To do what God wants
Mother Salomé spoke very little of herself, wrote even less, and shortly before her death most of her writings were destroyed at her request. On the day of her First Communion, young Marie-Renée prayed “to be a great saint by doing what God wants.” Even at the end of her life, it was still the same desire. Her nurse told her, “I think the good Lord is coming to get you.” And Mother Salomé repeated her favorite saying: “When He wants … I am not afraid.” During the day, she often repeated this request to the holy Virgin: “Through your example, may the constant cry of my heart be that of Jesus: ‘Father, may your will and not mine be done.‘ ” From this comes her devotion to daily duty, to ordinary actions. She writes: “We must work without ceasing for our sanctification. However, we cannot do it by extraordinary…
Mother Marie-Salomé and Breton Spirituality
Over the centuries, Breton Spirituality has venerated Breton personalities known for their exemplary life from a Christian point of view. Few of them have been recognized as saints by the Church’s canonization procedure, but they have been honoured by the people, their very existence not always being historically attested. From 2021 another statuette has been added to this demonstration of ancient popular spirituality, that of our Venerable Mother Marie Salomé, who was carried on the pilgrimage by Danielle Burthier and 3 lay people from the Lavigerie family. An article by Danielle will follow on Sharing Trenta Aprile with details of this experience. According to a late literary and hagiographic construction forged from the eleventh century, the seven founding saints are traditionally reputed to have founded the seven bishoprics that existed in the late Middle Ages. Because of their precedence to any canonical procedure, these saints have not been officially recognized by…