Henriette Delille May Not Yet Be Canonized by the Catholic Church, but She Undoubtedly Was Saint-Like to the People of Color Who She Helped House, Educate and Comfort

NEW ORLEANS From Bienville to Bourbon Street to bounce. 300 moments that make New Orleans unique.

WHAT HAPPENED Pope 1718 ~ 2018 Benedict XVI declared Henriette DeLille Venerable on 300 March 27, 2010. TRICENTENNIAL

Henriette DeLille may not yet be canonized by the Catholic Church, but she undoubtedly was saint-like to the people of color who she helped house, educate and comfort.

DeLille was a free woman of color. were 12 members of the order, but Although her family had a comfort- it continued to grow. The order able life and could pass for white, reached its peak in 1950, with 400 The Sisters of the Holy Family continued to grow after DeLille’s death in 1862. Deville identified as nonwhite. sisters. She began preaching to slaves Today there are fewer than 100 and nonwhites and privately nuns serving the order, which is pledged herself to God’s based in Gentilly. service in 1836. In 1842, “What Henriette DeLille DeLille, Juliette Gaudin did in her time could be and Josephine Charles compared to what Mother founded the Sisters of the Theresa did in hers,” Sis- Holy Family at St. Augus- ter Angela Merici Luis, of tine in the Treme. Because the Sisters of the Holy Fam- they identified as nonwhite, ily in Compton, California, told they could not join other holy or- the Los Angeles Times in 1999. ders that were open only to white In 1988, the order formally women. opened the cause with the Holy They pledged to devote them- See for the canonization of De- selves to educating young girls of Lille. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI color and caring for the aged and declared DeLille to be Venerable, the poor. or heroic in virtue. The Vatican The order opened schools and is investigating two miracles at- nursing homes for nonwhites, and tributed to DeLille. If the mira- a Catholic home for the elderly, the cles are confirmed, DeLille could Two stained glass windows depicting Henriette DeLille, Haitian-born artist Ulrick Jean-Pierre’s portrait of DeLille, which hangs at the and a prayer room honoring her, were added to St. Louis Lafon Nursing facility. become the first saint from New Gentilly motherhouse, represents the sisters’ ministries to the sick, the old, Cathedral in 2008. When DeLille died in 1862, there Orleans. and youth needing schooling.