God's Providence Will Provide
by Fr. Demaris
Professor of Theology
Missionary of St. Joseph, at Lyon, France
1801
Editor's preface: "During the French Revolution very many bishops and priests were martyred for their faith as were many outstanding laymen also martyred. Church property was seized by the Masonic government. That left the people without their priests and without a place to go to Mass and receive the sacraments. It was during that period that a Father Demaris wrote the following letter to the concerned Catholics of his day. [...] Read it with an eye to history and an eye to the present. May it bring you courage and consolation."
"You know of the efficacy of the sacraments; you know of the obligation imposed on you to have recourse to the sacrament of Penance to cleanse us of our sins. But to profit from these channels of mercy, it requires ministers of the Lord. In our position without worship, without altar, without sacrifice, without priests, we only see Heaven and no longer have mediators among men. Let this abandonment not deject us!"
