Our Lady of Liesse aka Our Lady of Joy americaneedsfatima.blogspot.com |
IT MAKES SENSE TO ME
By Larry Peterson
During the time of the Crusades, it happened that one day, three of
the Knights of St. John were caught in an ambush and captured by the Saracens. The three prisoners were brothers and happened to be from
the highly regarded family of Eppes in northern France. They were all loyal and
true to the faith, a trait that would be immediately tested.
The men were taken to Cairo
and brought before the Sultan. The Sultan thought he could convert them to Islam by offering them lavish gifts, but
that proved to be an effort in futility. The Sultan
angered at their obstinance, threw
them into prison. The three men were then
subjected to all kinds of torture and hardships, including starvation. It
did not matter; they refused to waiver.
Exasperated at his
failure to convert the men to Islam, the Sultan tried
another approach. He sent his beautiful daughter, Princess Ismeria, to
try and win them over.
Princess Ismeria knew
the cruel death that awaited the three Knights if they did not give in to her
father. However, when she would try to coax them with promises of riches and high
positions, they would quote scripture to her. She began to weaken, and then they
told her of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They told
her that the Virgin Mary’s image was enough to capture
every heart, convincing it to love her.”
Princess Ismeria,
curious about this beautiful image, asked the brothers to create an image of this Divine Mother so she could see
what she looked like. She gave them wood,
brushes, paints, and all the necessary tools to make such an image. Then she
went away.
The brothers, having no
idea how to make a statue, fell into a deep sleep. As they slept
an angel, sent by the Virgin Mary, came and carved a statue of the Madonna with
a face that was filled with kindness and
love. Soon after finishing, a brilliant
light awoke the three young men.. When they saw the figure, they immediately knelt before it and began to pray.
Early the next morning,
Princess Ismeria arrived and saw the statue. She was astonished and fell at the
foot of the icon. She began pleading with
the Virgin Mary to make her Christian through Baptism. That night, as the
princess slept, the Blessed Mother appeared to her in a dream and told her that the three knights would escape from Egypt and take her to France with them
When Ismeria awoke she
rushed to the tower and found the big
doors opened. She led the knights out of the fortress, giving them their
freedom. They made their way to the banks of the Nile, and a boatman was waiting to it
take them across. When they reached the
other side, the man vanished. He had been an angel sent by Our Lady.
As evening approached, the four travelers sought out some shelter to
rest for the night. Exhausted from their long day’s journey, they quickly fell
asleep. When they awoke, they discovered
that they were in another place. Confused,
they asked a traveler where they were. He
told them they were in Picardy, which was near
Eppes. They all knelt in prayer, realizing that another miracle had
occurred, bringing them to safety.
They had carried the
statue from Cairo and began walking
toward their villa in Eppes. As they
neared the villa, the statue became so
heavy they could not move it. They were
in the town of Liesse, and they
immediately knew that this was the place Our Lady wanted her statue to stay.
The three brother
Knights of St. John were greeted with
great jubilation by their relatives and friends. They were all fascinated by
Princess Ismeria, who renounced her former life. The Bishop of Leon baptized
her and gave her the name of Mary. Her
prayers had been answered. The people
built a church to receive the Statue of
Our Lady of Liesse.
As
time went by, the church
took on the name of the statue and then the entire region. Eventually, the
Basilica of Notre Dame de Liesse also became known as Our Lady of Liesse and
Our Lady of Joy. Pilgrims come from
all over the world to see the statue,
and there is an annual pilgrimage to
the Basilica on Whit Monday (the day after Pentecost). The Feast day is December 2.
Copyright©Larry
Peterson 2019
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