BLESSED MARY

The Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Patronage of Our Lady is celebrated by the Brothers of St. John of God on the third Saturday in November. St. John of God always had a great devotion to the Mother of God and this has continued throughout the life of the Brothers. The General Chapter of the Brothers held in 1736 instituted this special feast of the Order.

Tradition also added to this Feast where the Brothers in France placed themselves under the protection of the Mother of God. The story goes - "In order to meet their debts the Brothers sought alms in every quarter. But they were not able to keep up the payment on the building work that had been done and were threatened with eviction unless they could pay twenty thousand francs. They did not know where to turn for the money. One of the Brothers received two hundred francs from his relatives. Instead of putting it towards the debt, Br. John decided to buy a statue of Our Lady with it, consecrate the Province to her maternal protection and trust that she would find a way out of their difficulties. On the 19th November 1826, Brothers and patients knelt before the statue of Our Blessed Lady and she was appointed Superior-General. Her intervention was both rapid and efficacious. Within a few days two cheques arrived which were quite unexpected, and enough to meet immediate needs. The letter containing one of the cheques was addressed to the Superiors of the Brothers of St. John of God and the postmaster would not hand it over at first believing it was not for them. But the Brothers saw in this a delicate gesture on the part of Our Lady and reward for their trust in her. Since that time every year on the third Saturday of November, which is now the feast of the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin, the Brothers gather in front of the same statue and place themselves and their patients and hospitals under the protection of the Immaculate Mother of God."

From The Story of the Hospitallers of St. John of GodBrother Norbert Mc Mahon, O.H.