Anne-Marie Javouhey

Anne-Marie Javouhey (born November 10, 1779 in Jallanges, Canton Brazey-en-Plaine , Département Côte-d'Or , † July 15, 1851 in Paris ) was a French Roman Catholic nun , founder and colonizer , who was beatified in 1950 has been.

Life

The calling

Anne Javouhey (from 1807 religious name: Anne-Marie ) grew up in Chamblanc near Seurre (25 km east of Beaune ) in the large family of a wealthy farmer and experienced the French Revolution when she was ten . Under the influence of the underground priest Jean-François Balanche (1753-1822) she was from 1796 catechist in Chamblanc. On February 13, 1798, Anne, who is dynamic and known for being fun-loving, decided to consecrate herself to Jesus Christ in world denial and to dedicate her life to the service of the poor, sick and orphans. On November 11, 1798, the resolution was formally repeated during a mass of the Abbé in Seurre and upheld against the father's tenacious (and often angry) resistance for three years.

The way to start

Looking for a suitable way of life, Anne spent the months of October and November 1800 in Besançon in the sisters' community of St. Jeanne-Antide Thouret , which was being established, but left her again because she felt called to found an order due to a mystical dream experience. who turns to the salvation of blacks. In March 1801 Anne's father bought her a house in Chamblanc, where she, supported by her 15-year-old sister Marie (later religious name: Marie-Joseph , 1787–1863), opened a school for poor children and led a life of extreme poverty. She founded similar institutions with the help of fellow campaigners in Jallanges and Dole .

In Dole in 1802 she came into contact with the Trappist abbot Augustin de Lestrange , in whose nunnery Riedera (also: Riedra) in Switzerland she entered under the religious name Justine in 1803, but left it again after 3 months. She returned to France in 1803, first to Souvans , then to Choisey near Dole , where a schoolhouse was made available to her. With her were four postulants, including her thirteen-year-old sister Claudine (later religious name: Rosalie , 1790-1868). In 1804 she went back to Chamblanc with seven postulants, where her father gave them half of a large house and where they made themselves useful again by teaching.

On April 9, 1805, Anne-Marie was able to present her concerns to Pope Pius VII in Chalon-sur-Saône , to whom she was in the presence of the Bishop of Autun , François de Fontanges, and of Lestrange (with whom she remained in contact until 1807) Foundation encouraged and advised her to write a rule. A fundamental difficulty, however, was the (unavoidable) choice of the right spiritual leader, because there was always the risk that he would establish himself as the founder and domestic tyrant of the community. The bishop recommended her the able Abbé Mathieu Gally (1775–1866), who assisted her in drafting the rule of the order. So she settled in Chalon on October 18, 1805 with three of her biological sisters and called herself Sister Anna-Maria of the Child of Jesus. The schools she ran (and subsidized by the city) (including the boys' school run by her biological brother) were attended by 125 children. In August 1806 the name Society of Saint Joseph was given (provisional approval by Napoleon on December 12, 1806 from Poznan ). Lestrange released her from the vow of obedience he had taken.

On May 12, 1807 she laid with three biological sisters (in addition to the already mentioned Pierrette, religious name: Marie-Thérèse , 1785-1840) and five other young women in the church of Saint-Pierre in Chalon-sur-Saône before the new one Bishop of Autun, Fabien-Sébastien Imberties , took the religious vows and founded her congregation dedicated to Saint Joseph and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (The rule of the order included the end of the night's sleep at 4 a.m.) In 1809, she also opened a school in Autun , but had difficulties with the bishop there, who accused her of being arbitrary and instable (typical characteristics of her former mentor Lestrange) because she was constantly Founding of more often ephemeral schools was on the way and also had financial difficulties from which her father had to save her. In the summer of 1812, she and her Autun community moved to the re- collectible monastery in Cluny , which her father had acquired, and in future called the congregation Sœurs de Saint-Joseph de Cluny (abbreviation: SJC, German: "Joseph Sisters of Cluny", also: "Cluny Sisters" or "Joseph von Cluny Sisters").

From Paris all over the world

The thrust of development that the still small community now faced is due to two factors. First of all, Anne-Marie understood that in France during the Restoration one had to work in Paris in order to gain real recognition. So she opened schools in Paris and was always available there. Second, in these schools (against the opposition of many priests), she spread a teaching method that earned her success and notoriety, learning by teaching (also known as the Lancaster School ).

When the government was looking for educators for the island of Réunion (then: Ile Bourbon ) in the Indian Ocean in 1816 , it seized the opportunity and sent four sisters on the journey (which lasted over five months), four more followed later. In the spring of 1819 four other sisters (under Rosalie Javouhey) traveled to Saint-Louis in Senegal , where they worked in the hospital under difficult conditions. From February 1822 to March 1824 they received a visit from Anne-Marie, who not only looked after everything in Saint-Louis, but also toured Dagana (Senegal) and Gorée , where a branch was opened, as well as St. Mary's Island in Gambia ( today: Banjul ) and Freetown in Sierra Leone . Towards the end she fell ill and returned (after recovery) to France, where the now 12 branches of the congregation urgently needed her strong leadership.

In Réunion there was a temporary split in 1823/1824 after the death of the superior there, insofar as the deceased, who resided in Saint-Paul , had appointed the local superior of Saint-Denis as her successor . When, after one and a half years of successful administration, this should give way to a superior sent by Anne-Marie, she refused and forced the emissary to return. Rosalie Javouhey, who was then sent out, was initially unable to counter the concentrated resistance of the island (especially the priests) and only prevailed when Anne-Marie brought the Paris government behind her and forced the expulsion of the rebellious nuns. The congregation, which was then given new statutes, was given a monopoly on teaching and care in all colonies.

Between 1822 and 1827 (in addition to other foundations in all parts of France), smaller groups of nuns were sent to Cayenne , Mana (French Guiana) , Basse-Terre (city) in Guadeloupe (devastated by a hurricane in 1826), Martinique , Saint-Pierre and Miquelon and Pondicherry (today: Puducherry ) in India.

Training for priests for Africans

In 1825 in Bailleul-sur-Thérain (moved to Limoux in 1829 ) the congregation established priestly training for three black Senegalese boys, from which the first African priests emerged in 1840. Two of them, Jean-Pierre Moussa (1814–1860) and Arsène Fridoil (1815–1852), went down in the turmoil after the liberation of slaves in 1848, the third, David Boilat (1814–1901), died very old in France as a writer in his homeland and grammarian of Wolof . The botanist Charles Victor Naudin (1815–1899) grew up with them and remained connected to the congregation.

An adversary, the Bishop of Autun

From 1829 Anne-Marie received a stubborn adversary in the person of the new Bishop of Autun, Bénigne-Urbain-Jean-Marie du Trousset d'Héricourt (1797-1851), to whose diocese Cluny belonged, a stubborn adversary who she ( a week before hers) contested the leadership of the Congregation for 20 years, accused her of being removed from the monastery, unauthorized travel and risky financial practices, she was temporarily excluded from the sacraments, also closed her chapels, and she lived with several fellow bishops and numerous priests Brought disrepute. If it was ultimately unmolested in its effectiveness, it was primarily thanks to the never-lacking support from the king, the government, the papal nuncio and other influential friends. Incidentally, the conflict between the female religious founder and local bishop in 19th century France is a general scheme and an important chapter in the history of women's emancipation.

Liberation of slaves in Guyana

As part of the efforts to liberate slaves in the French colonies, a procedure was decided that was to prepare the slaves for seven years for final autonomy by means of schooling in semi-freedom. In French Guiana, this task was entrusted to Mother Anne-Marie. From 1828 to 1833 and from 1836 to 1843 she was on behalf of the government in Guyana and was in front of a settlement in Mana consisting of her nuns, French colonists and ransomed (later: captured when forbidden slave transports), which represented a kind of kibbutz and which she herself saw in the succession of the Jesuit reductions in Paraguay . There she united all power in her hand, but often had the priests, as well as the colonists of Cayenne, against her. In 1837 the colony of Mana, which consisted of 500 blacks (including 100 children), was visited by the king's son, François d'Orléans, prince de Joinville . In 1838 the solemn first release of the slaves did not lead to any unrest. Anne-Marie loved her colony Mana and was happy there. Much of her fame today in France goes back to her role in the liberation of slaves. Remember that Pope Gregory XVI. condemned slavery and the slave trade only in 1839.

Anne-Marie died in Paris in 1851 at the age of 71 in the branch on Rue Méchain (No. 21, in the 14th arrondissement ). It has been the mother house of the order since 1870, where their heart relic is also located (the other remains in Senlis ).

Development of the order after the death of the founder and beatification

Rosalie Javouhey took over as Superior General. In 1854 the congregation was founded by Pope Pius IX. accepted. In 1950 Anne-Marie was appointed by Pope Pius XII. beatified . When the founder died, the congregation numbered around 1,000 nuns. Today it is represented by 2,600 religious sisters in 57 countries, most numerous in India (not in Germany and Austria).

Places of remembrance and honors

In Mana a statue was erected for her with the inscription: "Anne-Marie Javouhey / 1779–1851 / Elle fut de Mana / La fondatrice et la mère / 1828–1843" (She was Mana's founder and mother). Another statue is in the Saint-Pierre church in Chalon-sur-Saône with the inscription: “Anne-Marie Javouhey / 1779–1851 / Fondatrice des Soeurs de S. Joseph de Cluny / Elle contribua à l'abolition de l'esclavage “(Founder of the Joseph Sisters of Cluny / She contributed to the abolition of slavery). There is also a plaque with the inscription: “En ce lieu, le 12 may 1807, Anne-Marie Javouhey s'est consacrée à Dieu avec ses huits compagnes / La congrégation des Sœurs de Saint Joseph de Cluny a été fondé ce jour-là “(A.-MJ and her eight companions consecrated themselves to God at this place on May 12, 1807 / The congregation of the Joseph Sisters of Cluny was founded on this day).

In Brest , Alençon , Fontainebleau , Senlis, Marquillies , Limoux , Jallanges and Papeete streets were named after her. A high school in Chamblanc bears her name. Her parents' house is part of the Route des Abolitions de l'Esclavage et des Droits de l'Homme (Road of the Liberation of Slaves and Human Rights). In 1981 a French postage stamp was dedicated to her.

Fonts

• Lettres , ed. by Jean Hébert and Marie-Cécile de Segonzac. 4 vols., Cerf, Paris 1994.

Literature (selection)

• Geneviève Lecuir-Nemo: Anne-Marie Javouhey. Fondatrice de la congrégation des Soeurs de Saint-Joseph de Cluny (1779–1851) . Karthala, Paris 2001.
• Cyril Charlie Martindale (1879–1963): Anne-Marie Javouhey. Founder and colonizer . Herold, Vienna / Munich 1955.

Web links

• Congregation website, French
• Photos of Mana (French Guiana)
• Literature by and about Anne-Marie Javouhey in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nicole Priesching: The condemnation of slavery under Gregory XVI. in 1839. A break in tradition? In: Saeculum , Vol. 59 (2008), pp. 143-162.