Duchesne, Philippine-Rose, Blessed

DUCHESNE, PHILIPPINE-ROSE, blessed. — Born in Grenoble on 29 August 1769, died at St. Charles, Missouri, on 18 November 1852. In 1787 she entered the monastery of St. Mary of the Visitation in Grenoble, where she remained as a novice until 1791, when the Visitandines were ordered either to secularize or to leave the convent. Her father did not permit her to follow the religious women outside France and summoned her back home.

During the Revolution she displayed all the qualities of her courageous and tenacious character. She visited prisoners and the sick, was in contact with proscribed and hidden priests, and led them, amid countless dangers, to the bedsides of the dying. In 1805 D. entered the Society of the Sacred Heart. Her desire was to bring the Society to America, but she was able to obtain consent only after twelve years. Finally, on 21 March 1818, she was appointed superior of the Mission and set sail from Bordeaux with four of her companions. On 21 August 1818 she was in St. Louis. The difficulties caused by the climate, illnesses, the surroundings, and the almost complete lack of means were unheard-of and discouraging; but nothing weakened D.’s steadfast faith, and by 1829 five flourishing houses had already been established in Louisiana, with a total of 64 religious women and 350 pupils. In 1840 she asked and obtained release from the office of superior and permission to return

as a simple nun to St. Louis. In 1841, at the age of 73, she asked to take part in a new foundation among the Indians, and this was granted to her. But after a year her decline was such that she was recalled to St. Charles, Missouri, where she spent another ten years, “living only for Him who lives for me in the Sacrament,” as she herself wrote in one of her letters. She was beatified on 12 May 1940.