Jeanne Marie Rendu was
born, eldest of four daughters in a middle class mountain family, on September
9, 1786 at
Confort, Gex,
France.
When she was three years old, the French Revolution broke out. Priests loyal to Rome were expelled, killed, or chased into
hiding. Jeanne’s family hid those
who stayed to minister to French Catholics, claiming that they were hired farm
hands; the girl made her First Communion in her basement at a Mass celebrated
by one of these covert priests.
She was educated for two
years at an Ursuline boarding school in Gex, France.
As a young girl she began working with the Daughters of Charity at the
local hospital. In 1802, at age 16,
Jeanne Marie went to the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity in Paris to join them, taking the name
Rosalie. The intensity of her new
devotional life harmed her health, and she was transferred the house in the
Mouffetard District, one of the poorest in 19th century Paris; she worked in the slum for 54
years. Rosalie was at the center of a
movement of charity that characterized Paris and France in the first half of
the 19th Century where public assistance did not exist. She was a nurse, a
justice of the peace, a catechist for the street children and inspiration to
the sisters, parishioners, and civic community.
Rosalie was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon III in
1852 for her charitable work; she wanted to refuse, as she sought no personal
honor, but was ordered to accept it by her superiors.
In an era troubled by
social conflicts, Rosalie Rendu joyfully became a servant to the poorest,
restoring dignity to each one by means of material help, education and the
teaching of the teaching of the Christian mystery. She inspired and guided
Frederic Ozanam, founder of the Society of Saint
Vincent de Paul. She mentored Frederic and his small group
of students in their service the poor.
Her secret was simple: to see the face of Christ in every man and
woman. Sister Rosalie died February 7,
1856.
