RENDU, JEANNE-MARIE (in religion SISTER ROSALIE). - Daughter of Charity, b. at Confort (Ain) 18 Sept. 1787, d. in Paris 7 Feb. 1856.
Having entered the Daughters of Charity at a very young age, she devoted herself for more than 50 years to alleviating every kind of misery, carrying out her activity especially among the poor of the Saint-Marceau district (Paris). Her work of charity shone forth especially during the cholera epidemic of 1832 and during the two bloody revolutions of 1830 and 1848, in which, thanks to her immense influence and popularity, she contributed greatly to calming troubled spirits. Frédéric Ozanam, the Viscount Armand de Melun, who first wrote her biography, and the other members of the nascent male Conferences of St Vincent de Paul, had her as their incomparable inspirer, counsellor, and teacher in all their bold initiatives of charity. Shortly before her death she was awarded the cross of the Legion of Honour. The diocesan informative process on her virtues has been concluded.