Alodie-Virginie Paradis
Blessed Alodie-Virginie Paradis PSSF | |
|---|---|
| Nun | |
| Born | 12 May 1840 Sainte-Marguerite-de-Blairfindie, Québec, Canada |
| Died | 3 May 1912 (aged 71) Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 11 September 1984, Montreal, Quebec, Canada by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 3 May |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage |
|
Alodie-Virginie Paradis, PSSF (12 May 1840 – 3 May 1912), also known as Élodie Paradis,[1] was a Canadian Catholic nun who established the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in 1880, dedicated to the domestic needs in the field of education across Canada. She took the name of Marie-Léonie after she became a nun.
Pope John Paul II beatified her when he visited Canada in 1984. On January 24, 2024, Pope Francis approved the second miracle needed for her canonization.[2]
Life[edit]
Alodie-Virginie Paradis was born in Quebec in 1840 as the sole daughter - the third of six children, only three of whom survived to adulthood, - of Joseph Paradis and Emelie Gregorie. She was educated by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Paradis received the sacrament of Confirmation and First Communion in 1849 and 1850 respectively. On 21 February 1854 at the age of fourteen, she joined the Marianites of Saint-Laurent in Montreal, a female branch of the Holy Cross Congregation . Despite her frail health, she was nevertheless admitted and pronounced her vows on 22 August 1857. She received the name of "Marie-Léonie", formally known as "Marie de Sainte-Léonie". She taught in Montreal for several years.[3]
In 1862 she was sent to the Church of St. Vincent de Paul a parish for French speaking Catholics in Manhattan, where the congregation ran an orphanage. She remained there until 1870,[4] when she joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the American branch of her order, located at Notre Dame, Indiana. There she taught French and needlework to the sisters training to become teachers.
In 1874, Paradis was appointed Mistress of Novices at the Collège Saint-Joseph in Memramcook, New Brunswick. The school was in need of basic support in the housekeeping and culinary departments. She was eager to support the Holy Cross Fathers in their mission of educating young Acadians.
She established the Little Sisters of the Holy Family on 31 May 1880. On a number of occasions she asked Bishop Sweeny of New Brunswick to grant approval to the small community, but it was not forthcoming. In 1895, she persuaded Bishop Paul LaRocque of Sherbrooke, who was himself looking for domestic staff for his seminary, to receive the motherhouse and the noviciate of the Little Sisters into his diocese and to give them diocesan approval. The community moved to Quebec and Larocque granted canonical approval on 26 Jan. 1896.[3]
Paradis continued to wear the habit of her order but relinquished it on 2 October 1904 in favor of the one instituted in the new congregation.[5] In 1905 it was Pope Pius X who relieved her of her obligations towards the Holy Cross Congregation.
Paradis soon became seriously ill with a malignant cancer, and her health slowly declined. On the morning of her death, she received permission to publish the Rule of the new congregation. She died suddenly following dinner and after receiving the last sacraments on 3 May 1912.[6] Her remains were exhumed on 4 October 1935.[7]
Beatification[edit]
The beatification process commenced in Sherbrooke on 27 November 1952 with the commencement of a local process to assemble documentation and testimonies;[8] the process concluded in 1952. The formal introduction of the cause for the Servant of God came on 13 June 1966 under Pope Paul VI. A second process was convoked and spanned for a mere three months in 1968. Both of the local processes were ratified in 1970 and all documents were forwarded to Rome for evaluation.
Pope John Paul II recognized her life of heroic virtue on 31 January 1981 and proclaimed her to be Venerable. He approved a miracle attributed to her on 17 February 1984 and beatified her on 11 September 1984 in Montreal.
The second required miracle for her canonization was investigated and the process was ratified in 2006. The Medical Board that advises the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the healing as a miracle on 19 June 2008. The miracle was approved by Pope Francis on January 24, 2024. [9]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Paradis, Élodie". Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2024/01/24/0079/00158.html
- ^ a b Robillard, Denise. "Paradis, Élodie, named Mother Marie-Léonie", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 8, 2020
- ^ "Blessed Marie Leonie Paradis". Saints SQPN. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ Holböck, Ferdinand. New Saints and Blesseds of the Catholic Church, Volume 2, Ignatius Press, 2003, p. 20ISBN 9780898708714
- ^ "Foundress". Center of Marie-Leonie Paradis. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ "Blessed Marie Leonie Paradis". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 162.
- ^ https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2024/01/24/0079/00158.html
External links[edit]
- 1840 births
- 1912 deaths
- Beatifications by Pope John Paul II
- 19th-century venerated Christians
- 20th-century venerated Christians
- People from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
- Canadian beatified people
- Canadian educators
- Canadian women educators
- Founders of Catholic religious communities
- Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II