A persistent concern drew me back to Ratisbonne, as if an invisible hand was pushing me toward him. Despite my desire to stay with this family and not be parted from my deceased friend, I could not divert my thoughts from this soul I wished to convert.
I shared my inner struggle with Abbé G., whom Providence had long established as the guardian angel and consoler of the Laferronnays family. He encouraged me to pursue my work, affirming that it was in accordance with the ardent prayers of Mr. de Laferronnays for Ratisbonne's conversion.
Thus, I found myself running after Ratisbonne once more, seeking to captivate him with religious antiquities to anchor his thoughts in Catholic truths. However, my efforts seemed in vain. Even when visiting holy places like the church of Aracoeli, Ratisbonne remained distant and responded to my reflections with jokes. He deferred reflection on his conversion, saying he would think about it in Malta, where he was to spend two months.
Our walk took us to the Capitoline Hill and the Forum, and I tried to sensitize him by visiting churches and sharing aspects of the Catholic faith. Yet, his responses were often cold and tinged with skepticism. Even before the depictions of the martyrs in the church of Santo Stefano Rotondo, he reacted with horror, highlighting the cruelties sometimes perpetrated by Christians against Jews.
Despite my persistent attempts, Ratisbonne remained insensitive to the Catholic faith. However, I continued to believe in God's promises and hoped for his conversion, even if it seemed improbable. I prayed near the coffin of my deceased friend, imploring him to help me convert Ratisbonne.
On January 20, 1842, Ratisbonne had shown no sign of change. His will remained unchanged, his spirit mocking, and his thoughts were anchored in earthly realities. As he read the newspapers at the café on the Piazza di Spagna, his light and casual attitude excluded any serious preoccupation. Later in the day, we met at the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, where, despite preparations for a funeral service, Ratisbonne remained cold and indifferent, even expressing his disinterest in the church. I left him on the Epistle side, to the right of a small enclosure arranged to receive the coffin, and I entered the interior of the convent.
I have only a few words to say to one of the monks: I would like a tribune prepared for the family of the deceased; my absence lasts barely ten or twelve minutes. Upon re-entering the church, I discover Ratisbonne kneeling before the chapel of the angel Saint Michael.
I approach him and nudge him three or four times before he notices my presence. Finally, he turns toward me a face bathed in tears, joins his hands, and says to me with an expression impossible to describe:
"Oh! How that gentleman prayed for me!"
I was myself astonished, feeling what one experiences in the presence of a miracle. I help Ratisbonne up, guide him, almost support him out of the church, asking him where he wants to go.
"Take me wherever you wish," he exclaims, "after what I have seen, I obey."
Despite my questions, he can only express himself through exclamations interspersed with sobs:
"Ah! How happy I am! How good God is! What a fullness of graces and happiness! How pitiable are those who do not know!"
He bursts into tears thinking of heretics and unbelievers. Later, he wonders if he is not mad, but quickly exclaims, "But no, I am in my right mind; my God, my God! I am not mad! Everyone knows well that I am not mad."
When his delirious emotion begins to calm, Ratisbonne, with a radiant, almost transfigured face, embraces me, kisses me, asks to be taken to a confessor, and wants to know when he can receive baptism, indispensable to his life henceforth. He yearns for the happiness of the martyrs, whose torments he saw on the walls of Santo Stefano Rotondo. He declares that he will only explain himself after obtaining permission from a priest, adding:
"For what I have to say, I can only say it on my knees."
I immediately take him to the Gesù, to Father de Villefort, who encourages him to speak. Ratisbonne takes out his medal, kisses it, shows it, and exclaims:
"I SAW HER, I SAW HER!"
His emotion still overwhelms him, but soon, calmer, he can express himself. His own words recount his experience:
"I had been in the church for a moment when suddenly, I felt seized by an inexpressible turmoil. I raised my eyes; the entire building had disappeared from my sight; a single chapel had, so to speak, concentrated all the light, and in the midst of this radiance, appeared standing on the altar, tall, brilliant, full of majesty and sweetness, the Virgin Mary, just as she is on my medal; an irresistible force pushed me toward her. The Virgin motioned with her hand for me to kneel, she seemed to say to me: It is well! She did not speak to me, but I understood everything."
Ratisbonne, transported, shares his feelings about the Real Presence, perceiving it not only as a belief but as a reality he feels. Upon leaving Father de Villefort, we give thanks to God first at Santa Maria Maggiore, then at St. Peter's. Ratisbonne expresses his understanding of Catholics' love for their churches and the piety that drives them to adorn them.
"How good it is here! One would wish never to leave. It is no longer earth, it is almost heaven."
Before the altar of the Most Holy Sacrament, the Real Presence of the Divinity overwhelms him to such an extent that he nearly faints, unable to bear the thought of being in the presence of the living God with the stain of original sin. He takes refuge in the chapel of the Holy Virgin, where he feels protected by an immense mercy.
The story of the conversion of Saint Paul, recounted by me, makes him shed abundant tears. He marvels at the powerful and posthumous bond—to use his expression—that united him to Mr. de Laferronnays. He expresses the desire to spend the night near his coffin, considering it a duty of gratitude. However, Father de Villefort, prudent, dissuades him and advises him not to stay up later than ten o'clock. Ratisbonne confides that he did not sleep the previous night, having constantly before him a large cross, of a particular shape and without a Christ.
"I made incredible efforts to chase away this image, without ever being able to succeed."
A few hours later, by chance, Ratisbonne sees the reverse of the miraculous medal and recognizes his cross! However, my impatience to see the Laferronnays family again was keen. I had sweet consolations to offer them at the moment when the venerated remains of the one they mourned were about to be taken away. Entering the death chamber, in a state of agitation, almost of joy, I suddenly fix the attention of all, letting it be understood that I have something important to say.
All follow me into the adjoining room, and I quickly recount what has just happened. I brought heavenly news. The tears of sorrow change for a moment into tears of gratitude. These afflicted hearts can now bear, with all the resignation of true Christians, the cruelest of sacrifices, the last that death imposes, the final farewell to the remains of the one they loved.
However, I am eager to find the son heaven had just given me. He had begged me not to leave him alone, needing a friend to share the profound emotions of this day. I ask him for new details about the miraculous vision. He cannot explain completely. He had gone from the right side of the church to the chapel on the left, separated by the preparations for the funeral service. He had suddenly found himself kneeling and prostrate near that chapel.
At the first moment, he had been able to glimpse the Queen of Heaven in all the splendor of her immaculate beauty. However, his gaze could not sustain the brilliance of that divine light. Three times, he tried to contemplate again the Mother of Mercies, but his efforts were in vain. He could only raise his eyes to her blessed hands, from which luminous sheaves, a torrent of graces, emanated.
"My God," he exclaims, "I who, half an hour before, was still blaspheming! I who felt such violent hatred against the Catholic religion! But all who know me know well that, humanly speaking, I had the strongest reasons to remain Jewish. My family is Jewish, my fiancée is Jewish, my uncle is Jewish... In becoming Catholic, I break with all earthly interests and hopes, and yet I am not mad. It is well known that I am not mad, that I never have been."
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The news of this striking prodigy began to circulate in Rome. People ran from one to another, questioning, recounting, recording the details obtained. Although one is on guard not to accept anything lightly, doubt becomes impossible in the face of facts so evident, so incontestable. Thanks are given to God for being in Rome at a moment when His inexhaustible goodness revives confidence in the Immaculate Virgin, manifesting in an admirable manner the power of her intercession.
Everyone wants to see and speak to this thrice-happy young man, for whom the Mother of divine grace descended from heaven. I was with Ratisbonne at Father de Villefort's when General Chlapouski made his way to us.
"Sir, so you saw the image of the Holy Virgin? And tell me how..." — "The image! Sir," interrupts Ratisbonne, "the image! But I saw her herself, in reality, in person, as I see you there..."
I cannot help but observe here: if any illusion were possible, given the circumstances of character, education, prejudices, interests of heart and position that I have recounted, it could not have been produced by any external representation. For there is in the chapel where the miracle occurred neither statue, nor painting, nor any image representing the Virgin.
Source: Conversion of Mr. Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne – Mr. Le Baron The. De Bussières – 1859