#april24stmaryeuphrasiapelletier

[anastpaul]

Quote/s of the Day – 24 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

“Draw near to our Lord, thoroughly aware of you own nothingness and you may hope all things from His Goodness and Mercy. Never forget that Jesus Christ is no less generous in the Blessed Sacrament than He was during His mortal life on earth.”

“The Blessed Sacrament is the first and supreme object of our worship. We must preserve, in the depths of our hearts, a constant and uninterrupted, profound adoration, of this precious pledge, of Divine Love.”

“To speak of the Blessed Sacrament, is to speak of what is most sacred. How often, when we are in a state of distress, those to whom we look for help leave us; or what is worse, add to our affliction by heaping fresh troubles upon us. He is ever there waiting to help us.”

“May your heart be an altar, from which the bright flame, of unending thanksgiving ascends to heaven.”

“It is human to fall but angelic to rise again.”

“One person is of more value than the whole world.”

“Do well ALL that you do!”

St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

(via Quote/s of the Day - 24 April - Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868))

[anastpaul]

One Minute Reflection – 24 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

In brotherly love, let your feelings of deep affection for one another, come to expression and regard others as more important than yourself...Romans 12:10

REFLECTION – “If you always love one another, if you always uphold one another, you will be capable of working wonders!”…St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

PRAYER – Lord, by Your grace, we are made one in mind and heart.   Give us a love for what You command and a longing for what You promise, so that, amid this world’s changes, our hearts may be one with each other and be set on the world of lasting joy. May the prayers of St Mary Euphrasia on our behalf, help us to achieve holy love for all Your children and our brothers.   Through Jesus Christ our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

(via One Minute Reflection - 24 April - Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868))

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 24 April – St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868) Nun, Foundress of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd.  St Mary Euphrasia was born on 31 July 1796 at Noirmoutier, Vendée, France as Rose Virginie Pelletier – Died 24 April 1868 at Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France of natural causes.   Patronages – Good Shepherd Sisters, travellers.

Rose Virginie was born on 31 July 1796 on Noirmoutier a small island off the northwest coast of France.   Her parents had fled there thinking that they could escape the violence of the French Revolution.   She was the 8th child of Dr Julian and Anne Pelletier.   An elder sister and her father died when she was ten years old.   In 1810 her mother placed Rose Virginie in a boarding school in Tours.   Shortly after her eldest brother died and then her mother in 1813.   All these deaths were great tragedies and hardships for the young girl.

Near the boarding school was the convent of the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, a religious Congregation founded by Saint John Eudes to provide care and protection for women and girls who were homeless and at risk of exploitation.   Despite her guardian’s reservations Rose Virginie was allowed to join the sisters provided that she not make her vows before she turned 21.   She made her profession in 1816, taking the name of Mary of Saint Euphrasia.   The sisters of the community had been dispersed at one point during the revolution;  the majority had been imprisoned.   Rose Virginie joined what was a community of elderly weary sisters.    A short time after her profession, she became first mistress of the penitents and about eight years later was made prioress of the house of Tours.    She founded a community, the “Sisters Magdalen” for women who wanted to lead a contemplative and enclosed life and would support, by their ministry of prayer, the different works of the Congregation.   It is now known as the Contemplatives of the Good Shepherd.

The city of Angers asked that Sister Mary Euphrasia establish a Convent of Refuge there. She established a house in an old factory and called it “Bon Pasteur” (Good Shepherd).   In 1831 she was appointed as Mother Superior of the House in Angers.   The congregation in Tours did not wish to expand to Angers, nor did the house in Nantes. St John Eudes had established his houses as separate and autonomous.   Mother Mary Euphrasia came to believe that if the work was to grow, that each house should be under the direction of a Generalate.   She founded additional convents in Le Mans, Poitiers, Grenoble and Metz.

In April 1835, Pope Gregory XVI granted approval of the Mother-House at Angers for the institute known as Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd of Angers. Convents that developed for Angers would be part of the institute while those houses that did not attach themselves to the General Administration would remain Refuges.  The development of the Generalate made possible the sending of the sisters to wherever they were needed.   Convents were also established in Italy, Belgium, Germany and England.  The institute is directly subject to the Holy See;   Cardinal Odescalchi was its first cardinal-protector.

For some time, Mother Mary Euphrasia Pelletier had to deal with the opposition of the Bishop Angebault of Angers, who wished to exercise the authority of Superior General, although the constitutions of the Order did not provide for this.   She was accused of ambition, of innovation and of disobedience.   Sometimes she was put in the position of addressing conflicting instructions from Rome and the bishop.   Although she had the support of Rome, the local clergy tended to keep their distance from someone who had incurred the bishop’s displeasure.   According to Sister Norma O’Shea, the bishop’s opposition, coupled with the deaths of a number of sisters and longtime supporters, made Sister Mary Euphrasia’s last years very lonely.

Mother Mary Euphrasia Pelletier devoted herself to the work entrusted to her. By 1868, she was Superior General of 3,000 religious, in 110 convents, in thirty-five countries.   She died of cancer on 24 April 1868.   She is buried on the property of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Angers, France.

On 11 December 1897, Pope Leo XIII declared her “Venerable.”   She was Beatified on 30 April 1933 and Canonised on 2 May 1940 by Venerable Pope Pius XII.

(via AnaStpaul – Breathing Catholic)

[anastpaul]

Thought for the Day – 24 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)

Sorrow and joy alternated almost without interruption in Angers and the new houses. There were difficulties connected with each of the foundations, entailing a great deal of hard work.   Throughout these hardships, St Mary Euphrasia endured and embraced them, and said “Great crosses bring great graces.”

Ardent prayer sustained her.   “Pray, be silent and hope” became her motto.   She loved to repeat: “I belong to every country where there are souls to be saved.”   Her work of saving them was going on apace and souls were bought at a great price.

Mary Euphrasia’s last years were very lonely. Labour, enterprises, intense activities, physical and moral sufferings were steadily taking a toll on the Foundress’ strength.   She was almost seventy-two years of age when she breathed her last on 24 April 1868, the Friday after Good Shepherd Sunday.   “Goodbye my daughters, goodbye dear Institute” were her last words.

Mary Euphrasia founded, in her lifetime, 110 houses on every continent.   Today, the Mission Partners of the Good Shepherd (Sisters and Lay) are present in more than 70 countries, embracing the world with their zeal for the salvation of all people.   A year after the death of Mary Euphrasia, the Ceylon (Sri Lanka) mission was founded.   From Ceylon, the Good Shepherd Sisters came to Singapore in 1939 and reached Malaysia in 1956.

It is not easy to sum up the life of Mary Euphrasia.   Perhaps it is best understood in terms of her own wish for her Sisters:  “You will effect no good, my dear Sisters … until you become animated with the thoughts, sentiments and affections of the Good Shepherd” and “Live His way of life!”

St Mary Euphrasia, pray for us!

(via Thought for the Day - 24 April - Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868))