"O Mary! conceived without sin, look down upon France, pray for France, save France! The greater her guilt, the more need of your intercession. Only a word to Jesus reposing in your arms, and France is saved." "O Jesus! obedient to Mary, save France!" [Illustration] CHAPTER VIII. THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL AND THE WAR. The wars which have taken place since the year 1854, the epoch of the definition of the Immaculate Conception, have presented a spectacle to which the world was unaccustomed. Not only were _priests_ called upon to administer to the spiritual necessities of the soldiers in camps and ambulances, but _Sisters_ also were charged with the care of the sick and wounded. The priest's cassock and the robe of the religious, became almost as familiar to the eye as the military costume itself! Sisters of Charity accompanied the armies in the wars of the East, in 1854; in Italy, in 1859; in the United States, in 1861; in Mexico, in 1864; in Austria and Prussia, in 1866; in France and Germany, in 1870; and we find them ministering to the Russian army and also the Turkish ambulance in 1877. For them no enemies existed; the camps of both belligerents claimed their attention, they were equally devoted to all who needed their ministry of charity. During the hardships and dangers of war, chaplains and Sisters could not fail to invoke the Blessed Virgin, and the Miraculous Medal naturally became the sign of the soldier's devotion and the pledge of our merciful Mother's protection, against the moral and physical dangers war brings in its train. The medal was profusely distributed; it was accepted and worn with confidence; even Protestants and Schismatics asking eagerly for it; officers as well as private soldiers attaching it to their uniforms when they set out for the combat; the sick employed it to obtain recovery, or at least, an alleviation of their sufferings; the dying kissed it with love; many attributed to it their preservation in battle, and a still greater number were indebted to it for their eternal salvation. In proof of the above, we shall present some facts, selected from the thousands related in the correspondence of the missionaries and Sisters who followed the several armies. WAR IN THE EAST, FROM 1854 to 1856. "On the Feast of the Assumption, we shall have at Varna, a beautiful religious ceremony, at which the whole army will assist. I have brought from Constantinople a banner of the Blessed Virgin; this we will set up, and confidently invoking Mary, we know she will obtain the cessation of the cholera, and success of our arms."[24] [Footnote 24: Letter of Mr. Boré, Aug. 13, 1854.] "The inmates of our hospital of Péra, at Constantinople, number about twelve hundred, including sixty officers. These gentlemen receive the Miraculous Medal with joy and gratitude. Endeavor to find some good souls who will send us a large supply of these pious objects."[25]