THEY ESCAPED THE GUILLOTINE

It was in Paris, during the saddest period of the French Revolution. For someone to be arrested and condemned to death, it was enough merely to accuse them of being a monarchist or an uncompromising Catholic.

The parents of Julia Janau, an eleven-year-old girl, were also arrested because of their religion. Julia, who had been left alone with an elderly servant, wept day and night, fearing for the fate of her parents.

In her great distress, she continually prayed the Rosary to the compassionate Mother of Heaven, asking her to save her parents. Her good mother had taught her this devotion to the Rosary, telling her that, in every danger and necessity, she should turn to Mary with great confidence, and she would be helped.

The girl was kneeling and praying her Rosary when a representative of the revolutionary party entered the house in search of yet another victim for the guillotine.

At the sight of that innocent and timid child, the executioner felt inexplicably moved. Addressing the little girl, he asked:

— What are you doing?

— I am praying the Rosary for my parents.

— The Rosary?...

— Yes, so that they may recognize that they are innocent.

As she uttered these words, copious tears streamed from her eyes. Sobbing, she raised her little hands imploringly toward the revolutionary, who was deeply moved. In a gesture of gentleness and kindness, a feeling he had not experienced for a long time, he bent down toward the little blonde-haired girl and, placing his hand upon her shoulders, asked:

— And do you believe that your prayer will help?

— Yes — she answered firmly — because my mother taught me, and my mother does not lie.

The heart of that harsh and wicked man, touched by such innocence and trust, was already filled with tender compassion for the child.

— Do you think, good little girl, that your parents are innocent?

— Yes, I do; they have never done anything wrong.

— Very well; I shall see what can be done for them.

— Thank you, sir, for that promise. Ah! Save my innocent parents; give a father and mother back to a poor abandoned child.

Julia's great confidence in the power of the Queen of the Holy Rosary remained engraved in the heart of that revolutionary. And since he wielded considerable influence at the tribunal, he succeeded in having the accused acquitted and returned to their innocent little daughter, who, through her devotion to Mary, had saved them from death.