Claire Ferchaud: Life, Prophecies, and Prayers
Claire Ferchaud, also called the devout mystic of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, received from the Lord a mission to accomplish during the First World War. She was led to meet the President of the Republic for this purpose. Claire was a religious sister of the convent of Rinfilières in Loublande in the Deux-Sèvres.
Biography of Claire Ferchaud
Claire Ferchaud was born on May 5, 1896, in Puy-Saint-Bonnet, a few kilometers from Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, into a family of six children (she has three brothers and two sisters). Her family was very pious, so she received a solid religious education during her childhood. A refractory priest, during the Wars of the Vendée, is said to have been hidden in the farm where Claire was born. In 1862, her family had even built a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Guard on their land, called the chapel of Rinfillières. As a little girl, she attended the free school of the Sacred Heart. Already, she declared that Jesus Christ and the Holy Virgin Mary came to visit her and delivered messages to her.
On May 12, 1907, Claire made her first communion in the church of Puy-Saint-Bonnet and was confirmed three years later, on April 28, 1910 in La Chapelle-Largeau.
The First World War broke out when she was twenty years old. Two of her brothers were unfortunately mobilized. Claire went on a spiritual retreat. At the end of 1916, she had two visions of Christ, on November 28 and December 16. He showed her his heart "lacerated by the sins of humanity" and pierced by an even deeper wound, that caused by atheism. Troubled, she spoke about it to Father Audebert, the parish priest of Loublande. He then advised her to write down her visions. She did so.
Unfortunately, on December 28, 1916, because of the vision she said she had, she underwent an interrogation before the episcopal commission of Poitiers.
Since this vision, Claire felt invested with a mission by Christ: to contact the President of the Republic, Raymond Poincaré, and ask him to convert. He must "go on the right path which is Christian civilization [...] to set a good example by fighting Freemasonry". She also wanted to ask him to place the image of the Sacred Heart on the tricolor flag and for the French army to henceforth wear this emblem on their uniform. She was intimately convinced that if the president listened to her, victory was assured. Claire then wrote to the President of the Republic to request an audience on January 16, 1917. Thanks to a deputy, Armand-Charles de Baudry d'Asson, the young woman was received at the Élysée on March 21, 1917. Here is the message she conveyed: "The Sacred Heart wants France to officially recognize God as master", "France must show that religion is no longer persecuted there by agreeing to paint the Sacred Heart on its flag*". Raymond Poincaré explained to her that he was not the sole decision-maker, that he could not "undo laws" without the Chamber of Deputies and above all that nothing could be changed on the flag. He nevertheless promised Claire to put the question to the Chamber of Deputies. He obviously did nothing. Faced with the president's silence, the young woman sent him a second letter on May 1, which also remained unanswered.
After the lack of response to her letter of May 1, Claire sent a warning letter on May 7, 1917, to fourteen army generals, asking "that the image of the Sacred Heart, a sign of hope and salvation, shine officially on our national colors". Here are the generals to whom Claire sent the letter:
Philippe Pétain, généralissime;
Joseph-Alfred Micheler, commanding the 1st army;
Adolphe Guillaumat, commanding the 2nd army;
Georges-Louis Humbert, commanding the 3rd army;
Henri-Joseph-Eugène Gouraud, commanding the 4th army, nicknamed the "Army of Fontainebleau";
Fénelon-François-Germain Passaga, commanding the 32nd army corps;
Paul Maistre, commanding the 6th army;
Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy, commanding the 7th army;
Augustin Gérard, commanding the 8th army;
Denis-Auguste Duchêne, commanding the 10th army;
Edouard de Castelnau;
Robert Nivelle;
Emile Fayolle;
Ferdinand Foch;
Hubert Lyautey, Minister of War in the previous government of Aristide Briand
Thanks to two sources, we know that only General Foch consecrated the French and allied armed forces to the Sacred Heart on July 16, 1918. Claire's entourage pointed out that he was the one who achieved the final victory a few months later. We also know, from many sources, that the image of the Sacred Heart was already widely distributed in the trenches, to the point that the Ministry of War wrote a circular on August 6, 1917 prohibiting its display.
After her disappointing interview at the Élysée, she did not admit total defeat and decided, at the end of 1917, to found an independent community of religious sisters.
Claire Ferchaud therefore returned to her native region to organize the life of the community she founded, a community of "reparative virgins," six young women who consecrate their lives to Jesus. Claire Ferchaud then became Sister Claire of the Crucified Jesus. The religious sister installed her convent in the premises of her former patronage: the House of the Sacred Heart. A chapel was founded in December 1917, authorized by the Archbishop of Poitiers and blessed on June 12, 1918. At the end of the war, more and more pilgrims came to Loublande.
Unfortunately, Claire Ferchaud's statements were disavowed on March 12, 1920 by a decree of the Holy Office, estimating that the "facts of Loublande [...] cannot be approved". The setbacks did not stop there because in October 1940 the new bishop of the region suppressed the privileges of the chapel, leading to its closure. Fortunately, the chapel reopened its doors to the public in July 1964, thanks to Cardinal Ottaviani, pro-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Sister Claire gave her soul to the Lord at the age of seventy-five, on January 29, 1972 in Loublande, after having attempted to establish the "perpetual mass" for France. She wanted a mass to be continuously celebrated by a group of priests taking turns. This objective corresponds to a series of visions she had at the ages of five, eleven, and fourteen. Claire had seen "an immense cross touching the sky, the base of which was formed by four altars oriented towards the four cardinal points, where priests succeeded each other day and night to celebrate Holy Mass". The Holy Father never acceded to her request, despite the intervention of many bishops pleading her cause to the Pope.
Sister Claire is buried in the cemetery of Loublande. On her tombstone one can read: "humble victim of expiation, she was obedient unto death, in the love of the Church and of France".
Excerpt from a writing by Sister Claire of the Crucified Jesus
"The most distant memory that remains with me, still as vivid in my mind, is this: being still in the cradle, well before uttering a single word, therefore well before the awakening of reason, I remember the continuous presence of a Child, of marvelous beauty, who stood near my cradle, was it my guardian angel? Or simply a child of the family? Later, I would recognize in the same features the sweet and lovable Child Jesus. But, at two years and below that age, it was enough for me to see Him to be good and content without thinking that it might be a Supernatural Being, I was imbued with this presence long before having knowledge of it, thus this state was quite natural to me, which is why for a long time I would not think to say thank you to my dear Jesus."
Text extracted from Claire Ferchaud, volumes 1 and 2, Téqui editions
Prayer of Sister Claire Ferchaud
"O Heart of Jesus, crushed because of our sins, Heart saddened and martyred by so many crimes and faults, Heart, victim of all iniquities, I love you with all my soul and above all things, I love you for those who despise and abandon you, I love you for those who outrage you and prevent you from reigning, I love you for those who leave you alone in the Holy Eucharist, I love you for the ungrateful souls who dare to profane your Sacrament of Love with their insults and sacrileges. Heart of Jesus, forgive sinners: they know not what they do! Heart of Jesus, sustain all those who propagate your holy Name! Heart of Jesus, sustain all those who suffer and struggle! Heart of Jesus, make society inspired in all things by your Holy Gospel, the only safeguard of justice and peace! Heart of Jesus, may families and nations proclaim your rights! Heart of Jesus, reign over my homeland! Heart of Jesus, may your kingdom come through the Immaculate Heart of Mary! Amen."
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