Rosalie Rendu
Jeanne Marie Rendu, named Sister Rosalie Rendu, was born on 9 September 1786 in Comfort in the Ain and died in Paris on 7 February 1856. It was part of the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity.
Summary |
Biography
Daughter of wealthy farmers, eldest of four daughters, his godfather by proxy Jacques Emery , family friend and future Superior General of the Sulpicians in Paris. She has three years during the outbreak of the French Revolution. The family home becomes a haven for rendering my Lord Paget, Bishop of Geneva and refractory priests to civil constitution of the clergy. She will make her first communion one night in the cellar of his house in the candlelight. She lost her father at the age of ten, 12 May 1796, and her youngest sister of four months, July 19.
She leaves her family at thirteen years, joining the Ursuline Sisters in Gex , where she learns the arts household. A note from the survey indicates beatification: "it later this kind of education she gave herself to the girls in her neighborhood. She discovers the hospital where the Sisters of Charity cared for the sick, and where an internship allows him to specify what will be his vocation.
She entered the novitiate of the Daughters of Charity at the age of sixteen, on 25 May 1802 , where she made her vows in 1807. It was sent very quickly near the Mouffetard street beside the church of Saint Medard , where she remained for 54 years in the service of every poor neighborhood, facing riots and revolutions.
In 1815, Sister Rosalie became Superior of the community. Superiors sent her postulants and young sisters to train them.
At 47 years, around 1833, she met Frederic Ozanam , and participated with him in the creation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
In 1852, Napoleon III called the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur : it is about to refuse, but the superior of the Priests of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity obliges him to accept it.
She died February 7, 1856, after a short illness at his home in Rue de l'Epee de Bois. After the celebration of the funeral at St. Medard's parish, a large and emotional crowd followed her remains to the Montparnasse cemetery. "The funeral honors were rendered to Rosalie Sister with unusual splendor. The holy woman had been for fifty-two years in a district hospital where there are many unhappy relieve unfortunate and all grateful to have accompanied the church and cemetery. A guard of honor was part of the procession "( Le Moniteur Universal ).
Charity
She was the center of a charitable movement that characterized Paris and France in the early nineteenth century.
The district of Rue Mouffetard is then one of the poorest places while in Paris. The ravages of economic liberalism triumphant in the Restoration accentuate the misery of the have-account. To help those who suffer, Sister Rosalie opened a clinic, a pharmacy, a school, an orphanage, a nursery, a youth club for young workers and a home for the elderly without resources ... Due to the increasing number of sisters charity office became a house of charity with a clinic and a school.
One day she gave at one of his sisters in difficulty this board that was the secret of his life:
- "If you want someone you love, first love first, and if you have nothing to give, you give yourself. "
During days of rioting in July 1830 and February 1848 (where Affre Monsignor , Archbishop of Paris, was killed trying to mediate between the warring parties), Sister Rosalie climbed the barricades to rescue the wounded in any camp that they are. Without any fear, she risks her life in the clashes. His courage and spirit of freedom is admirable. For years his motto, which competed against men, has been:
- "Here we do not kill. "
Tribute
At his death, many news articles from newspapers any trends testify to the unanimous admiration Sister Rosalie had aroused. The Constitutional newspaper of the left anticlerical , feel free to comment:
- "The poor of the 12th arrondissement just made a regrettable loss of Sister Rosalie, Superior of the community to the Rue de l'Epee de Bois, died yesterday following a long illness. For many years, this respectable woman was the salvation of the numerous needy in this area. " "
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 9 November 2003.
The Avenue de la Soeur-Rosalie bears his name in Paris, behind the Place d'Italie.
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