 |
| Mary Cause of Our Joy |
Religious images were rare in England in 1845 Father Gentili and Mother Margaret were determined to bring back devotion to the Blessed Virgin through all means available to them. The prepared a bier adorned with lights and flowers and placing the image of the Blessed Virgin decked with gala wreaths on top of it. Young girls dressed in white accompanied her on the procession through the streets. Father Gentili sang a song hailing Mary as the “Cause of our joy.” The solemn and beautiful procession was made around the church on two nights in a row and crowds turned out to see the sight. The people were so numerous they filled not only the church and churchyard, but even the adjoining streets. Mother Margaret’s hope that the “multitudes might have a glimpse of those ancient rites which had returned to triumph over their profane and modern substitute” was fulfilled. She delighted in knowing that the beloved image she brought with her from Belgium was the first to be publicly carried in England after the reformation. This public act of reparation offered to the Mother of God was a cause of joy for Margaret for the rest of her life.
Drane, Augusta Theodosia (Mother Francis Raphael), Life of Mother Margaret Mary Hallahan: Foundress of the English Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, New York, 1929, p. 114.
