BICHIER DES AGES, Jeanne Elisabeth, Saint. - Co-foundress of the Daughters of the Cross, called Sisters of St. Andrew, b. 5 July 1773, in the ancestral castle "des Ages," on the borders of Berry and Poitou, d. at La Puye on 26 Aug. 1838.

In 1798 she met St. Andrew Hubert Fournet (v.) for the first time and placed herself under his direction, and in 1805 she received from him the proposal to found a religious congregation for the care of the sick and the instruction of girls, particularly in the countryside. The first five daughters of the Cross, as the new religious were called, pronounced their vows in Feb. 1807, in the castle of Molante, near Maillé, from where they moved in 1820 to La Puye, which became the mother house.

B. des A. devoted herself tirelessly to extending the Congregation, making numerous journeys in various provinces of France, especially in the south, so that the foundations she left numbered almost one hundred. She was beatified on 13 May 1934 and canonized on 6 July 1947.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: P. Rigaud, La b. E. B. des A. fondatrice delle Figlie della Croce dette Suore di S. Andrea, Milan 1934; J. Saubat, E. B. des A. ; son époque, sa vie, son âme, Paris 1942.

Nello Vian

@incollection{ec6_giovanna_elisabetta_bichier_de, author = {Vian, Nello}, title = {Giovanna Elisabetta Bichier Des Ages, santa}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {490}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/giovanna-elisabetta-bichier-des-ages-santa} }

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Bichier des Ages, Jeanne Elisabeth, Saint

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