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PAULINE-MARIE JARICOT WAS A SOUL ON FIRE! In her daily life, Pauline longed to give Jesus Christ to those who knew Him not, or to reawaken love for Him in those whose hearts had grown cold. She wanted to communicate to all souls the interior flame that burned so brightly within her own heart. Born at the dawn of modern times, Pauline Jaricot gave a missionary boost to the Church in France, which was left in ruin after the wake of the French Revolution. Animated by the Holy Spirit, she took up the great work of evangelization. An apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she proclaimed the infinite mercy of Our Blessed Lord and, at the same time, she offered herself as His victim for the salvation of souls. Pauline dispelled the austere code of the Jansenists, which was transforming religion into a scarecrow and portraying God as a severe Judge, by proposing the path of spiritual infancy, the little way, giving to us God as Our Father. Pauline was a soul of prayer and, through prayer, she was in constant union with God. What is praying? Prayer is union with God, receiving His Life, which, in turn, transforms us that we may be and act as children of God. Prayer is a communication of love. Man sees God, his Father. God sees man, His child and the summit of Himself. Daily prayer was the food of her every day; the light to recognize the Will of God which, at times, was obscure and to submit to His Will with love and strength, and to carry daily her cross, without discouragement, in the face of the humiliations and contradictions of life. Prayer communicated to her the Presence of God, which transformed all in love even that which appeared to be opposed to human wisdom. Pauline showed to us how much prayer elevates our present life to the divine. It gives to each work and movement of the heart a divine value, which unifies us by a love worthy of Jesus Christ. We will see to what extent she was enveloped in prayer and how this was the focal point of the source of her prodigious works. Pauline was inhabited by God, driven by Him and did everything with Him. It was Christ that lived in her. He is the source of all her good works. She was a docile and obedient instrument in His Hands. The strength in her life was love ~ love for God and love for the Church, for the love of God. Through prayer, her soul was strengthened in this love, sustained and comforted. Burning with this love that consumed her, she became with God a creator. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Pauline-Marie Jaricot was born at Lyon on July 22, 1799, to a profoundly religious family of silk merchants. Her life was spent at the feet of Our Lady of Fourviere. Her entire life was given completely to God and Holy Mother the Church through the glory of the Cross. We know her universally as the foundress of the Propagation of the Faith, but she was so much more than that. Pauline founded many other works for the Church, remarkable for their diversity and copiously fertile propagation. At heart, Pauline was a contemplative, a very great contemplative! Her union with God was the source and great secret of her influence upon souls. God is Creator, but creation does not fully define God nor complete our knowledge of Him. In the same way, all the exterior works of Pauline do not define or exhaust the spiritual richness of her soul. Her works are only the exterior outpouring of her profound inner life. To understand this great soul, we must go to the source of her greatness; we must comprehend the fire that burned within her soul. The famous formula of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Deliver to others the fruit of contemplation,” expresses beautifully the life and mission of Venerable Pauline Jaricot. All that she has given to spiritually enrich the whole world is but the fruit of her union with God in prayer. After a childhood impregnated by the affection and living faith of her parents, while not turning completely away from God, during her adolescence, her heart became lukewarm and she was seduced by the glittering illusions of the world. She took the easy road of life but it did not give her heart happiness. She struggled with “self” and ultimately obtained victory. Grace triumphed in her soul. From that time on, she gave herself without reserve to the way of perfection and love of God. From the time of her conversion at the age of 16 years, she gave herself over to a life of prayer. How many hours she spent in the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the Church of St. Nizier, her parish church! In 1822, she wrote the beautiful manuscript: “The Infinite Love of the Divine Eucharist” which has been many times reproduced. It is as profound in its depth as it is singular in its simplicity. The Holy Eucharist was the center of Pauline’s spirituality. In one of her great meditations, she saw the whole earth penetrated by the Presence of the Divine Savior in the Most Blessed Sacrament. While deeply meditative, she, at the same time, took decisive action. Pauline visited the poor, the bedside of those sick in hospitals and took personal care of poor beggars. At eighteen years of age, Pauline founded an association for young workers in her district, who after her example, threw themselves into a life of prayer and zeal for souls. They were the sacred battalion for the Divine Master, the Reparatrices who offered to God marks of their love and profound veneration. With infinite tact, little by little, Pauline led them all to God. THE HARVEST IS GREAT BUT THE LABORERS ARE FEW! At twenty years of age, Pauline elaborated her vast plan for the conservation and propagation of the Faith. She hesitated at no personal sacrifice to sustain the work. Her plan succeeded beyond all hope. At the age of 27, Pauline conceived a plan to aid her contemporaries to enter a life of prayer. She founded the Living Rosary Association, a group of 15 people, each committed to reciting a Decade of the Holy Rosary while meditating on his assigned mystery. The 15s increased with incredible speed. Pauline’s fervor did not stop there. At thirty, she was intent upon helping the working class. So very distressed was she by their slavery to the industrial age that she turned over her fortune to those who promised to establish a knitting factory, which would allow families time to practice their faith and which would be founded upon Catholic principles. Betrayed by a treacherous thief who absconded with her fortune, she was left destitute, calumniated and in ruin. Pauline died bankrupt and abandoned by all on January 9, 1862. Stripped of everything, she had followed Christ to whom she vowed herself as a victim for souls to the end. The strength of her soul in suffering and total abandonment attracts to this day admiration on the part of the Church and is the divine seal of the holiness of her life. Pauline-Marie Jaricot was a great soul, a soul on fire. Christ’s Love imparted to her a knowledge of Himself that was as large as the universe and it is this, which gave to her works that spiritual dimension which is universal. Everything she did was His work of love. Introduction of the cause of Ven. Pauline-Marie Jaricot for beatification was officially begun in 1930. Anyone who will receive a sign of favor from this great daughter of the Church should write of it to: Œuvres Pontificales Missionaries Feb. 15, 1963, Pope John Paul XXIII signed the decree, which proclaims the heroism of her virtues. By this fact and document, Pauline is declared to be “venerable”. Pope Paul VI, in 1972, at the time of the celebration of the 150th birthday of the Foundation of the Propagation of the Faith adds, “This authentic daughter of the Church deserves new and legitimate praise”. John Paul II at the time of his journey to Lyon in 1986 recalled her title “Mother of the Missions”. Cardinal Tomko, Prefect of the Community of the Evangelization of the Peoples, came to Lyon on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pauline-Marie Jaricot in 1999 greeting her as a “Great figure for the Universal Church and for Lyon, who founded a missionary work of world dimensions”. |
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The Breastplate of Justice We are not created for this earth; our end is life everlasting! Happy is he who lives with eternity always in view. We must give ourselves over to prayer, which is the breath of the soul, the elevation of memory, understanding and will to God. Daily meditation is a great means of salvation and, along with frequent reception of the Sacraments, provides us with the necessary graces to cope with temptations, control our passions and lead a holy life. Frequent prayer helps us to live in the Presence of God. The Sacrament of Penance derives its excellency from the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. It is a wondrous fountain of life, medicine of salvation, death of sin and healing for souls. The seductions of the world, bad books, bad example, evil companions, pride and false shame cause man to be indifferent to religion. Have no apprehensions about Confession, speak without reserve and confess your whole guilt. The priest answers you in the person of Christ, with Fatherly love and words of mercy and pardon. To receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist only at Easter Time is to reduce our Catholicity to a minimum, to hang on, as it were, by the last thread. This world is a place where truth and falsehood dwell, side by side. The watchword of these modern times is progress, which ought to reign in the domain of piety, holiness, grace and sanctification. Work diligently and daily to increase your prayer life and receive the Sacraments more frequently! |
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Share Your Gift of FaithFor centuries, our cherished Catholic faith has been passed from person to person, parent to child, etc. Each of us carries in our heart a special memory of how God first graced us with the knowledge of the faith and how Our Blessed Mother, Saint Philomena, Venerable Pauline Jaricot and other saints changed our lives and brought us closer to Christ. In our work in the Universal Living Rosary Association, we see first hand how millions of souls are currently living without that knowledge of God and are living outside of His grace. We have been given a beautiful opportunity to carry out Christ’s work and pass on our faith and blessings to others who would otherwise never be introduced to Our Lord, the Savior of all mankind. Just as we pray for the souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them, we should also make it a part of our life’s mission to pass on our faith to as many souls as possible who have no one else to pass it on to them, who don’t know Our Lord and His promise of salvation.
This is the box we send out to the foreign Missions $77.95. It contains Rosaries, Scapulars, Miraculous Medals, Cord & Oil, Newsletters, Calendars, Catechism books, 2 TAN books, large color prints, lists and encouragement for our Promoters. |
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