We wonder at times about God’s choices: why the Blessed Virgin appeared here at rue du Bac and not somewhere else? Let us not forget that in spite of the controversies that were current in the Church, St. Louise de Marillac was convinced of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. She inspired in her Daughters a great devotion to Mary.
By a solemn act, St. Louise made a perpetual offering of her community to God through Mary. Two Marian feasts are included in the spiritual calendar of the Daughters of Charity: March 25, Feast of the Annunciation, the day on which the Daughters of Charity annually renew their vows and December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception for the yearly renewal of the act of consecration to Mary. The last words of St. Louise’s Spiritual Testament reveal the sentiments of her heart: “and pray earnestly to the Blessed Virgin, that she may be your only Mother.
When praying the rosary the Daughters of Charity say this prayer at the end of every decade: “Most holy Virgin, I believe and confess your holy and Immaculate Conception…”