Bl. Philippine Duchesne

Bl. Philippine Duchesne – November 17th

This Saint, who labored for Christ in the United States, was born into a wealthy French family. As a youngster, there was nothing especially holy about Philippine. In fact, she often did her best to get her own way and was apt to command everyone else to do what she wanted. In school, her favorite subject was history, and she later became very interested in stories about the American Indians.

At the age of seventeen, Philippine entered the convent, but she was not allowed to take her vows when the time came, because of the French Revolution. All the Professed Sisters were forced by the Revolutionaries to leave the country, and Philippine had to go home. Still she did not give up her desire to belong to Jesus, and several years later she joined the newly Society of the Sacred Heart.

Mother Philippine Duchesne’s great desire was to be a missionary, but she was fifty before she was sent to the United States, which was still a mission land at this time. In Mississippi, she and a small group of Sisters started a free school for the children of poor families, both white and Indian. The work was hard, because of the different languages and ways of the people. But despite the many difficulties, Mother Duchesne never lost her youthful enthusiasm, even though she did become less commanding and more gentle as she grew older.

Mother Duchesne was a real heroine who went through terrible journeys, nearly died from yellow fever and overcame all kinds of obstacles to open Convents in the New World. Then when she was seventy-one, she resigned her position as Superior and went off to open a school among her beloved Indians. She died at the age of eighty-three in a tiny room in which she had chosen to live in great poverty.

I will ask Our Divine Lord to increase my faith and confidence in Him, especially when things are hard.