Léontine Jarre

Léontine Jarre (born April 18, 1830 in Lyon , † May 30, 1892 in Saint-Martin-Belle-Roche ) was a French Carmelite , superior and founder of the order . It stands at the beginning of the Carmel Saint-Joseph .

life and work

The family

Léontine Jarre came from an upper class family. Her grandfather was a judge, her father a stockbroker, from 1838 head of administration of the Hospices civils de Lyon , the city hospital. She was born in Lyon on Place Bellecour as the third (and penultimate) child of a strict and reserved mother and was baptized in the basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay . The oldest sister, who later lost her only child, was close to her. The second sister died in childbed in 1858. The younger brother Charles (1831-1913) was a representative of the French social reform of the 19th century, succeeding Frédéric Ozanam and in contact with Albert de Mun (1841-1914). He was closest to Léontine all his life. One of his daughters later entered her aunt's order.

The way to founding an order in Saint-Martin-Belle-Roche

Léontine was educated in the boarding school of the Sacré Coeur sisters in Villeurbanne until the age of 18 . Then she lived in the castle in Saint-Martin-Belle-Roche (north of Mâcon ), to which the family had moved in 1846 (after the death of their father). Brother Charles gave up a career to manage the family estate (he later became local mayor). Until her mother's death (1863), Léontine lived prayer and charity with the poor and sick of the village, from 1855 spiritually supported by the local priest Benoît Commerçon (1825–1890). He was a member of the Third Order of the Carmelites and was in contact with the Discalced Carmelites of Autun . In 1864 he managed to send three Carmelite Sisters to his parish to set up a school system and to care for the poor and the sick. On September 24, 1865 (after the brother's marriage), Léontine was dressed as a Carmelite of the Third Order and took the religious name Marguerite-Marie . On June 10, 1867, she made her profession in Autun. 1870–1873, with the consent of her brother, she built a monastery for the Carmelites in Saint-Martin-Belle-Roche from her own resources. On September 24, 1872, at the age of 42, Léontine was dressed as a Carmelite, took the religious name Marguerite-Marie du Sacré-Coeur ("Of the Sacred Heart of Jesus") and was appointed by the Bishop of Autun as Prioress of the Community of Saint-Martin-Belle- Roche used. The year 1872 is officially considered the year the congregation was founded. The new monastery building was occupied in 1873.

Work on the statutes and death

The community, which first called itself “Apostolic Carmel”, later “Carmel of St. Joseph” ( Carmel St. Joseph , OCD), had the particularity of combining the traditional ideal of contemplation with benevolent work in the world (“vie contemplative et action généreuse "). The superior wanted the official recognition as an independent congregation. With the support of the Carmelites of Lyon, it presented a constitution in 1881, which was approved by Bishop Adolphe Perraud von Autun in 1882 (officially 1888) , ratified in 1904 and (after the official incorporation of the Congregation into Carmel in 1908) finally approved by the Pope in 1936. From 1889 the difficult (and ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to found a foundation in Dole cost Oberin Léontine a lot of energy. After kidney operation in 1891, she died at the end of May 1892 at the age of 62.

Further development of the congregation

From 1892 to 1901, the congregation had a transitional superior in Mother Marie-Joseph de l'Enfant Jésus (“of the Child of Jesus”). She was followed by a strong personality who is now considered the second founder, mother Marie-Mathilde de la Croix ("from the cross", Mathilde Lespy-Labaylette * August 19, 1863 in Nice, † 1942 in Casablanca). It led the community into exile in Switzerland in 1901 and, after their return, was founded in France, Belgium, Italy, Palestine, Syria, Egypt and Morocco. After the Second World War, the congregation reached out to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and Vietnam. Anne-Marie Piron is currently Superior General.

literature

• Louis Chaigne (1899–1973): Revêtue des armes de lumière. Mère Marguerite-Marie du Sacré-Cœur . Desclée de Brouwer 1958.

Web links

• Short biography on the Carmel Saint-Joseph website, in French, with picture
• Self-portrait of the Carmel Saint Joseph, French