'Anglet, near Bayonne.
'SIR,
'It is not exactly correct to say that the Blessed Virgin appeared to a good, simple saint of the Community, but rather, I should say, that this soul received a supernatural communication from this Divine Mother, or at any rate conceived she had received such communication from on high. She was at prayer, when a ray of divine light illumined her soul. She saw in spirit the vast desolation caused by the devil throughout the world, and at the same time she heard the Divine Mother telling her that it was true that hell had been let loose upon the earth; but that the time had come when we were to pray to her as Queen of Angels, and when we were to ask of her the assistance of the heavenly legions to fight against these deadly foes of God and of men.
'"But, my Good Mother," answered this soul, "you who are so kind, could you not send them without our asking you?"
'"No," she answered; "because prayer is one of the conditions required by God Himself for obtaining favours."
'And the soul believed she heard the prayer I send you. Naturally, I was made the depositary of this prayer, and my first duty was to submit it to my Lord Bishop, who has benignly deigned to approve of it. It was then that Our Lady made known to me that I should get it printed at the expense of her Work, and distribute it gratis. Since that time, this prayer has received the approbation of their Lordships the Archbishops and Bishops of Tours, of Toulouse, of Besançon, of Tarbes. It is being reprinted at Lille, it is being translated into Spanish, and spread far and wide.
(Signed) 'CESTAC,
'
Priest of the Diocese of Bayonne.'
It would appear that the devil was terribly enraged at the publication of this prayer, for the Abbé Cestac in a recent letter to M. Dupont tells him that the very day on which he sent to Tours 20,000 copies with an offering of 300 francs for the tomb of St. Martin (sent to him for that purpose), a large building three storeys high, was cast to the ground: while a similar misfortune befell the same Community at another of their establishments, some distance off. In neither case, however, was anyone hurt! This occurred on the 11th of November, 1863, Feast of St. Martin of Tours. The Abbé Cestac adds that Providence came to the aid of the good Religious, and enabled them to restore their injured property. It is likewise affirmed that seven printing presses were broken while in the act of printing the prayer, and that the only place at which it could be printed was at Le Puy, where there is a celebrated Shrine of Our Blessed Lady, to which crowds of devout pilgrims flock.