The holy card for this print was based on a statue in the basilica of Our Lady of Victory, Notre Dame des Victoires, in Paris. Therese of Lisieux prayed before the statue for help in becoming a nun when she was otherwise too young. The church has been very popular for many people desiring bold victory by our Blessed Mother. The title was originally given to Mary by Pope Pius V after the Christian victory in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. It was an enormously important naval battle which stopped the Muslim advancement in the Mediterranean and turned the tide on expansion by the Ottoman Turks.

The basilica was begun in 1629 by King Louis XIII, dedicated to his Catholic victory at La Rochelle. It wasn't finished until 1740. Over the next century, the commercial aspects of Paris came to surround the church, and it had trouble existing as a parish. Then the cure, Charles-Éléonore Dufriche-Desgenettes, had a vision from the Blessed Mother. She said to dedicate the church to her Immaculate Heart and to found the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He did both, and immediately the parish went from having a dozen people at Mass to four hundred. Eventually tens of millions enrolled in the Archconfraternity.
source: sistersihmofwichita.org

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", or 1.6" for 11x14" pictures. All Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!

Thanks!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - CatholicArtAndJewelry.