Maria Euphrasia Pelletier

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St. Maria Euphrasia Pelletier

Maria of St. Euphrasia also Maria Euphrasia Pelletier , real name Rose-Virginie Pelletier (born July 31, 1796 in Noirmoutier ; † April 24, 1868 in Angers ), was a French religious sister , founder and superior general of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd . She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church .

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Rose-Virginie Pelletier was born the eighth child of Anna and Julien Pelletier on the Atlantic island of Noirmoutier. The father died in 1805, five years later the mother moved the family to Soullans . Rose-Virginie attended a girls' boarding school in Tours . Life in the boarding school and the death of her mother in 1813 made Rose-Virginie want to join a monastery, and she made contact with the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity , who can be traced back to St. John Eudes and whose mother house is right next to the Boarding school was. She joined the congregation on October 20, 1814, was clothed on September 6, 1815, and was given the religious name of Mary of St. Euphrasia . She made her profession in 1817. She accepted a job as a teacher in the congregation, which was particularly concerned with young women and former prostitutes in trouble.

As early as 1825, the 29-year-old Sister Maria Euphrasia was elected by the convent to be the successor of Matron Hippolytus, although she had not yet reached the required age of 40 according to the Constitutions and needed a dispensation to exercise the office. In the same year she founded the Society of Magdalene Women, in which penitent women were accepted and which she headed from 1831.

In 1828 the Bishop of Angers received a legacy of 30,000 francs, with which a refuge for women in need should be established. He transferred the task to Sr. Maria Euphrasia, who traveled to Angers in 1829 and set up the monastery of the Good Shepherd in a former calico factory and handed it over to its destination on July 31, 1829. After the appointment of Superior Sr. Paul Bodin, Maria Euphrasia returned to Tours. Sister Paul, however, was not up to the task of further building up the monastery and Maria Euphrasia was called back to Angers. For more effective administration and work of the order, she founded a generalate with mother house in Angers in 1831 , to which all other branches should be subordinate. This de facto re-established the community. That is why the Congregation calls 1831 its founding year. On February 16, 1835, she received papal approbation , Sr. Maria Euphrasia was confirmed as Superior General. By the time she died, 110 new branches had been founded worldwide, with the first German branch opening in Munich in 1840.

Maria Euphrasia was beatified in 1933 , her canonization by Pope Pius XII. took place on May 2, 1940. Her feast day is April 24 .

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personal data
SURNAME Pelletier, Maria Euphrasia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pelletier, Mary of St. Euphrasia; Pelletier, Rose-Virginie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French nun, founder and saint
DATE OF BIRTH July 31, 1796
PLACE OF BIRTH Ile de Noirmoutier
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1868
Place of death Angers