Our Lady of Peace; A Torrent of Peace

Coming together to strengthen our devotion to Our Lady of Peace is always a significant event for the Congregation, and a good opportunity to commemorate the statue's arrival in the Picpus courtyard on 6 May 1806.

I have tried to convey the emotion felt by the sisters and novices when they first discovered this little Virgin, who was entrusted to and brought to the community by the Good Mother.

What would they have noticed first, and how would they have felt when praying to her? Each person, according to their own personality, would probably have been impressed by one of her attributes or an expression on her or her Son's face.

Measuring just 33 cm in height, the statue's small size speaks of humility, the very quality that prompted God to bow down.

Made of dark wood that has been patinated by the passage of time, the statue bears traces of the fervour of the prayers that have been offered up by thousands of people since Jean de Joyeuse, according to tradition, gave it to his fiancée Françoise at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Mary stands as she did at the foot of the cross when Jesus entrusted us to her care. Everything about her exudes beauty, with a hint of feminine coquettishness. A nice detail is that the entire edge of her dress is embroidered, adding to its elegant, high-quality stitching.

The dress itself is elegant. Consisting of a dress, a coat with very wide sleeves and a softly knotted scarf, it envelops her completely.

The dress has many generous pleats which miraculously widen and flood us with softness, giving us extra life and indescribable confidence in this mother carrying her child.

To keep him closer to her and safer, Mary makes a slight movement and bends her right knee. We could interpret this movement as our mother's decisive ‘yes’, the ‘let it be’ that set her on her way, that makes her attentive to everything we ask of her and share with her. Mary, like our sculpture, is not a passive woman; she is attentive and in motion, while her other leg speaks of a sure footing, of firmness.

Mary dresses like a woman of her time — or rather, of all times — a woman who is fully present yet completely devoted to her inner virginity.

Her whole demeanour, especially her face, conveys the impression of a woman deeply absorbed in her thoughts, keeping events in her heart. Her heart and her face are clear. Exposed to the divine light, which she absorbs, Mary contemplates. She seems to perceive, grasp and hold events for a moment in order to be imbued with them and go deeper into them.

By looking at her, we learn to open ourselves to the sense of eternity and peace underlying every moment, every person, every action and every word.

The baby Jesus. Is it a portrait of his mother? It is difficult to say. Their hands are similar. Jesus' right hand is pressed against a cross, a sign of salvation, while Mary's holds an olive branch, a sign of peace. Jesus' left hand holds the world, while Mary's, firm and strong, holds her son, the Prince of Peace. The same movements, the same gestures. Mary, Jesus, the Cross, Peace, the universe: are these not the essential elements of our spirituality?

And Mary's feet? What did the sisters of Picpus see in 1806? Bare feet with very simple sandals: just a sole and a few straps. Feet taking a step forward. Leaving? Mary did so hastily to go and meet her cousin Elizabeth... Walking, walking to the ends of the earth: is that not what Our Lady of Peace did to go, in the company of our brothers and sisters, to speak of Peace under all the heavens where the Congregation is established?

Jeanne Cadiou, ss.cc.

07/09/2025

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