• April 24th - St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Thu Apr 23 10:20:25 2020
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    April 24th - St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

    [At Angers in France, St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, virgin and
    foundress of the Institute of the Good Shepherd Sisters, whom Pius
    XII, Sovereign Pontiff, enrolled among the number of the saints.]

    ROSE Virginia Pelletier was born in 1796 in the island of Noirmoutier
    off the coast of Brittany; her parents had been forced to seek shelter
    there in the war of La Vend=C3=A9e. Having been sent to school at Tours,
    Rose came to learn something of the Convent of the Refuge. This
    belonged to a religious congregation founded in 1641 by St. John Eudes
    for the rescue of =E2=80=9Cfallen=E2=80=9D women and the protection of thos=
    e in
    danger. It was known as the Institute of Our Lady of Charity of the
    Refuge, and it had a house in Tours. Rose joined the noviceship there
    in 1814, and some eleven years later, when she was still only
    twenty-nine, was elected superior. In this office she was prevailed
    upon to make a new foundation at Angers and she herself went
    temporarily to take over a house of refuge which had existed there
    years before under the invocation of the Good Shepherd. Her success
    was marvellous, but there was a sad reaction when she was compelled to
    leave Angers and return to her own proper community at Tours. In the
    end, after much negotiation and rather painful controversy, Mother
    Pelletier was made prioress of the new founda=C2=ADtion. Coming before long
    to realize the difficulties which would hamper their work if each
    house, as was the ease with the Institute of Our Lady of Charity,
    stood alone, remaining under control of the bishop of the diocese and
    training its own novices, Mother St. Euphrasia (as she was now called)
    became convinced that a centralized organization was necessary, having
    one common noviceship, and a superior general who could transfer
    subjects from one house to another as need required. In spite of
    strong opposition and the anguish of mind entailed by taking so
    independent a line, Mother Euphrasia stood firm in what she clearly
    saw to be a wiser policy to promote the great cause they had at heart.

    While deeply humble and respectful of authority, the young prioress,
    who, as one of her admirers said, =E2=80=9C=C3=A9tait de taille a gouverner=
    un
    Royaume=E2=80=9D, succeeded, God's providence helping, in creating =
    at Angers
    what was virtually a new institute, =E2=80=9Cof the Good Shepherd=E2=80=9D.=
    Papal
    approbation was obtained in 1835, and the developments were rapid,
    immense good being visibly effected wherever new foundations were
    made. When Mother Euphrasia died in 1868, the Good Shepherd nuns
    numbered 2760 and were known all over the world. In all her manifold
    trials and difficulties, including charges of rash innovation,
    personal ambition and impatience of authority, St. Mary Euphrasia
    displayed heroic fortitude, cheerfulness and trust in God; =E2=80=9CHaving brought to birth all our young sisters in the Cross=E2=80=9D, she said once=
    ,
    =E2=80=9CI love them more than life itself. And the root of that love is in
    God and in the knowledge of my own unworthiness, for I realize that at
    the age at which they are professed I could not have supported such deprivations and hard work.=E2=80=9D She was canonized in 1940.

    There are full biographies in French, both in two volumes, by Mgr
    Pasquier (1894) and by Canon Portais (1895), and a more recent one
    (1946) by G. Bernoville in which use has been made of unpublished
    beatification documents; shorter ones by F. Georges (1942) and H. Joly
    (1933) in the =E2=80=9CLes Saints=E2=80=9D series. A religious of the congr= egation
    published a life in English in 1933, and Redemption (1940), by G. F.
    Powers, is a good popular account of the saint; the biography by A. M.
    Clarke is founded on the books of Pasquier and Portals.


    Saint Quote:
    The day you learn to surrender yourself totally to God, you will
    discover a new world, just as I am experiencing. You will enjoy a
    peace and a calm unknown, surpassing even the happiest days of your
    life.
    -- Saint Jaime Hilario

    Bible Quote:
    "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For
    theirs is the kingdom of heaven."=C2 (Matthew 5:10)


    <><><><>
    Reading from Journey of the Mind to God

    Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the
    vehicle, like the "throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant," and
    "the mystery hidden from the ages." A man should turn his full
    attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on
    the cross, full of faith, hope, and charity, devoted, full of wonder
    and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then
    such a man will make with Christ a "pasch," that is, a passing-over.
    Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea,
    leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden
    manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulcher, as if he were dead to
    things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who
    is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside
    Christ: "Today you will be with me in paradise."
    -- Saint Bonaventure
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