Tomorrow, 2nd December, is the Feast, in our beloved Order, of Our Lady Causa Nostrae Laetitia. It is also the first day out of Chinese Flu Lockdown in England, so a second Joy. We can all go to Mass to celebrate the feast quite legally, as we hope we shall!
In 1134 three Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, prisoners of the Muslim in Egypt, miraculously received in their prison a statue of Our Lady, which they named "Notre-Dame de Liesse" (Our Lady of Joy in mediaeval French). In response to their prayers, a young Muslim princess, named Ismerie, took an interest in the Knights and through the intercession of Our Lady and the mercy of God the princess was converted. The princess arranged the escape of the pious crusaders and joined them on their journey to France.
They carried the statue with them, and in the region of Laon, about 35 miles northwest of Reims, they founded a church as a resting place for the image. Through local devotion the church took on the name of the statue, and in due course gave that name to the whole region, so that "Notre Dame de Liesse" came to mean both "Our Lady of Joy" and "Our Lady of (the place called) Liesse".
The statue came to be venerated by many, and "Notre-Dame de Liesse" became the Patroness of the Diocese of Soissons. The original statue was destroyed during the French Revolution, but the medieval basilica at Liesse remained a centre of devotion to the Mother of God, and a new statue was installed and crowned there in 1857. The picture above records that happy occasion.
In 1620 the titular Bailiff of Armenia of our Order, Fra' Jacques Chenu de Bellay, built a pretty baroque church to Our Lady of Liesse at Valetta in Malta; there she was much venerated by the Order’s navy. The church is today the chaplaincy church of the Port of Valetta.
For the who have Roman friends call Bibiana, a happy onomastico to them today too, of course!
Notre-Dame de Liesse, priez pour nous.
Santa Bibiana, prega per noi.
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