Marie Poussepin

Sel. Sr. Marie Poussepin

Marie Poussepin (born October 14, 1653 in Dourdan , † January 24, 1744 in Sainville , today the Eure-et-Loir department ) was a French nun . She founded the Congrégation des Soeurs de Charité Dominicaines de la Présentation de la Sainte Vierge Marie (“Dominican Sisters of Charity and the Sacrifice of Mary”) and is venerated as blessed by the Roman Catholic Church . The congregation she founded is represented in over 30 countries worldwide.

Marie Poussepin came from a wealthy family, her parents were the silk stocking manufacturer Claude and his wife Julienne Poussepin, who, as treasurer of a cooperative of the daughters of Christian love of St. Vincent de Paul , brought their daughter into contact with the sick and poor . Even as a young girl, Marie Poussepin felt the need to put her wealth and energy into the service of the poor and sick. She took over a total of 28 baptism sponsorships for poor children and from 1683 the office of treasurer of the local Confrérie. After her father's death in 1693, Marie Poussepin and her brother ran their parents' silk stocking knitting factory, which they successfully modernized and converted to processing wool.

In 1691 she joined the Third Dominican Order . In 1695 she founded a girls' school in Sainville and a year later founded an association with teachers and nurses that she called the Congrégation des Soeurs de Charité Dominicaines de la Présentation de la Sainte Vierge Marie . The sisters moved into a common house, lived according to the rule of St. Dominic and devoted themselves to nursing the sick and teaching young girls. In 1712 there were already ten branches.

On March 14, 1724, the community received recognition from the French King Louis XV. , Episcopal recognition followed in 1738 by the Bishop of Chartres, Charles-François des Montiers de Mérinville. Marie Poussepin died on January 24, 1744 in Sainville and was buried in Tours , which later became the motherhouse of the congregation. In 1923 the process of beatification was initiated, which was completed on November 20, 1994 under Pope John Paul II . Her feast day is October 14th.

literature

• Hubert Kolling: Poussepin, Marie In: Horst-Peter Wolff (Hrsg.): Biographical lexicon for care history. Who was who in nursing history , Volume 3. Urban & Fischer, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-437-26671-3 , pp. 227-228.
• Josef Theodor Rath:  Poussepin, Marie. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 876.