In 1897, Monsignor Paul Joseph Buguet, the founder of the Shrine of Montligeon traveled across the ocean to tour the United States of America. As a result of this mission in the USA, thousands of Americans were enrolled in the Confraternity of Montligeon. More than 120 years later, the Shrine hasn’t forgotten its historical friendship with the States.
During the 2025 mission in the USA (June 24-30), chaplain Don François-Marie André, accompanied by international assistant Marie Houdebert, visited Boston (MA), St. Louis (MO), and Baton Rouge and New Orleans (LA). In addition to TV and radio interviews, meetings with American prelates – among whom Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston and Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans – the 2025 mission had a special focus on meeting with parishes to speak about the Confraternity and the Perpetual Mass for the poor souls in purgatory.
Boston – spreading the word
The mission started in Boston where we were made welcome by the Daughters of Saint Paul who kindly opened their doors to us for a night and were happy to share about their media-focused apostolate, which earned them the nickname of “Media Nuns”.
A great way for us to appreciate the importance of the media (from the traditional printed press to the newer social media and the increasingly present AI) in evangelistic work as we prepared for Don François-Marie’s interview at the CatholicTV studios.
Interview on CatholicTV
Why would a French priest go on American TV to speak about a shrine lost in the middle of Normandy? Americans in the late 19th Century must have been similarly surprised to see Fr. Buguet. Imagine seeing a humble pastor from a small Normand parish knocking at your door during the Industrial Revolution. And why? To ask you to pray for thedeceased.
That is exactly the point of the 2025 mission in the USA, but also of Montligeon’s work in general. To spread the word on something we need to pay more attention – praying for the dead.
“We can still do something for our deceased”
During his interview, Don François-Marie explained the history and reasons behind the foundation of the Shrine, and discussed topics such as the Catholic Church’s doctrine concerning Purgatory and the role of prayer for the deceased.
This is something that we don’t often care to speak about. Perhaps because death frightens us and fills us with a sense of powerlessness. Our loved ones are gone forever, so we feel like we can’t help them, can’t save them.
Well, as Don François-Marie points out, “we can still love them”. While we are cut off from our loved ones in body, we are still bonded with them in soul through the communion of saints. Offering prayers and especially the holy mass for them keeps this bond of love alive. This is how we alleviate their suffering and hasten their pilgrimage toward the loving face of God.
Meeting Cardinal O’Malley
Later that day, during a meeting with Cardinal Sean O’Malley, when Don François-Marie asked him for his opinion on how the Confraternity of Montligeon could be helpful in America, his Eminence answered: “Encourage the offering of masses for the deceased”.
In a world where we would like to avoid hearing about such scary things as death, mortal sin, hell, the mission of Montligeon and the whole Catholic Church is to spread the word, but a word of hope: we can expect mercy, even in death, for ourselves and those we love. But we have to ask for it.
St. Louis – in communion of prayer
People sometimes ask: “How long does the Perpetual Mass last?”. As if they couldn’t believe that it is actually in perpetuity. People who died over a hundred years ago still benefit from the holy mass. It is celebrated every day for them and their brothers and sisters enrolled in the Confraternity of Montligeon.
The Fraternity
When Don François-Marie showed Father Anthony Ochoa, pastor of All Souls Catholic Church in St. Louis (MO), a register of the Confraternity from 1910, he couldn’t believe his eyes! Those registers, kept in a large cabinet in the basilica of Montligeon, contain the names of all the people who were enrolled since the foundation of the Confraternity. It was a very emotional moment for Father Ochoa. These were people who lived and died in Father Anthony’s city, perhaps even in his parish!
All those names, carefully handwritten all these years ago, are an image of the communion of saints here on Earth. We may be separated by time, distance, or even death, but we are all one in the merciful heart of Jesus.
Our Lady of All Souls
The parish of All Souls, whose congregation is mainly Hispanic, has a profound devotion for the holy souls. We visited it on the Feast Day of its patroness -Our Lady of All Souls- whose image bears a close resemblance to the statue of Our Lady of Montligeon – the Blessed Virgin, offering a hand to a soul in Purgatory, while the infant Christ in her arms crowns the same soul, finally ready to enter Heaven, with the crown of joy.
Father Ochoa, who visited the Shrine, started a confraternity of prayer for the holy souls in his own parish, who now prays in communion with the Confraternity of Montligeon every 2nd Tuesday.
After participating in the day’s masses (Don François-Marie concelebrated in English and Spanish!), we were invited to the evening’s festivities. After a dinner with the parish, the complete Confraternity of All Souls received their scapulars from Father Ochoa and Don François-Marie.
Louisiana – together under the gaze of Mary
As we made our way to Louisiana, we felt like we were expected. Not only by the friends of the Shrine who helped us during this mission. Not only by the people gathered to hear Don François-Marie present the Confraternity of Montligeon. But by Our Lady herself!
During his 1897 mission in the USA, Father Buguet spent some time in Louisiana where he built a strong relationship of prayer with some of the faithful there. After he left, they didn’t forget about him or his work. A group of ladies, parishioners of the Saint-Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, had a statue of Our-Lady of Montligeon made in France and shipped to the US, to be then placed in the Cathedral.
It has been there ever since.
Baton Rouge
First, we went to Baton Rouge, at the Sacred Heart of Jesus church. There, we were received by Father Miles Walsh, a retired priest, and a dozen parishioners. They were interested in hearing about the work of Montligeon. Don François-Marie then explained the purpose of the Confraternity, the Perpetual Mass. He also went in details about the symbolism surrounding the statue of Our Lady of Montligeon.
New Orleans
The next two days, we spent in New Orleans. There, Don François-Marie concelebrated two masses with Archbishop Emeritus Alfred Hughes.
The first took place at the Shrine Our-Lady of Prompt Succor, whose miraculous statue of the Blessed Mother, lovingly called “Sweetheart”, protected the shrine from a great fire and the city from English invasion.
The second was at the Saint Louis Cathedral, where Our-Lady of Montligeon was waiting for us.
There was something profoundly beautiful in connecting those two statues. They represent the two complementary roles of Mary – protector of the living, and liberator of the dead.
Our Lady of Montligeon
In the vestibule of Saint-Louis Cathedral, the statue of Our Lady of Montligeon shows its age. It is unmarked, and many visitors, pilgrims, faithful, walk past it without knowing its meaning, or that its “big sister”, in faraway Normandy, receives hundreds of prayers from the bereaved all over the world. And yet, candles burn at her feet, not out of devotion towards a specific shrine, but because we are all praying for the same thing – deliverance, consolation, for ourselves and those we love. This is what brings us together, under the gaze of our Blessed Mother.
This mission in the USA couldn’t have happened without all those who helped us plan it, and welcomed us during our journey. A big thank you to them!
The apostolate of Montligeon is to promote prayer for the deceased throughout the world. Let us continue praying together for our brothers and sisters in this world and the next, and for the Confraternity of Montligeon.
