PERNET, ETIENNE. — Assumptionist, founder of the Little Sisters of the Assumption, b. at Velleson (diocese of Besançon) on 23 July 1824, d. in Paris on 3 April 1899.
Having entered the ecclesiastical career, when the time came for priestly ordination, he was terrified by the exalted dignity of the priesthood, fled from the Seminary, and the superiors, who esteemed him, were unable to overcome his reluctance. The struggle lasted more than two years, after which he joined the Assumptionists (1850). The founder, Fr. d’Alzon, then compelled him to be ordained a priest (3 April 1857). In 1865 Antonio la Fage, under his direction, informed him of the plan to found a new congregation of women religious, called the Little Sisters of the Assumption, who would devote themselves to caring for the sick in their homes. Pernet drew up its constitutions, which the cardinal of Paris approved, and they received the decree of praise in 1879. Pernet also founded three associations of lay people: the “Ladies Servants of the Poor,” to assist the sisters in caring for the poor and the sick; the Fraternity of Our Lady of the Assumption, composed of working fathers of families, to preserve their fellow workers from evil and direct them toward good; and the “Fraternity of St. Monica,” composed of women, for the apostolate among their female colleagues. The cause of beatification was introduced on 30 March 1931.