost incessantly. On February 26, she writes:

"The Lord has told me that in consequence of the initial efforts made to establish somewhat the Work of Reparation, our country which was to be almost entirely destroyed by the darts of His justice, would now only be partly punished by the terrible flames of His anger. Oh, how I long to entreat all the Bishops to establish the Work of the Reparation in their dioceses."

Unfortunately, this apostle of the Holy Face who so longed to entreat all Ordinaries to erect Confraternities of Reparation was to be so thwarted in her mission, that she was prevented from addressing personally even her own diocesan superior. Although three months elapsed since she was last enjoined by the Saviour to ask in His Name for the establishment of the Work of Reparation in the Diocese of Tours, no steps towards arranging an interview were forthcoming.

On March 3, however, our Lord communicated to her a final ultimatum. It assumed the nature of a positive command, that either the Ordinary of the diocese, or his Secretary, come without further delay to the Carmelite convent where Sister Mary of St. Peter was to tell them personally what had been revealed to her during the past four and a half years regarding the Work of Reparation to the Holy Face.

"Our Lord has just made known to me after Holy Communion," wrote Sister Mary, "that it is His express will that I speak to His Excellency or to his Secretary and that I acquaint either of them with the communications which I have received from the Saviour during the last four years and a half. Assuring me that He will Himself put the words in my mouth, this good Master said to me: 'I still have the rod of justice in My hand, and if they wish to snatch it from Me, let them replace it by the Work of Reparation. As for yourself, be faithful in fulfilling your mission. Look upon it as an honor to have been deputed by Me to manifest My Will. Should you prove unfaithful to My voice, you would expose yourself to feel the strokes of that rod.'

"In order to obey the Divine Master, I most humbly pray you, Reverend Mother, to arrange for me a visit from the Archbishop. In case His Excellency is too occupied, then will he be so kind as to send me his Secretary through whom I could transmit the communications I have been commissioned to deliver to my Bishop."

The Archbishop having been acquainted with this urgent development sent his Secretary, Father Vincent, to the Carmelite Convent, and the following is the conversation which took place there, as Sister Mary of St. Peter herself personally recorded it in writing:

"I am going to give a brief sketch of my debate with the Secretary of the Archbishop, on the subject of the Work of the Reparation. Our Lord has assisted me as He had promised, for I was neither uneasy nor intimidated, and I spoke with the greatest ease. As nearly as I can give it, the following is the account of our conference:

"THE SECRETARY — 'Sister, I came in the name of His Excellency, to say to you that he has shown your letters to the members of his Council, and they unanimously pronounced against the establishment of the Work you ask. The Archbishop has most carefully examined this affair, he has prayed for guidance, and it is impossible for him to approve it in his official capacity, as there is nothing to attest the validity of your mission.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Reverend Sir, I do not pretend to plead with His Excellency anew on this point, or to argue concerning my sentiments in regard to the mission which I believe has been imposed on me by our Lord for the salvation of our country. My intention here has been only to comply with the promptings of my conscience. When I had the honor to speak to His Excellency of the communications I thought I received from God, he answered me thus, "My Child, do not be disturbed, about this being an illusion. It is not so in my opinion, for I recognize here the seal of God." Reverend Sir, it is these words which I received as coming from the Holy Spirit, that have made me persevere in my mission.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'My good Sister, His Excellency said this to you at that time, not knowing how far the matter would go. Since then he has carefully examined it, he has prayed, and he has decided in the negative.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'This is sufficient for me. I wished only to know His Excellency's decision. My conscience urged me to take these steps towards advancing the establishment of the Work of the Reparation. Now that I have done so I am perfectly at peace. Furthermore, my reason for desiring to speak to the Archbishop was to acquit myself of my mission. Therefore, since you are his representative, I now, as an act of religion, lay my mission at the feet of the ecclesiastical authority, with whom will rest the responsibility before God.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'But, my good Sister, the Association of which you speak is already established!'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Yes, Reverend Sir, but the Church of Tours should be its depository. I asked the Archbishop for this, but since he did not judge proper to establish it, I submitted. What now proves that it is really in conformity to the Will of God is the fact that in spite of all this, it was established, although I had no part in it.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'It has many members here, and has not His Excellency approved a small book of prayers belonging to it?'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Very true, Reverend Sir, but it is necessary that there be a canonically erected Association at Tours. The Work has need of the cooperation and protection of His Excellency, the Archbishop.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'Sister, I tell you in all confidence that this Work established at Langres is not progressing so favorably, and it has excited the comments of the press.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Reverend Sir, I am not at all astonished, for our Lord has told me that the demon would do his utmost to annihilate the Work. Was it not so with the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and with the institution of the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament? It is true, the Saviour entrusted such missions to worthier souls than I, yet they were persecuted.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'Sister, all God's works excite contradiction and persecution, for example, the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary. This is indeed a beautiful Work including all, for its object is to convert sinners.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Our Lord was aware of its existence, Reverend Sir, when He asked through me for another Confraternity, and He has made known to me that this first was not sufficient, because to obtain the pardon of one we have offended we must make some reparation. Moreover, our Lord has made me understand that it is the transgression of the First Three Commandments of God especially which have aroused His anger against our country. Therefore, Reverend Sir, since both the secular and ecclesiastical arm have been powerless to prevent these disorders, we must, at least, make reparation to God for them.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'Ah, my good Sister, here is the point in question; you say God demands this but we are not sure of it. You may be mistaken.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Reverend Sir, this supposition is not impossible, yet I can scarcely believe that a delusion could have lasted five years, as this has, uninfluenced by any one, since my Superiors in their prudence did not encourage me. They even forbade me to think about it, and were unwilling to take it upon themselves to decide the case. Therefore, the Father Superior has already referred all these matters to the judgment of His Excellency.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'Well, then, my good Sister, be perfectly at peace since you have done your duty in making known these communications to His Excellency. Now, I say to you in his name, think no more of all this, but banish it entirely from your mind.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'But Reverend Sir, the Archbishop certainly does not forbid me to pray to God for the fulfillment of His designs.'

"THE SECRETARY — 'No, but let there be no further requests to establish the Work of Reparation.'

"SISTER MARY OF ST. PETER — 'Reverend Sir, I beg you to assure the Archbishop of my obedience to his commands.' "

Sister Mary of St. Peter walked away from the parlor after her interview with mixed feelings of triumph and regret. She had cause for both. She had done our Lord's will by launching an offensive drive, to establish the Work of Reparation in her diocese by appealing personally to the highest ecclesiastical authority. She had not been ordered to succeed, but only to make a valiant forward effort, and having achieved this, her mission was accomplished.

At the same time, being flatly refused, losing as it were the opening battle, in so important a cause, she could not refrain from grieving. Our Lord hastened at once to console her.

"Our Saviour made me understand," writes Sister Mary, "that His Work of Reparation will only become the more flourishing in the future, for it will grow the stronger and more vigorous in the midst of storms, and that like a ship refused harbor at one port, it will happily land at another."

Then as if to reassure her in a final and most striking manner about the unbounded efficacy of Devotion to the Holy Face, our Lord now declared to her that nothing is more capable of disarming God's irritated justice than to offer Him the Holy Face because the Sacred Head has taken upon Itself the thorns of our sins, and the Holy Face has set itself as a rock under the strokes of that same justice.

"It has canceled our debts," says Sister Mary of St. Peter, "and It is our security. Therefore, our Saviour has commanded me to keep myself constantly before the throne of His Father offering Him this Divine Face, the object of His delight."

But if the Saviour through these words urged His faithful servant, Sister Mary of St. Peter, to continue, in spite of all obstacles, to practice the Devotion to His adorable Face, He also made it clear that the Reparation was not to remain as her private personal devotion merely, but that it was to be spread far and wide.

"Our Lord told me that He wanted this Devotion to His Holy Face MOST ZEALOUSLY propagated."

This statement was destined to be the Saviour's final and irrevocable decree issued to the virgin of Carmel in regard to the Work of Reparation. Its re-emphasis at this stage of developments is self-evident. When two weeks earlier the Secretary in an interview with Sister Mary of St. Peter told her never again to request the establishment of the Work of Reparation in the Diocese of Tours, this negative attitude might indicate to a certain degree an authoritative halting of the Devotion to the Holy Face unless the Saviour Himself reopened the issue, shedding further light on the subject.

The revelation of March, 1848, therefore, taking place only a few days after the interview with the diocesan representative, was a final restatement of the Sovereign Will of our Saviour regarding the Reparation, which doubtless, ultimately paved the way for the Supreme Pontiff himself to be approached, and in due time to render his unerring approval of it.

This was to be the last such plea by our Lord to Sister Mary of St. Peter, climaxing four and one-half years of repeated communications on this subject. Almost at once other unexpected events began rapidly to shape the destiny of Sister Mary of St. Peter. Less than two weeks after her historic interview with the Secretary who enjoined her in the name of the Archbishop not to ask again for the establishment of the Devotion to the Holy Face in the diocese, Sister Mary of St. Peter received a divine communication of culminating importance to herself. Shining with glory, our Lord appeared to the faithful apostle of His Work of Reparation and said:

"You are near the goal of your earthly pilgrimage. The end of the combat approaches. You will soon behold My Face in Heaven . . ." The date of this revelation announcing her fastly approaching death was March 30, 1848.

Although Sister Mary was until now apparently in fair health, following all the religious exercises prescribed by the Holy Rule, and performing all her duties as Portress Sister, she suddenly developed certain alarming symptoms, and after being examined by a physician, she was found to be mortally ill. Besides suffering from severe pulmonary tuberculosis, she also developed an ulcerated throat which fittingly symbolized her role in life, as that of a victim repairing especially for blasphemies uttered by the tongues of guilty men. For two and a half months she was unable to take any solid food whatever and subsisted only on a small quantity of liquids. Enduring her pains with resignation, and even joy, she prayed almost constantly for the salvation of souls, while she longed to exchange this world for the next.

Shortly before she died she was asked about the Devotion to the Holy Face, to which she answered:

"I have the greatest hopes. The plans of the wicked will be foiled! It was to accomplish this that the Work of Reparation to the Holy Face was revealed. Now that this is done my career is ended for it was for this Work that God had placed me on earth, as our Lord has made known to me. Oh, how true it is that God has means of satisfying His justice which are unknown to men."

Once when she was asked to apply certain of her sufferings for a special intention, she replied:

"I do not know whether I am free to do so because I am entirely consecrated as a victim to the cause of the Work of Reparation."

She died in the odor of sanctity on July 8, 1848, in the thirty-third year of her life, less than four months after the interview she had held with the Secretary who told her that while she was allowed to apply herself personally to the Work of Reparation, she was never again to ask for the establishment of the Work in the diocese. At the time this seemed, indeed, a difficult order to fulfill for one who was by Divine Providence selected as an Apostle to work for the propagation of the Cult of the Holy Face as her particular mission in life.

But she who was ever obedient in the spirit and to the very letter of the law during life was to show herself obedient unto death. It was to become a matter of record that she never again asked for the establishment of the Devotion to the Holy Face in her diocese. Her inflamed, ulcerated throat, parched and aching as if pierced by thorns, allowed for no more verbal addresses, and thus in one stroke of Providence, she was freed forever from the burden of repeating her requests for the establishment of the great Work of Reparation for whose triumph she had offered herself as a victim.

Now, dying as that victim, she would attain her end in the same manner as did her Divine Model, Who offered Himself because it was His Own will, and dying as a holocaust on the cross achieved His goal, the redemption of the human race.

After her death, Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face was chiefly kept up through the fervor of a wealthy retired lawyer of Tours, a devoted friend of the deceased nun, Leo Dupont. Having procured a picture of the Holy Face, which was touched to the true relic of the veil of Veronica at the Vatican, this exemplary Christian hung it on a prominent wall of his drawing room before which he ever kept a lamp burning, as a token of veneration.

So many extraordinary favors were granted to those who prayed before this picture that the residence of this lawyer became a private place of pilgrimage. For the next thirty years, that is to the very end of his life, Leo Dupont kept the flame of Reparation alive in his home for the benefit of all who wished to intercede to God before it. Three months after his saintly death, his home was transformed into a public chapel. Soon afterwards the Work of Reparation was referred to the decision of the Supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII, who wholeheartedly approved the Devotion, through the formality of a Papal Brief.

So was erected in perpetuity the Archconfraternity of Reparation in the Oratory of Leo Dupont, in 1885, where until the present day priests still carry on the mission of Sister Mary of St. Peter, to whom our Lord revealed a hundred years ago the real weapon that is destined for the overthrow of Communism. That weapon is Devotion to the Holy Face as a means of Reparation for the outrageous crimes of modern freethinkers, atheists, blasphemers and the profaners of the Lord's day, which are the evils that more than any other cry to Heaven for vengeance and that today bring us face to face with the threat of an atomic war whose consequence would admittedly be the destruction of all civilization as we know it.