MANUAL OF PRAYERS FOR THE USE OF THE Pilgrims to Paray-le-Monial, SEPTEMBER 2, 1873. BIBLILINE! SEP 80 BODLEIAN LONDON: BURNS AND OATES, Portman Street and Paternoster Row. PREFACE. I. PILGRIMAGE FROM ENGLAND TO PARAY-LE-MONIAL, IN HONOUR OF THE SACRED HEART. Ar this time, when the Church is going through a period of extraordinary tribulation in the person of the Supreme Pontiff, of her Bishops and Priests, and of the religious orders-her strength and her glory -the feeling, natural to all Christians, that in prayer alone can be found the remedy for all these evils, is now assuming a form which has been in all ages one of the most vivid expressions of Catholic Faiththat of pilgrimages to those sanctuaries where ancient devotion or recent graces have led men to exclaim as the Patriarch Jacob at Bethel: 'Indeed, the Lord is in this place.' So instinctive, if we may so speak, so spontaneous, and so rapid in its spread has been this pious impulse, that it would seem to indicate a special correspondence with the needs of the present period. The ease with which men unite for various purposes, the facility with which space is traversed and thoughts transmitted in our days, has often served the interests of Satan and his agents. The followers of Jesus Christ are now using these means for an opposite end. In the face of an infidel and blaspheming world they feel impelled openly to proclaim their love for our Divine Lord, and to call upon Him 'who alone is great and does wonderful things' to give ear unto their prayers. France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium all share in this holy movement. We Catholics in England propose to take our part in it. It will be well to make special mention of the place which has been fixed upon as the object of our Pilgrimage. Those who have read the life of the Blessed Margaret Alacoque are already familiar with the name of Paray-le-Monial; but there may be many who do not know the reason why this small and obscure French town is connected with the devotion of the Sacred Heart, and why numberless pilgrims have gone thither during the month dedicated to its worship, to pray for their Church and for their country; for Rome and for France. Exactly two hundred years ago a miracle of divine love took place in the humble little Convent of the Visitation at Paray, which opened the source of all the graces which have flowed ever since from the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To a humble daughter of St. Francis of Sales, who had nursed in her pure and child-like soul an ardent love to our Blessed Lord, that Divine Saviour appeared. He saw her at prayer under a tree in the little garden of the convent, as He once saw Nathaniel under the fig-tree, and to that heart that had no guile He vouchsafed to intrust the message that promised countless blessings to all who would honour with a special love and devotion His Sacred Heart 'that Heart that has loved men so much and has been so little loved in return.' Through good and evil report, through persecution and contempt, humbly and perseveringly, that pure soul bore witness to the desire of her Lord, and delivered this message of boundless love, until the hearts of men began at last to believe in it, and to test and to experience its truth. The Church set her seal on this devotion; recognised, proclaimed, and recommended it to the faithful. This year, therefore, which is the second centenary of that gracious revelation, has been chosen as one of special appeal to the Sacred Heart of our Lord; one so urgent, so unanimous, and so humble, that it cannot fail to reach that Divine Heart, and to move it to compassion; and Paray-le-Monial, the scene of our Lord's apparition to His chosen daughter, has been selected as the most fitting place for that appeal. It is a singular fact that it was in London that the special devotion to the Sacred Heart was for the first time alluded to in a public manner. Father la Colombière, S.J., touched upon it in a sermon which he preached on Corpus Christi, |