Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
Located in Normandy, France, 93 miles west of Paris, the Shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon is the world center of prayer for the deceased. Each year, thousands of bereaved pilgrims come to seek solace and hope and entrust their deceased to Our Lady Liberatrix.
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Montligeon is a shrine, i.e a pilgrimage site, that welcomes numerous pilgrims throughout the year. This basilica was built at the end of the 19th century by Father Paul-Joseph Buguet (1843-1918), a country priest, who also founded the “Expiatory Work for the Deliverance of the Forgotten Souls in Purgatory”.
The Catholic shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon is a diocesan shrine that has been entrusted by the bishop of Séez to priests of the Saint-Martin community, currently assisted by 11 Sisters of the New Covenant. Pilgrims from all over the world come to the shrine to pray for the dead and for the living. The primary mission of the Shrine of Montligeon is to welcome visitors and offer to them a place of solace, where they can be comforted, heard and consoled.
Since 1884, the shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon has promoted prayer for the deceased and for the souls in Purgatory, especially through a perpetual mass celebrated daily for the living and the deceased whose names are sent each day to the Montligeon Fraternity of prayer.
The shrine's other mission is to proclaim Christian hope and the teachings of the Catholic Church about Eternal Life. At the shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon, you are invited to entrust your deceased and the souls in purgatory to Our Lady Liberatrix.
When you enter the Basilica of Our Lady of Montligeon, you are greeted by a magnificent statue over the main altar called Our Lady Liberatrix. This exceptional work was commissioned by Abbé Buguet to the Italian sculptor Giulio Tadolini. Inaugurated in 1919, the statue measures 3.7 meters and weighs approximately 13 tons.
The statue represents the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in her arms, symbolizing Eternal Life, one of the recurring themes at the Our Lady of Montligeon Shrine. At their feet, two almost identical female figures symbolize the same soul at different stages of her posthumous life.
The one on the left is still in Purgatory, chained by the bonds of sin, and has a supplicant attitude. She exchanges a look of trust with the Virgin who holds out her hand as a sign of intercession. The figure on the right, hands folded on her chest in an expression of thanksgiving, is ushered into glory by the Child Jesus, who bestows a crown on her. On September 19, 1935, the Virgin Mary and the little Jesus of Our Lady of Montligeon were crowned in a solemn ceremony.
The Mary of Nazareth organization, in partnership with the Shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon, invited you to pray a beautiful novena in November to Our Lady of Montligeon with Our Lady Liberatrix entitled: "Growing in Hope". Closely following All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, this novena is intended to prepare us now for eternal life, and to pray for all our deceased brothers and sisters.
Each day of this novena to Our Lady of Montligeon will address a theme related to death and eternal life so that we become more aware of Jesus' promises concerning the next life.
Each day, we will bring you a meditation written by a different Sister of the New Covenant, followed by the writings of a saint or by a selected passage of the New Testament, and ending with the prayer to Our Lady Liberatrix for the deceased.
Program of the Novena to Our Lady of Montligeon with Our Lady Liberatrix:
How can the Virgin Mary be a liberator? Jesus Christ alone is indeed the sole mediator between God and men who delivers us from sin. However his Mother is associated with his mission in a very special way. As the Second Vatican Council reminds us (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, n. 62):
“(...) by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home”.
This intercession definitely encompasses Purgatory.
We can therefore pray with faith to Our Lady Liberatrix and invoke her especially for our deceased because Mary helps us today and for the rest of our life to free ourselves from the chains of sin that keep us away from the loving God who patiently awaits us.
This novena to Our Lady of Montligeon with Our Lady Liberatrix, designed to meditate and pray for our deceased, was written in collaboration with the sisters of the New Covenant who help run the shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon. The community of the New Covenant was founded in 1994 by Mother Marie-Aimée and established in the diocese of Séez by Bishop Dubigeon as a public association of the faithful.
The sisters settled in La Chapelle-Montligeon, a small village with a population of 500 in southeastern Normandy. They live a contemplative and missionary life centered on the Eucharist, contemplated, lived and proclaimed, particularly according to the merciful love which they meditate on at the foot of Our Lady Liberatrix in the Basilica of Montligeon.
The sisters offer spiritual direction and visit the isolated. They oversee the daily liturgy of the Shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon: the offices of Lauds, Terce, and Vespers; the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, all activities offered at the Shrine, and hospitality of pilgrims.
Our Lady Liberatrix, have mercy on all our deceased loved ones, especially those who are most in need of the Lord’s mercy.
Intercede for those who have left us and may the purifying love of God lead them to full deliverance. May our prayer, united with the prayer of the whole Church, obtain for them a joy beyond all their desires and bring consolation and relief to our loved ones, in their suffering and distress.
Mother of the Church, help us, pilgrims on earth, to make our life a time of interior liberation during our journey towards the Resurrection. Heal our wounds of heart and soul. Help us to become witnesses of the Invisible, seeking the things that the eye cannot see. Grant us the grace of becoming apostles of Hope, like watchmen awaiting the dawn.
Refuge of sinners and Queen of all saints, gather us all, one day, in our Father’s House For the eternal Resurrection! Amen!
Our Lady of Montligeon, pray for the souls in Purgatory.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon is a unique place in the world dedicated to prayer for the deceased where one can find consolation and comfort after a bereavement. It offers accompaniment sessions of 2 to 5 days to regain hope and better understand the bond of love that continues to exist beyond the grave. Register a person with the Fraternity of Our Lady of Montligeon so she receive a perpetual mass and the assurance of the prayers of the Shrine:
Entrust your loved ones, living or deceased, to the perpetual mass celebrated at the shrine since 1884. Online registration is available on the Our Lady of Montligeon Shrine website: montligeon.org
The perpetual mass of Our Lady of Montligeon is a mass for our loved ones and for our deceased, every day and forever.