Jean-Baptiste Ferron
Little  Rose's Father

The following is taken from the book entitled "She Wears a Crown of Thorns"
written by Reverand O. A. Boyer.
 

He was a man of clean morals, a man of prayer, a man of deep Faith.  The following gives us an idea of his religion and character.  To please the iconoclasts or rather prevent their criticisms, he was induced by a priest to remove all the statues from Rose’s room.  He explained a few days later, why that of the Sacred Heart was still there: “You know it has long been a habit in my family, when the evening is over and the people are gone, to gather in Rose’s room and to say our night prayer before the statue.”  It was clear he wanted that statue to remain there,  and I was glad he left it there.  But Rose has a more detailed version of it; she dramatized the incident and made a real story of it,  “Father  was slowly removing the statues;  I watched him, as he took them away one by one; at last, he came to the Sacred Heart (it was the last one left in the room);  he looked at it as a last farewell and finally sat down before it, and began removing  the nails that held the pedestal to the floor.  Before the third nail was out, a shout and a bang was heard, he threw down the hammer; the floor was still vibrating with the blow, when he leaped to his feet, repeating: “Never!...Never!!”…and forgetting himself, he gesticulated and exclaimed: “It is going too far!... That statue is going to stay here… here” And he muttered, saying: “If it is all right to have statues in churches, it can’t be wrong to have them here”  And he walked out of the room determined that the statue of the Sacred Heart would stay there.”  And to his credit, the statue remained in  Rose’s room, showing thereby that a christian who loves Christ and  has a deep faith in Him, never despises His symbols, any more than one who loves his country will despise its flag.

On another occasion, I witnessed a scene that was no less interesting.  I was in Rose’s room, she had just emerged from the trials of being abandoned and betrayed.  I spoke of it as a thing of the past and prepared her for something worse.  On hearing me say that it was possible for her father and mother to turn against her, as others had, she immediately called them in.  When they had come, she looked at me and said: “Please repeat what you were saying.”  Her parents were standing around the bed facing me, when I began reminding them of a mystic they knew of; I spoke of my last visit with her.  “We spoke of Rose,” I said, “And when she heard of the last events that caused you all so much trouble, she interrupted me saying; ‘You know, it is possible for her own father and mother to turn against her.’”  These words were hardly said when they were followed by a storm of protest from Mr. and Mrs. Ferron – they would not believe that such a thing could even be possible for them, they frowned at such a statement and were still recriminating when I added: “Those who have abandoned Rose, trusted in themselves as much as you do, they thought their affection was eternal, but it proved to be as human as yours is, and see where it has led them!”  This comparison displeased them, they felt rather insulted by it, when I added; “You are no better than the Apostles, they protested louder than you do, and they all fled when their interest was at stake.”  By that time, they had drawn closer to me, the mother was trying to squeeze in a word, but the father had the floor and he meant to keep it, and he finally finished in a most emphatic way, saying: “Father, that cannot be . . . I have not lost my head yet . . . Nor do I intend to lose it.  . .”
 
“That is true, you have not lost your head yet,” I said, “But you have too much of it!! . . .
It was on that account that St. Peter was in danger and finally disowned his master.”  During the conversation, Rose was pointing out the weakness of those who trusted in themselves, when I noticed her father’s self-reliance was giving way, for there was a tremor in his voice and tears began to stream down his cheeks; then he braced himself, grasped his beads and shook them before me with his rugged and nervous hand.  “Father”, he said, “The Mother of  God will never allow that . . . I will wear out these beads before that happens . . .”  Those words were said with such a deep faith and they rang with so much sincerity, that I shall never forget them.  They also show the man as he is, for if his self-confidence was great, his trust in prayer was still greater.  By prayer they protected themselves; had the Apostles done the same, had they followed the recommendation of Our Lord, they would never have fallen away.