Redemption The Life of Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier FOUNDRESS of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd of Angers By Gabriel Francis Powers Nihil Obstat: JOHN HENEGHAN, S.C.S. Censor Deputatus Imprimatur: MICHAEL J. O'DOHERTY, Archiepiscopus Manilensis Manila, 25 April, 1940 4 Copyright by Gabriel Francis Powers. Third Reprint Good Shepherd Sisters Cincinnati, Ohio 1993 5 DEDICATION To her who holds worthily - the place that none can fill - and who Inherits Its great sorrows and Its greater joys - to Mother Mary of Saint John of the Cross, Superior General, on this day In which a new star ascends to shine with unquenchable splendour - In the everlasting firmament of heaven. 7 Contents Preface I The Pelletier Family 1 7 11 Rose-Virginie 2 5 III School Life at Tours 4 0 IV The Dawn of Vocation 5 2 V The Novitiate 6 2 VI Religious Profession 7 5 VII Superiorate of Tours 8 8 VIII The Foundation of Angers 100 IX Return to Tours and Ultimate Departure For Angers 112 x Superiorate of Angers 123 X1 First Foundations Made From Angers 135 X11 The Gradual Unfolding of the Central Government 148 9 XIII The Generalate is Established 163 XIV The New Foundations (1835-1837) 180 XV From Angers to Rome 197 XVI Roman Days 210 XVII The Order Extends 220 XVIII Foundations in France and Abroad 235 XIX Monsiegneur Angebault 252 XX The Second Journey to Rome 268 XXI Some Important Personages and Events 382 XXII The Revolution of 1848 296 XXIII The Division Into Provinces 313 XXIV A Summary Glance Over the Last Ten Years of Life (1858-1868) 327 XXV Last Illness and Death 339 XXVI The Life After Death 354 XXVII The Actual Status of the Congregation 363 10 Preface The life story of Rose Virginie Pelletier, future saint, opens amidst the harrowing scenes which form the setting of the French Revolution. As in other parts of France - or rather we should say more so - the religious persecution during the revolution in la Vendée, the birthplace of Rose Virginie, does not make pleasant reading, but we must become conversant with it, in order to appreciate the historic background she was reared in, and account for the anneating process which fortified her soul and raised it into the company of heroines. She endured persecutions and felt them very bitterly during her whole life: strange to say many of her sorrows did not come from the enemies of religion but from within the Catholic body. Her life may well remind us of the prophetic words of Holy Scripture: "and a man's enemies shall be those of his own household. "Still, as usual in the designs of Divine Providence, there are many gleams of sunshine - endeavor, sacrifice, victory, the fruits of Faith - amidst the encircling gloom; and it is not surprising that the child of those days, whose life story engages us, should be profoundly inspired by the heroism under religious persecution for which her native land, La Vendée, became so justly renowned. On the other hand, the story of the Pelletier family is both engaging and inspiring. I t is a joy to read of such admirable parents who trained their children to be such model Christians. Nor is the spirit of mischief in a future saint, such as the innocent prank played on the bald man and the school strike, without its educational value. Rose Virginie was born on July 31, 1796, and passed to her heavenly reward on April 24, 1868. Her span of life embraced a very exciting, and often terrifying epoch of world history and more than once the fate of religion itself seemed to be hanging in the balance. The dominating object of the life of Mother Euphrasia was the union and federation of all her Religious, so as to procure greater efficiency in the work o f the Order. She had always before her mind 11 the parable of the bundle of sticks. She saw clearly that any one Community could easily be attacked and overthrown, but all united could withstand greater pressure. This ambition however for union and solidarity was considered "the head and front of her offending". Mother had joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in the ancient city of Tours, and at an early age she was made the Superioress of a new foundation at Angers. There she had many difficulties and when she appealed for help to the other Houses of the Order she was definitely refused, because according to the regulations of the Order founded by St. John Eudes, all Houses should be completely separate and independent. It was then she was inspired by the idea of federation. When the novelty reached the public ear, Mother Euphrasia became the object of suspicion, and even aversion, to her former colleagues and higher ecclesiastical authorities. The battle was on, and the plans of Mother were opposed by men and women from the vantage point of exalted position, personal prestige, and official prerogatives. Many complaints, apparently ill-founded, reached Rome and the authorities there were so perturbed that, at one time, the question was entrusted for investigation to the Holy Office, the very name of which was sufficient to terrify the humble little Mother at Angers, who did not revile when she was reviled. But truth is powerful and must prevail and so Mother Euphrasia proceeded go victory, under the aegis of the Supreme Pontiffs. Gregory XVI and Pius IX were staunch protectors of the new Congregation, when the truth had been put in evidence. while Leo X111, at that time the Archbishop of Perugia, enters the scene only to be refused a foundation of the Order in Perugia, by the ecclesiastical Superior in Angers. Nowadays we are so accustomed to the idea of union and obedience of all the Religious to the dispositions of the General, that it seems difficult to explain how the holy ambition of Mother Euphrasia to unite her Sisters, under one central authority, could have provoked such a storm of opposition. We have said the span of her life embraced exciting times. She had to labor through the aftermath of the French Revolution, then came the overthrowal o f Napoleon III in 1848, and the expulsion of Pius 1X from Rome. Each anti-clerical outburst caused sorrow and suffering to the Church in general and to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in particular. But the comforting evidence of Divine Providence was constantly in evidence. For instance, two Sisters who were sent to make a foundation in England were awaiting the departure of their ship at Le Havre. They moved down the beach to avoid the crowd and pray 12 a little, with the understanding that a sailor would advise them of the ship's sailing. What was their horror to discover, thirty minutes later, that the ship had sailed without them! Yet that same ship was wrecked off the Jersey coast and many passengers were drowned. On the other hand, the ecclesiastical head o f the Church in England received the first Sisters with marked coldness and suspicion. He even forbade them to receive Holy Communion! We read in Scripture: «By their fruits ye shall know them, » and if anyone retains a doubt about the prudence of Mother Euphrasia. in joining all the Religious under one common Superior General, such a doubt ought to be dissipated by the following facts. In one hundred years since the foundations made by St. John Eudes until the Generalate procured by Mother Euphrasia, the extension of the Order was limited to ten Houses, all of which were in France; when Mother Euphrasia died in 1868 her affiliated Houses had reached the magnificent number of one hundred and ten; their locations being even more significant, Rome, Strasbourg, Munich, Louisville (U. S. A.) Algiers, Montreal, London, Chile, and Bangalore, India. Today the number stands at 350. The history of these foundations reads like a novel and in connection with the foundations in the French cities, there occur delightful digressions into ancient history which rivet one's attention. One is templed to believe every inch of French soil has had its heroic past. Mother Euphrasia met many Catholic leaders in France. Italy, and Germany, whose names since then have become historical, like the two Popes already mentioned (Gregory XVI and Pius IX), Madam Barat now Saint Madeleine Sophie, Cardinal Odescalchi, Count de Neuville, and many others; and this intimate introduction into the lives of great Calholic figures is truly interesting and edifying. If the object of a preface be to recommend the ensuing volume to the reading public, then she end in view is quickly obtained, for I have no difficulty in saying that our Catholic brethren will find in the following pages sustained spiritual and intellectual entertainment, compelling edification and afresh example of how a brave and noble soul carried the cross from childhood days t o the moment of her heavenly birth. The Order of the Good Shepherd is now well- known throughout the world and the love and devotion of its Religious to the most abandoned members of Christ's Mystical Body earns for them the admiration and gratitude of every true Christian. As we write these lines. the news comes from Rome, that the Blessed Euphrasia will be canonized in Rome, on May 2nd by Pius X11, now gloriously reigning. 13 This book purports to be an account of the life of the Foundress of the order o f the Good Shepherd and the authoress never loses sight of her goal.