10 MAR - SAINT OF THE DAY [MARIE EUGENIE DE JESUS (1817-1898)]

 Marie was born in Metz, France. When she was 15, her parents separated and she moved to Paris with her mother and brother, 

    only to see her mother die of cholera shortly afterwards. Her father sent her to live with relatives whose great interests proved to be money and pleasure. 

    In 1836 she attended the acclaimed Lenten sermons delivered at the Cathedral of Notre Dame by Abbe Henri Lacordaire who would later enter the Order of Preachers. 

    Marie envisaged Christ as the universal liberator and his kingdom on earth established as a peaceful and just society. She was truly converted, 

    and she was seized by a longing to devote all her strength to the knowledge and achievement of all that is good. The following year, 

    she met another preacher at another Lenten series, Abbe Theodore Combalot. Under his direction, she founded the Religious of the Assumption in 1839. 

    Progressively, she channelled all her energy and gifts in tending and extending the Congregation. 

    Mother Marie died on March 10 and she was canonized in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.




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