SpiritualitySpirituality of of Marie Pauline Jaricot Marie Pauline Jaricot

Principle aspects of her lifePrinciple aspects of her life Consecrated lay personConsecrated lay person Social protagonist Social protagonist FoundressFoundress Missionary animatorMissionary animator IndigentIndigent

Presented to the PMS Superior Council, RomeMay 2010Fr. Timothy Lehane B svdSecretary General Propagation of the Faith

1. Pauline, as she saw herself1. Pauline, as she saw herselfThree important moments of her personal Three important moments of her personal

conversionconversion- As a child- As a young adult- As a foundress which was based on which was based on - Self, Spiritual, Social and Prayerful reflectionsThese reflections led her to pastoral/missionary actionsThese reflections led her to pastoral/missionary actions.

2. Pauline, as seen by others2. Pauline, as seen by others

3. Pauline, her spirituality3. Pauline, her spirituality

Pauline Pauline was a dynamic personwas a dynamic person

Her spirituality was based on:- a love of God- nature - suffering of peoples- a serious of personal conversions - penetrated by prayerful - abnegational (praise/mortification/suffering) - and a charitable spiritual dynamism and solitude with God Her interlocutors were:- family (Sophie, Paul, Phileas) - spiritual director/confessors- poor uneducated women and children- those who were superficial in their faith- missionaries and their needs- factory workers- French church-state relations (Jacobine repression, Napoleon’s empire)- laity (autonomy/certain lack of ecclesiastic authority)

She was courageous, generous and able, which led her to attend the human, social, ecclesiological and missionary needs of her time.

IntroductionIntroduction• The Pontifical Society for the Propagation of Faith assists each and The Pontifical Society for the Propagation of Faith assists each and

every one of the Catholic Church's 1,062 mission dioceses and every one of the Catholic Church's 1,062 mission dioceses and territories helping to provide pastoral care and preach the Gospel territories helping to provide pastoral care and preach the Gospel effectively. effectively.

• It was founded in Lyons, France, in 1822 by Pauline. She began by It was founded in Lyons, France, in 1822 by Pauline. She began by persuading local working people to support the missions by giving persuading local working people to support the missions by giving a farthing a week. a farthing a week.

• A century later, when the organisation was established in almost A century later, when the organisation was established in almost every country of the world, Pope Pius XI made it the official every country of the world, Pope Pius XI made it the official mission-funding society for the Catholic Church. mission-funding society for the Catholic Church.

• It enables Catholics to live out their own missionary vocation and It enables Catholics to live out their own missionary vocation and to take an active part in the universal mission of the Church where to take an active part in the universal mission of the Church where we all play a vital role in building up the Church and reaching out we all play a vital role in building up the Church and reaching out to the poorest and most in need. to the poorest and most in need.

Pauline Pauline was a reflective personwas a reflective person

SELF REFLECTION SELF REFLECTION ((Recognition, Acceptance, GratitudeRecognition, Acceptance, Gratitude))

AS A CHILD • a certain impetuosity was the basis of her nature: “I was born with a lively imagination, a superficial

outlook and a violent lazy character. I would be totally taken up with one particular thing.”

• but “God gave me a faithful heart, which would be easily stirred to piety.” • On her parents: “Be praised Lord, for giving me a just man for a father and a virtuous

and charitable woman as a mother.”

AS A YOUNG ADULT • On superficiality “Self love pervaded my being and I launched myself once again on

the high road to vanity. Everything I did was with a view to pleasing others… In a word I had become more flirtatious than ever.”

• On religious life “I have never felt attracted to the very heavenly life of religious. My too weak piety could not be elevated to such perfection”

• After her conversion: : “I asked them (family) to forgive the worldly sentiments that I had so often

given witness to and I let them know about my happy renouncement of the manners,

the pleasures and the thoughts which the world worships.”• After her conversion: “At home there was still a reminder of my silly vanity, my portrait.”

AS A FOUNDRESS

• “My vocation is not to give myself to one work and for me to forget all the rest in order to take care of it.”

• Writing after the foundation of the POF: “I was the match that lit the fire.”

Pauline Pauline was a spiritual personwas a spiritual person SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONSPIRITUAL REFLECTION ((Superficiality versus Profundity)Superficiality versus Profundity)AS A CHILD

• “Oh! I’d love to have a well of gold to give some to all the unfortunate, so that there would not be any more poor people at all and that no one would cry anymore.”

• “Happy are those who have received from their parents the first seeds of faith.”

AS A YOUNG ADULT

• “in perishable affection” she experienced an “infinite void” and found “an unimaginable torture in resisting

the Divine call.”• She thought that “death seemed preferable than giving up dancing,” and “when you have spent

your time dancing what good will it have done you?”• Of her conversion: “I had to take extreme measures, I found it so terrible to break with

my luxurious, wealth ways; during the first months of my conversion I suffered cruelly at social functions. I could not overcome my silly vanity had I taken a more gradual course.”

AS A FOUNDRESS

• “if I boast about a task that was nothing on my part but a gift of God, I am like those deformed persons who make themselves noticed for their toilette.”

• “Among the persons whom I addressed, I found hearts who seemed to enter into my thoughts and share my sorrows. These were simple workers because among the rich, I hardly hoped to make myself understood, unless they were very young persons”.

• “The inner voice of the Master. said to me. ‘Do you want to suffer and die for me?’ I offer myself as victim to the Divine Majesty, not without trembling with fear, but in counting entirely on his grace.”

• “to truly help others is to bring them to God.”

Pauline Pauline was a prayerful personwas a prayerful person PRAYERPRAYER (Meditation and Mediation)(Meditation and Mediation)AS A YOUNG ADULT

• “I looked for God everywhere, in the flowers and stars and moon. Sometimes I was carried away and kissed the leaves of the trees as though I had seen them come from the hand of the Creator.”

• “The whole of the earth seemed to me to be enriched by the presence of the Divine Savior in the

Blessed Sacrament.”

AS A FOUNDRESS

• “We want the universe to adore and serve Jesus Christ… I will always speak to you about prayer every time that God will give me the consolation of writing to you.”

• On the foundation of the POF: “This is what inspired me to correspond with my brother, then in the St. Sulpice seminary in Paris, to encourage him in his vocation. The Propagation of the Faith is a result of both this correspondence and a personal inclination. ”

• On a plan for collecting money: “One evening when I was searching in God for help, the clear vision of this plan was given me and I understood the ease that each person close to me would have in finding ten associates to give one ‘sous’ each week.”

• “I loved the solitude to converse with Jesus, I only told His heart about the torment of my own…that I could lose myself in the infinite love of God.”

• On being indigent and suffering: “Without prayer or suffering, I probably would not have been useful as an instrument of God for the Propagation of the Faith or the Living Rosary.”

• “when I will have done one thing or another, I will go back to find myself in God again”

NEAR DEATH• On those who had ignored her intuition in the founding of the POF: “My God forgive them and, in the degree that

they have showered me with sufferings, heap blessings upon them.”• Her last words: “O Mary my mother into your hand I commend my spirit.”

Pauline, as seen by othersPauline, as seen by others Jean Vianney “I know somebody, who has many heavy crosses and carries them

with great love. It is Miss Jaricot of Lyons.

“The good God frequently grants one of the greatest gifts in heaven’s treasury, an understanding of the way of the Cross; a love of trials and sufferings. My sister, to try and get from under the Cross is to be crushed by its weight, but to suffer it lovingly is to suffer no longer.”

Benoit Coste “always willing to dedicate herself entirely to anything that is in the same cause of the faith”

Leo XIII (1888) “an infamous betrayal was to rob her of her fortune. Besides, the bitter pain of seeing a work perish that she dearly loved, and all the anguish produced by destitution, this disaster brought upon her head touching and cruel difficulties which resulted in her being assailed by creditors, tribunals, journeys in foot, rebuffs, blame calumny and scorn. In a word, all that is capable of wearing down even the most valiant of hearts.”

Paul VI (1972) “It is necessary to give a new and legitimate homage to this authentic daughter of the Church radically dedicated to the missionary cause and at the same time worried about the problems of the world that surrounded her”.

John Paul II (1999) “Having allowed herself to be touched by the poor and the misery

of those who did not know God, Pauline created a collection in favour of the missionary activity of the Church, asking each person to make a sacrifice in union with God and communion with ones neighbor.”

Elements of Pauline’s Elements of Pauline’s SpiritualitySpirituality• A “cross-centered”A “cross-centered” spiritualityspirituality: :

• Pauline did not understand the importance of the sufferings and the Cross in her life all at once. God led her gradually to a deeper understanding of the Cross-and the significance of total surrender to His Will. In her youth, she sought self-glory and recognition from others. She tried to dress elegantly in order to draw attention. However, as she grew in her interior life with the help of her confessor, she gradually realized that her life and work should be for the glory of God. Here are some of the chief elements drawn from her life, which point towards her Cross-Centered spirituality:

- 1. Seeking God’s Will and Abandoning herself into the hands of God. (- 1. Seeking God’s Will and Abandoning herself into the hands of God. (Mt 26:39; Lk 22:42; Mt 26:39; Lk 22:42;

23:4623:46))- 2. She allowed others to rob the recognition, which was rightfully due to her. (- 2. She allowed others to rob the recognition, which was rightfully due to her. ( Phil 2:3, Phil 2:3,

6-76-7))- 3. She forgave those who brought her lot of sufferings. (- 3. She forgave those who brought her lot of sufferings. (Lk 23:34Lk 23:34))- 4. She became poor, though she could have opted for a comfortable pleasant life. - 4. She became poor, though she could have opted for a comfortable pleasant life.

((2 Cor 8:92 Cor 8:9))- 5. Seeking the glory of God and not human praise. (- 5. Seeking the glory of God and not human praise. ( Jn 5:41; 1 Thes 2:6Jn 5:41; 1 Thes 2:6))• There is an echo of a “victim spirituality” which coloured the catholic “awakening”

of the 19th century and inspired many charitable and missionary commitments.

• A “inter-personal relationship” spirituality:A “inter-personal relationship” spirituality:• Another element of her spirituality is a ‘chain-reaction’ where she considered each

individual as precious and important. Hence, she trusted that each person would add his or her mite for the missions. Her idea of collecting funds by forming small groups of 10s, etc shows her sharp insight of inter-personal relationships. It was like a chain-reaction, which kept on diffusing to different parts of France and other countries. She never tried to

do “one-person show.” Rather, she considered every individual as indispensable. The trust, which she placed in others, made her schemes successful. (1 Cor 12:14-27)

• A “devotional” spiritualityA “devotional” spirituality - an absolute priority given to the power of prayer over every form of concrete

pastoral/ charitable/missionary commitments.- to Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mary, St. Joseph, St Philomena and the Rosary- these devotions led her to the adoration of the Eucharistic presence- they helped her grow in virtues- she realized the importance of prayer over mere social work. She always

joined prayer with external activity making it an “active contemplation”; all her work flowed out of the fullness of it.

- this active attentiveness to God, joined with a prompt responsiveness, spared her from activism and in giving way to her charitable concerns and her gifts as an organizer.

• A “missionary and universal” spiritualityA “missionary and universal” spirituality- with a young woman's vitality and charm, she attracted companions of her

age, especially in the popular classes, to use their time and modest resources to put their common prayer at the service of, and for the salvation of the poorest and the missions.

- because of her social commitment and close proximity with the needs of the poor and marginalized; she became acutely aware of others, and led intuitional, tentative and concrete actions to change poverty situations at home and abroad.

- by responding to local situations and by her love of God she also catered for the needs of those who were in need in the “mission lands”.

• Today we call it “ad gentes , (ad intra/ad extra) or rather “inter gentes“inter gentes””

,

TwoTwo Questions...Questions...

• 1. What does Pauline’s spirituality 1. What does Pauline’s spirituality say to us as Christians today?say to us as Christians today?

• 2. What elements of her spirituality 2. What elements of her spirituality can we take for our work…can we take for our work…

a) as missionary animators?a) as missionary animators?

b) as fundraisers?b) as fundraisers?