Sainte Julie Billiart
1751 - 1816
Fondatrice de la Congrégation des Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Namur.
Fondatrice de la Congrégation des Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Namur.
Sa devise: "Une grande foi, vivre un amour sans borne, une simplicité d'enfant". |
Prière
Avec sainte Julie Billiart, proclamons la bonté de Dieu.
Elle se donna entièrement à sa mission d'éducatrice auprès des jeunes
et partagea les soucis des plus pauvres.
C'est pourquoi le Seigneur l'a mise au nombre de ses élus.
Avec sainte Julie Billiart, proclamons la bonté de Dieu.
Elle se donna entièrement à sa mission d'éducatrice auprès des jeunes
et partagea les soucis des plus pauvres.
C'est pourquoi le Seigneur l'a mise au nombre de ses élus.
En bref
Julie Billiart est née le 12 juillet 1751 au bourg de Cuvilly près de
Compiègne dans le diocèse de Beauvais, de parents modestes. Très pieuse dès son
plus jeune âge, elle est admise à la première communion à l'âge de neuf ans.
Miraculeusement guérie d'une paralysie l'ayant clouée au lit durant de
longues années, elle fonde la congrégation des Soeurs de Notre-Dame en 1804,
dont le but principal est l'enseignement et l'éducation chrétienne des jeunes
filles pauvres.
En 1809, des difficultés l'obligent à transférer sa communauté d'Amiens à Namur où elle décède au milieu des sœurs le 8 avril 1816.
Elle a dit
- " Je dois bien mettre ma confiance en Dieu dans mes voyages ; je
vois si visiblement la Providence dans tant d'événements dont je ne saurais
comment me tirer et, toutes les fois que je suis embarrassée, le Bon Dieu vient
à mon secours ; aussi je ne m'inquiète de rien. Vous savez que je n'ai pas d'esprit
; il faut que le Bon Dieu fasse tout ".
- " Je serai bien heureuse d'aller un grand nombre d'années en
purgatoire ; je ne pense guère aller au Ciel tout droit, chargée comme je le
suis d'une si grande responsabilité "
- "Quand je me réveille, ce qui se présente d'abord à moi, c'est
un sentiment d'admiration et de reconnaissance de la bonté de Dieu qui veut
bien me donner encore un jour pour le glorifier ".
- " Oh ! Quand on a fait l'acte de contrition tous les jours au
soir, on doit être bien tranquille. Dieu pourrait-il ne pas nous pardonner,
quand on le fait de tout son cœur. "
- " Le bon Dieu peut détruire ce qu'il a établi. Nous devons
rester bien tranquilles dans tous les événements ; n'est-il pas maître de faire
et puis de défaire ? "
Ils ont dit d'elle
- " les Sœurs de Notre-Dame sont faites pour enseigner le
catéchisme" Mère Blin de Bourdon.
- " Cette personne me paraît vraiment inspirée de Dieu et je ne
serai pas étonné qu'un jour on parlât d'elle " Mgr de la
Rochefoucault, évêque de Beauvais
- " Une femme qui a su croire et aimer " Cardinal Sterckx
- " … Ce qui chez elle d'emblée m'a séduit, m'a conquis, j'en fais
l'aveu, c'est ce RESSORT INTERIEUR, qui a fait d'elle l'infatigable apôtre de
Jésus-Christ, ce ressort jamais détendu, jamais brisé, malgré tant d'épreuves
et tant de coups, ce ressort, fruit de l'Esprit et de sa foi en la bonté de
Dieu, je veux dire : son ESPERANCE. Pour moi Sainte Julie, c'est avant tout la
sainte de l'Espérance….. Une espérance qui chez elle brille d'un si vif éclat que
parce qu' elle a connu des épreuves crucifiantes et véritablement
déconcertantes…… " Extrait de l'homélie de Mgr Desmazières, évêque de
Beauvais, prononcée lors des fêtes de la canonisation à Namur, le 5 octobre
1969
- " Ce qui m'a le plus frappé dans Mère Julie, c'est un don
d'oraison tout à fait extraordinaire et je crois qu'elle était parvenue à un
très haut degré de contemplation " Père Sellier SJ
- "….Son oraison était presque continuelle….. Un grand amour pour
la pauvreté, un entier dégagement d'elle-même, une parfaite soumission à la
volonté de Dieu, une union intime avec Notre-Seigneur qui dirigeait toute sa
conduite, donnant l'exemple de toutes les vertus à ses filles, communiquant
partout la bonne odeur de Jésus-Christ. Il suffisait de la voir, de lui parler
pour être convaincu que l'esprit de Dieu réglait ses pensées, ses sentiments,
sa conduite." M. de Lamarche, prêtre, directeur des Dames du
Sacré-Cœur de Beauvais
1- Sa vie à Cuvilly - 1751-1790
Marie Rose Julie Billiart est née le 12 juillet 1751 à Cuvilly, petit
village à vingt kilomètres de Compiègne, niché dans un gracieux vallon resserré
à l'est par un tertre que couronne un bois.
Les parents de Julie tiennent un petit commerce d'épicerie et de lingerie
dont le produit, joint à celui d'une parcelle de terre, leur permet de vivre
dans une modeste aisance. Ils auront sept enfants dont quatre vont mourir en
bas âge. Julie, qui est la sixième, grandit entre une sœur plus âgée de sept
ans et un frère, né trois ans après elle.
Tout enfant, Julie aime prier ou se retirer dans le silence de sa chambre
pour parler à Dieu. Enfant douée, elle apprend à lire et à écrire à l'école du
village dirigée par son oncle Thibaut Guilbert. L'étude du catéchisme surtout
l'attire tant que, dès huit ans c'est elle qui l'apprendra à ses petites
compagnes, commentant naïvement le texte mais avec beaucoup d'intelligence.
Elle préludait ainsi à sa mission de catéchiste. Ce sera d'ailleurs la
grande œuvre de sa vie et le principal but donnée à la congrégation qu'elle fondera
plus tard.
En juin 1759 M. Dangicourt est nommé vicaire à Cuvilly, puis curé en 1765.
Surpris par la valeur de l'enfant, il s'intéresse à elle et lui apprend à faire
oraison et à suivre fidèlement les mouvements de la grâce. Il l'autorise
d'ailleurs, dès l'âge de neuf ans, à communier en cachette.
Le 4 juin 1764, la jeune Julie âgée de treize ans, est confirmée par
l'évêque de Beauvais et l'année suivante, désireuse de se consacrer entièrement
à Dieu, elle fait le vœu de chasteté perpétuelle. A l'âge de vingt ans elle
obtiendra la faveur de communier quotidiennement, fait très rare à cette époque
encore fortement teintée de jansénisme.
Elle a seize ans lorsque suite à un vol de marchandises et des calomnies
qui éloignèrent la clientèle du magasin paternel, la famille est réduite à la
pauvreté. Pour subvenir aux besoins de ses parents et pour aider sa sœur
presque aveugle et son frère boiteux, elle décide de louer ses services aux
fermiers des environs.
Un soir d'hiver 1774, sa famille est agressée. Personne n'est blessé, mais
la frayeur ajoutée à la fatigue déclenche chez Julie une maladie des nerfs très
douloureuse qui la rendra peu à peu paralysée. Malgré cela jamais elle ne se
plaindra, ne se lamentera, ne se découragera.
2-
Compiègne 1791-1794 : la vision
Quand éclate la Révolution de 1789, M. Dangicourt, ayant refusé le serment
de fidélité à la constitution civile du clergé, est obligé de se réfugier à
Paris. Julie reste seule. Bientôt, elle doit fuir aussi, menacée par les
révolutionnaires depuis qu'ils savent qu'elle aide le séjour clandestin de
quelques prêtres. Elle trouve refuge chez Mme de Pont-l'Abbé, châtelaine de
Gournay sur Aronde, à six kilomètres de Cuvilly qui l'héberge avant de s'enfuir
elle-même à l'étranger. Les révolutionnaires se lancent à la poursuite de la
" dévote ". A nouveau, elle s'enfuit du château, cachée ainsi que sa
nièce qui la soigne dans une charrette remplie de paille. Elles sont
abandonnées à Compiègne, dans une cour d'auberge.
Les demoiselles Chambon les recueilleront mais toujours poursuivies et indésirables, elles devront changer très souvent de domicile.
C'est à Compiègne, en 1793, que Julie a une vision qui lui montre au pied
du calvaire un groupe de femmes portant un habit religieux qu'elle ne reconnaît
pas. Puis elle entend ces paroles : " Ce sont les
filles que je vous donne dans l'institut qui sera marqué de ma croix ". Son
infirmité s'accroît, elle perd l'usage de la parole qu'elle ne retrouvera que
plusieurs années plus tard.
3-
La rencontre avec Françoise Blin de Bourdon
A Cuvilly, La comtesse Beaudouin se rendait souvent au chevet de Julie,
devenue infirme. Aussi lorsqu'elle vient, en 1795, trouver refuge à Amiens chez
le vicomte Blin, elle n'oublie pas sa petite protégée réfugiée à Compiègne et
la fait venir près d'elle.
C'est là qu'elle, la paysanne, et Françoise, l'aristocrate, sœur du vicomte
Blin, vont se rencontrer providentiellement. "le Bon Dieu, écrit
Julie à Françoise, en février 1797, vous a présentée à moi sans que j'y
contribue en rien. C'est bien Lui qui nous a unies si intimement ".
Françoise, qui a préparé son entrée au Carmel, est séduite quant à elle, par la
profondeur de la foi de Julie Billiart, son courage, sa bonté, sa générosité,
sa passion pour la Parole de Dieu.
Elles ne vont plus jamais se séparer.
Depuis longtemps la sainte malade, éclairée de lumières particulières,
savait l'intime union que Françoise allait contracter avec elle en vue d'une
œuvre : travailler au salut du prochain et surtout, donner aux enfants une
éducation chrétienne dans ce milieu déchristianisé par les idées
révolutionnaires.
Mais Julie a quarante-six ans et est infirme. Que peut-elle faire ? De son
côté Françoise entrevoit clairement sa future vie : partageant les idées de
Julie, elle décide de consacrer sa vie et sa fortune personnelle à la
réalisation du projet de son amie.
C'est au château de Bettencourt, près de St Ouen, où elles se sont
installées en 1799 que le Seigneur leur montre la voie. L'infatigable animateur
d'une restauration chrétienne qu'est le Père Varin, supérieur des Pères de la
Foi, en est le promoteur. Frappé par l'aptitude extraordinaire de l'infirme
pour la catéchèse, il lui suggère lors d'une visite, d'établir une école pour
l'instruction religieuse des enfants du peuple qui sont abandonnés.
4-
L'oeuvre à Amiens 1803-1809
Au mois de février 1803, Julie et Françoise s'établissent rue Neuve à
Amiens, pour commencer l'œuvre sous la conduite spirituelle du Père Varin.
Le 2 février 1804 alors qu'elle est encore sur son lit, Julie se consacre à
Dieu avec deux de ses compagnes. Quatre mois plus tard elle
guérit miraculeusement pendant une neuvaine au Sacré-Cœur. Elles prennent alors
le nom de Sœurs de Notre-Dame, nom attribué par le Père Varin. Elle qui
ne marchait plus depuis vingt-deux ans se remet à marcher. Infatigable elle se
met alors à voyager.
Au cours d'un voyage en Flandre, elle est invitée par Mgr Fallot de
Beaumont, évêque de Gand, à fonder une maison dans son diocèse. Ce sera le
point de départ d'une série de fondation en Belgique et en France.
En juillet 1807 Mère Julie qui vient d'établir la maison de Namur, y
apprend la nomination du Père de Sambucy comme supérieur de la communauté. Ce
dernier, pernicieusement, va s'opposer aux idées de Julie, réussir à l'éloigner
d'Amiens, s'emparer de ses ressources financières, la discréditer auprès de Mgr
Demandolx. Ces manœuvres aboutissent à l'expulsion de la congrégation !
5-
L'oeuvre à Namur 1809-1838
Monseigneur Pisani de la Gaude, évêque de Namur ouvre son diocèse aux
exilées. Désormais Namur sera la maison-mère et les sœurs en porteront le nom.
Grâce à
l'intervention de Mgr De Broglie, évêque de Gand, Salency reconnaît ses torts
et Mère Julie est réhabilitée.
Pendant
ces années d'épreuve, elle avait fondé plusieurs institutions :
Jumet en 1807 ;
Saint-Hubert en 1809 ;
Gand en 1810 ;
Zele en 1811 ;
Andenne et Gembloux en 1813 ;
Fleurus en 1814 suivis plus tard par Liège et Dinant.
Jumet en 1807 ;
Saint-Hubert en 1809 ;
Gand en 1810 ;
Zele en 1811 ;
Andenne et Gembloux en 1813 ;
Fleurus en 1814 suivis plus tard par Liège et Dinant.
Par sa volumineuse correspondance et par ses visites, elle communique à
tous sa foi, sa confiance, sa charité, son zèle, son courage et sa sérénité,
même dans les plus violents orages, car elle est sûre de son Dieu. De ses
lèvres s'échappent, en toute circonstance, ces mots sans cesse répétés : "
Ah! qu'il est bon le Bon Dieu ! ".
Le 7 décembre 1815, Mère Julie fait une lourde chute qui lui occasionne de
violentes douleurs de tête et un malaise général.
Le 14 janvier 1816 elle s'alite et le 8 avril elle meurt paisiblement.
C'est une grande peine pour Françoise, en religion Mère Saint-Joseph, sa
fidèle compagne de toujours. Supérieure de la maison-mère de Namur, elle est
élue supérieure générale le 2 juin 1816 et continue, jusqu'à sa mort en 1838,
l'œuvre entreprise par son amie Julie Billiart.
Peu après la mort des deux fondatrices, la vision qu'avait eu Mère Julie que ses filles iraient dans le monde entier se réalise. Elles partent aux USA en 1840, en Grande-Bretagne en 1845, au Guatemala en 1859, au Congo en 1894, en Rhodésie en 1895. Au cours du XXième siècle, l'expansion continue : en Belgique, en Italie, en France, au Japon, en Chine, au Brésil, au Pérou, au Nigeria, au Kenya, aux îles Hawaï.
Peu après la mort des deux fondatrices, la vision qu'avait eu Mère Julie que ses filles iraient dans le monde entier se réalise. Elles partent aux USA en 1840, en Grande-Bretagne en 1845, au Guatemala en 1859, au Congo en 1894, en Rhodésie en 1895. Au cours du XXième siècle, l'expansion continue : en Belgique, en Italie, en France, au Japon, en Chine, au Brésil, au Pérou, au Nigeria, au Kenya, aux îles Hawaï.
Partout les Sœurs de Notre-Dame portent le message de l'Evangile,
s'adressant à tous, avec une préférence marquée pour les pauvres, et leur
confirmant combien Dieu est bon.
6-
L'approbation suprême
Le 13 mai 1906, Rome célèbre la béatification de l'humble servante de Dieu,
Julie Billiart, sous le pontificat de saint Pie X.
Le 22 juin 1969, se déroulent les fêtes de la canonisation sous Paul VI qui
déclare dans son panégyrique : " nous apercevons en Julie Billiart, cette
conformité à l'image du fils de Dieu, Jésus-Christ, laquelle nous dévoile une
prescience et une prédestination de la part de Dieu à l'égard de cette âme…… Sa
biographie laisse transparaître une splendeur de grâce et un exemple de vertu
chrétienne : l'humilité, la pureté, la patience, la douceur, l'intériorité dans
l'agir et toujours, d'une manière quasi connaturelle, l'aspiration à
l'apostolat, l'amour de l'église au milieu de tant d'épreuves et d 'amertumes,
l'assiduité dans la prière, la dévotion à la Vierge, l'art de se faire aimer et
obéir, le talent d'organisatrice ……. "
Sources
et liens
sources :
- Vie de Julie Billiart par sa
première compagne Françoise Blin de Bourdon ou les Mémoires de Mère Saint-Joseph
- Des gens de chez nous : Ste Julie Billiart par le père Jean Le Guen - Eglise de Beauvais 1989 p278
- Julie Billiart collection "les Origines" ( Maison Mère des Sœurs de Notre-Dame - 17, rue Julie Billiart - Namur - Belgique )
- Des gens de chez nous : Ste Julie Billiart par le père Jean Le Guen - Eglise de Beauvais 1989 p278
- Julie Billiart collection "les Origines" ( Maison Mère des Sœurs de Notre-Dame - 17, rue Julie Billiart - Namur - Belgique )
liens :
- la paroisse Ste julie
Billiart, du Ressontois, dans le secteur missionniare du
Compiègnois.
- Le site de Notre-Dame de Namur : www.ndnamur.be/juliebilliart
- Le site de Notre-Dame de Namur : www.ndnamur.be/juliebilliart
Textes et photos recueillis et mis en
forme par Martine Mainguy
Sainte Julie
Billiart
Fondatrice de l'Institut des Sœurs de Notre-Dame (✝ 1816)
A
7 ans, elle transmettait déjà le catéchisme à ses camarades.
A
16 ans, elle travaillait aux champs pour venir en aide à ses parents.
Paralysée
à 22 ans, elle fonda, malgré cela, la Congrégation des Sœurs de Notre-Dame pour
l'enseignement et l'éducation des jeunes filles pauvres. Des difficultés avec
les autorités diocésaines l'obligèrent à transférer sa communauté d'Amiens à
Namur.
"Julie
Billiart est née le 12 juillet 1751 au bourg de Cuvilly près de Compiègne dans
le diocèse de Beauvais, de parents modestes. Très pieuse dès son plus jeune
âge, elle est admise à la première communion à l'âge de neuf ans.
Miraculeusement
guérie d'une paralysie l'ayant clouée au lit durant de longues années, elle
fonde la congrégation des Sœurs de Notre-Dame en 1804, dont le but principal
est l'enseignement et l'éducation chrétienne des jeunes filles pauvres.
En
1809, des difficultés l'obligent à transférer sa communauté d'Amiens à Namur où
elle décède au milieu des sœurs le 8 avril 1816."
À
Namur en Belgique, l’an 1816, sainte Julie Billiart, vierge, qui suscita
l’Institut des Sœurs de Notre-Dame, pour l’éducation chrétienne des jeunes
filles et propagea beaucoup la dévotion au Sacré-Cœur de Jésus.
Martyrologe
romain
Sa devise:
"Une grande foi, vivre un amour sans borne, une
simplicité d'enfant".
Saint Julie
Billiart
Born in Cuvilly, France, into a family of
well-to-do farmers, young Marie Rose Julia Billiart showed an early interest in
religion and in helping the sick and poor. Though the first years of her life
were relatively peaceful and uncomplicated, Julie had to take up manual work as
a young teen when her family lost its money. However, she spent her spare time
teaching catechism to young people and to the farm laborers.
A mysterious illness overtook her when she was
about 30. Witnessing an attempt to wound or even kill her father, Julie was
paralyzed and became a complete invalid. For the next two decades she continued
to teach catechism lessons from her bed, offered spiritual advice and attracted
visitors who had heard of her holiness.
When the French Revolution broke out in 1789,
revolutionary forces became aware of her allegiance to fugitive priests. With
the help of friends she was smuggled out of Cuvilly in a haycart; she spent
several years hiding in Compiegne, being moved from house to house despite her
growing physical pain. She even lost the power of speech for a time.
But this period also proved to be a fruitful
spiritual time for Julie. It was at this time she had a vision in which she saw
Calvary surrounded by women in religious habits and heard a voice saying,
“Behold these spiritual daughters whom I give you in an Institute marked by the
cross.” As time passed and Julie continued her mobile life, she made the
acquaintance of an aristocratic woman, Francoise Blin de Bourdon, who shared
Julie’s interest in teaching the faith. In 1803 the two women began the
Institute of Notre Dame, which was dedicated to the education of the poor as
well as young Christian girls and the training of catechists. The following
year the first Sisters of Notre Dame made their vows. That was the same year
that Julie recovered from the illness: She was able to walk for the first time
in 22 years.
Though Julie had always been attentive to the
special needs of the poor and that always remained her priority, she also
became aware that other classes in society needed Christian instruction. From
the founding of the Sisters of Notre Dame until her death, Julie was on the
road, opening a variety of schools in France and Belgium that served the poor
and the wealthy, vocational groups, teachers. Ultimately, Julie and Francoise
moved the motherhouse to Namur, Belgium.
Julie died there in 1816. She was canonized in
1969.
St. Julie
Billiart
(Also Julia).
Foundress, and first superior-general of
the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, born 12 July, 1751, at Cuvilly,
a village of Picardy, in the Diocese of
Beauvais and the
Department of Oise, France; died
8 April, 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium. She was the sixth of seven
children of Jean-François Billiart and his
wife, Marie-Louise-Antoinette Debraine. The childhood of Julie
was remarkable; at the age of seven, she knew the catechism by heart, and used to gather her
little companions around her to hear them recite it and to explain it to them.
Her education
was confined to the rudiments obtained at the village school which was kept by her uncle,
Thibault Guilbert. In spiritual
things her progress was so rapid that the parish priest, M. Dangicourt, allowed her to make
her First Communion and to be confirmed
at the age of nine years. At this time she made a vow of chastity.
Misfortunes overtook the Billiart
family when Julie
was sixteen, and she gave herself generously to the aid of her parents, working in the fields with the
reapers. She was held in such high esteem for her virtue
and piety as to
be commonly called, "the saint of Cuvilly".
When twenty-two years old, a nervous shock, occasioned by a pistol-shot
fired at her father by some unknown enemy, brought on a paralysis of the lower
limbs, which in a few years confined her to her bed a helpless cripple, and
thus she remained for twenty-two years. During this time, when she received Holy Communion daily, Julie
exercised an uncommon gift of prayer, spending four or five hours a day
in contemplation. The rest of her time was
occupied in making linens and laces for the
alter and in catechizing the village
children whom she gathered around her bed, giving special attention to those
who were preparing for their First Communion.
At Amiens,
where Julie Billiart had been compelled to take refuge with Countess Baudoin
during the troublesome times of the French
Revolution, she met
Françoise Blin de Bourdon,
Viscountess of Gizaincourt, who
was destined to be her co-laborer in the
great work as yet unknown to either of them. The Viscountess
Blin de Bourdon
was thirty-eight years old at the time of her meeting with Julie,
and had spent her youth in piety and good works; she had been imprisoned with all of her family during the Reign of Terror, and had
escaped death only by the fall of Robespierre. She was not at first attracted
by the almost speechless paralytic, but by degrees grew to love and admire the invalid for her
wonderful gifts of soul. A little company of young and
high-born ladies, friends of the
viscountess, was formed around the couch of "the saint".
Julie taught them how to lead the interior life,
while they devoted themselves generously to the cause
of God and His poor.
Though they attempted all the exercises of an active community life, some of the
elements of stability must have been wanting, for these first disciples
dropped off until none was left but Françoise Blin
de Bourdon. She was never to be separated
from Julie, and with her in 1803, in obedience
to Father Varin, superior of the Fathers of
the Faith, and under the auspices of the Bishop of Amiens, the foundation
was laid of the Institute of the Sisters
of Notre Dame, a society which had for its primary object
the salvation of
poor children. Several young persons offered
themselves to assist the two superiors. The first pupils were eight orphans. On the feast
of the Sacred Heart, 1 June, 1804, Mother
Julie, after a novena
made in obedience to her confessor,
was cured of paralysis. The first vows of religion
were made on 15 October, 1804 by Julie Billiart, Françoise Blin
de Bourdon, Victoire
Leleu, and Justine Garson, and their family names were changed to names of saints. They proposed for their lifework
the Christian education of girls, and the training of religious
teachers who should go wherever their services were asked for. Father Varin
gave the community a provisional rule by way of probation, which was so
far-sighted that its essentials have never
been changed. In view of the extension of
the institute, he would have it governed by a superior-general, charged with
visiting the houses, nominating the local
superiors, corresponding with the members dispersed in the different convents, and assigning the revenues
of the society. The
characteristic devotions of the Sisters
of Notre Dame were established by the
foundress from the beginning. She was original in doing away with the
time-honored distinction between choir
sisters and lay sisters, but this perfect
equality of rank did not in any way prevent her from putting each sister to the
work for which her capacity and education fitted her. She attached great
importance to the formation of the sisters destined
for the schools, and
in this she was ably assisted by Mother St.
Joseph (Françoise Blin de Bourdon),
who had herself received an excellent education.
When the congregation of
the Sisters of Notre
Dame was approved by an imperial decree dated 19 June, 1806, it numbered thirty
members, In that and the following years, foundations were made in various towns
of France and Belgium, the most important being those at Ghent and Namur,
of which the latter house Mother St.
Joseph was the first superior. This spread of the institute beyond
the Diocese of Amiens cost the foundress the greatest sorrow of her life. In the absence of
Father Varin from that city, the confessor
of the community, the Abbé de Sambucy de
St. Estève, a man of superior intelligence
and attainments but enterprising and injudicious, endeavored to change the rule
and fundamental constitutions of the new congregation so as to bring it into harmony
with the ancient monastic orders.
He so far influenced the bishop. Mgr. Demandolx,
that Mother Julie
had soon no alternative but to leave the Diocese of
Amiens, relying
upon the goodwill of Mgr. Pisani de la Gaude,
bishop of Namur, who had invited her to make his episcopal
city the center of her congregation, should a change become necessary. In leaving Amiens,
Mother Julie
laid the case before all her subjects and told them they were perfectly free to
remain or to follow her. All but two chose to go with her, and thus, in the
mid-winter of 1809, the convent of Namur became the motherhouse of the
institute and is so still. Mgr. Demandolx,
soon undeceived, made all the amends in his power, entreating Mother
Julie to return to Amiens
and rebuild her institute. She did indeed return, but after a vain struggle to
find subjects or revenues, went back to Namur.
The seven years of life that remained to
her were spent in forming her daughters to solid piety and the interior spirit,
of which she was herself the model. Mgr. De Broglie,
bishop of Ghent, said of her that she saved
more souls by her
inner life of union with God than by her outward apostolate.
She received special supernatural
favors and unlooked-for aid in peril and need. In the space
of twelve years (1804 - 1816) Mother Julie
founded fifteen convents,
made one hundred and twenty journeys, many of them long and toilsome, and
carried on a close correspondence with her spiritual
daughters. Hundreds of these letters are preserved in the motherhouse. In 1815 Belgium was the battlefield of the Napoleonic
wars, and the mother-general suffered
great anxiety, as several of her convents were in the path of the armies, but
they escaped injury. In January, 1816, she was taken ill, and after three
months of pain borne in silence and
patience, she died with the Magnificat on
her lips. The fame of her sanctity spread abroad and was confirmed
by several miracles.
The process of her beatification,
begun in 1881, was completed in 1906 by the decree of Pope Pius X dated 13 May, declaring her Blessed.
[Note: She was canonized in 1969 by Pope
Paul VI.]
St.
Julie's predominating trait in the spiritual
order was her ardent charity, springing
from a lively faith and
manifesting itself in her thirst for suffering and her zeal for souls. Her whole soul was echoed in the simple and naïve
formula which was continually on her lips and pen: "Oh, qu'il est bon, le
bon Dieu" (How good God is). She possessed all the qualities
of a perfect superior, and inspired
her subjects with filial confidence and tender affection.
"St. Julie Billiart." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1910. 8 Apr. 2016<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08559a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by H. Jon Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of
New York.
THE BLESSED JULIE BILLIART,
FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME—1751-1816
Feast: April 8
It was a common remark among
well-informed, sympathetic publicists at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, that after the overthrow of religion and settled government, the
greatest disaster brought upon France by the Revolution was the almost entire destruction
of the system of education that existed in 1789. Old France had more
universities, colleges and schools than any other country in the world. The
vast majority of these time-honoured, and generally very efficient,
institutions were swept away by the Jacobins, and their material resources
seized and squandered by the promoters of the new "enlightenment."
But if the losses were enormous, the
recuperative genius of the French character was never more conspicuously seen
than in the restoration of the homes of learning that so speedily followed
after the establishment of the Concordat (1802). Among the many and deservedly
illustrious names associated with this noble work, that of Julie Billiart will
ever stand forth conspicuous. Nor are the circumstances of her career less
noteworthy than her achievements. The sixth child of a poor shopkeeper of
Cavilly in Picardy, named Jean Francis Billiart, and his wife, Marie Louise
Antoinette Debraine, she was born 12th July, 1751. She only received a common
education at the village school kept by her uncle, Thelbault Guilbert, but her
youthful piety was such, that she was allowed to make her first Communion at
the age of nine. The usual age for this ceremony at that time in France—no
doubt owing to the influence of Jansenism—was about the age of twelve, but
apart from her solid piety, Julie was no ordinary child. She aided her parents
strenuously and cheerfully in their combined shopkeeping and agricultural work,
and in her spare time gathered the children of the village about her and
explained the Catechism to them.
Then a seeming great misfortune
occurred. One night in the winter of 1774, a robber discharged a pistol into
the house of the Billiarts, and the report so frightened the sensitive girl,
that Julie henceforth for many years suffered from severe paralysis. Instead of
repining, the now, apparently, hopeless cripple redoubled her prayers and
spiritual exercises, received Holy Communion daily, and soon became known far
and wide for the depth and wisdom of her conversation and the penetration of
her perception. She supported herself as well as she could by making altar
linen, and very soon her humble abode became the object of a sort of
pilgrimage, many persons in spiritual and temporal trouble coming to seek the
prayers and wise advice of "the Saint of Cavilly," as these zealous
folk would persist in terming the poor invalid, to her great grief and manifest
embarrassment.
Among those who conversed with her
at this time were Monseigneur Francois Joseph de la Rochefoucauld, and his
brother, the Bishop of Saintes, both of whom subsequently perished in the
massacre at the Carmes, in September 1792. After the interview, which took
place at the episcopal palace, his Lordship said to the assembled
ecclesiastical dignitaries: "This young girl seems to be inspired by God
Himself. I shall be much surprised if we do not hear her spoken about later on!"
During the Revolution, Julie had
much to suffer from the "Constitutional" Cure—whom the revolutionary
authorities had thrust upon the parish—and his republican abetters. She
sojourned for a while at the Chateau of Gournay-sur-Arondre, and thence
journeyed on to Compiegne, where she lived near the holy Carmelite nuns, who,
in 1793, went from their prison to the guillotine chanting the <Te
Deum>—another glorious band of martyrs of holy Church.[1]
Julie Billiart's next place of abode
was Amiens, where she arrived in October, 1794, at the request of the
Vicomtesse Francoise Thin de Bourdon, who was desirous of instituting some kind
of good work that might help to restore religion and social sanity after the
blood and nightmare of the recent "Terror" (1793-94). The Viscountess
herself had been in the hands of the Jacobins, and had only escaped the common
fate of thousands of so-called "aristocrats," by the death of the
Arch-fiend, Robespierre himself.
Not only was Julie installed in the
house of her benefactress, but her room became a chapel where Holy Mass was
said daily by a more or less disguised priest, the Abbe Thomas. In spite of
fiery harangues from imported demagogues, the planting of trees of liberty, and
even an ominous parade of the awful "Red Widow "—the guillotine!—Amiens,
thanks largely to its sturdy Norman common sense, had been less affected by the
revolutionary madness than most towns of France.
Still, the actual situation there
was bad enough. From the official report of Jacques Silher, member of the
Municipal Council of Amiens, we learn that most of the children of the city,
owing to the absence of good schools or teachers were growing up in vice and
insubordination. The writer bitterly deplored the loss of the excellent primary
and secondary schools, which existed before the Revolution under religious
teachers, where, for the most part, the instruction was free and open to all!
The teachers, who have taken the place of the brothers and nuns, continues our
informant, were indifferent to their work, often without moral character, and
seemingly desirous only of making money.[2]
"The pious ladies who gradually
formed a circle" around the Viscountess, gradually came to learn the
principles of the interior life from the saintly invalid, Julie Billiart, and
to love through her "the cause of God and His poor." These devout
souls were powerfully aided by the wise counsels of Pere Joseph Desire Varin
(1769-1850), of the famous "Peres de la Foi," one of the many new
religious foundations that arose during the Revolution itself.
By the advice of Fr. Varin, and with
the approval of the Bishop of Amiens, Mgr Demandolx, formerly Bishop of La
Rochelle, a society was formed to promote the welfare of poor children, chiefly
as to their religious and moral education. A school was opened in the Rue Neuve
which soon became too small, and another and larger house was taken in 1806, in
the Faubourg Noyon. The new foundation was much assisted by a certain Madame de
Franssu—widow of the Messire Adrien Jacques de Franssu—who later established
the "Congregation of the Sisters of the Nativity" for the education
of girls.[3] It was about this time, too, that Julie Billiart at the conclusion
of a Novena, was completely cured of her long paralytic malady and on 15th
October, 1804, she, together with Francoise Thin de Bourdon, Victoria Lebeu and
Justine Garson, took the first vows in the Congregation of Sisters of Notre
Dame.[4]
The foundation had not been made
without a severe trial. As in the case of St. Alphonsus, who was abandoned by
nearly all the early Redemptorists, so all the "circle" of devout
ladies already referred to had fallen off one by one from Mere Julie and Mere
St. Joseph (Mme Thin), thus proving yet again that religious vocation is not
given to every one, however spiritually minded. The Congregation not only vowed
itself to the Christian education of girls, and the training of teachers, but
further, held itself ready to go wherever its services might be required. No
distinction was made between Choir-Sisters and Lay-Sisters, but in view of the
increasing educational requirements of the age, and their very probable great
extension in the future, much stress was laid, from the first, on the
importance of turning out always a body of really well-equipped teachers—an
ideal that has ever since been carefully maintained.
Within ten years of its
commencement, the foundation had already more than justified itself even from
the point of view of those practical "results" which have such a
fascination for the publicist and even the "man in the street."
Houses existed in various parts of France and Belgium, notwithstanding the
world-war which raged around the tottering throne of the imperial Colossus.
On the 15th of January, 1809, the
Mother-House was transferred to Namur, owing to an unfortunate episode that
occurred at Amiens. During the absence of Fr. Varin, the confessor of the nuns,
the Abbe de Sambucey de St. Esleve, with more zeal than discretion, endeavoured
to assimilate the Congregation to the ideals animating the ancient orders of
women, regardless of the fact that times and requirements were utterly changed!
Rather than see nearly the whole object of the Congregation destroyed, Mother
Julie resolved to leave Amiens and go to Ghent, where the Bishop, Mgr Jean
Maurice de Broglie, greatly wished to have a branch of the, by now, well-known
teaching order.[5]
The new Mother-House, as the
"branch" at Namur soon became, was quickly regarded as something more
than a centre of excellent collegiate education. The saintly character of
Mother Julie and her magnetic influence, exercised by voice and pen,
soon had their effect over countless souls, and became, in fact, a real
"apostolate." The departure of the nuns from Amiens was regarded as
something of a calamity by the Bishop of that city, Mgr. Demandolx, and his
advisers, who did all they could to retain Madame Julie in their midst, but as
she said in a letter to M. de Sambucey, the cause of all the trouble: "My
Bishop is at Namur, and my choice is made! I hope God will bless it, for my intention
is upright."
The last years of the Foundress were
clouded by two anxieties, war and severe illness, Belgium, which in 1814-15,
became once more the "cockpit of Europe," saw its territory overrun
by the French and allied armies, but happily no harm came to the convents of
the religious, and the result of the ever-memorable campaign was the
establishment of a peace for the country that was not to be seriously disturbed
for a hundred years.
In January, 1816, seven years after
her quitting Amiens, Mother Julie was taken ill, and after three months of
suffering borne with the patience and resignation begotten of years of real
devotion and submission to God's will, she died sweetly in the Lord, just
after repeating the sublime heart-pourings of the <Magnificat>, on 8th
April, 1816.
The fame of her holiness which had
commenced even with her early childhood, increased all during the nineteenth
century, and finally in 1881, the long-delayed cause of her beatification was
introduced at Rome. It was completed in 1906, when Pius X enrolled her
venerable name among the Blessed.
Of the numerous houses of the
Congregation de Notre Dame in England, the most famous is that for the training
of school-mistresses at Mt. Pleasant, Liverpool, the management of which was
entrusted to the Sisters by the Government in 1856. The "Centre-System,"
or concentrated instruction of pupil-teachers, which the Sisters introduced, is
now adopted by all the more important education committees in this country.
[<Life of Blessed Julie
Billiart>, by a Sister of Notre Dame. (London 1909.) Much information also
in <Madame de Franssu Fonda trice de la Congregation de la Nativite de
N.S.>, by the Abbe L. Cristiani. (Avignon
Aubanel Freres, 1926).]
Endnotes
1 See the account of the Carmelite
Nuns of Compiegne, martyrs. under July 16th.
2 Darsay,
<Amiens et le departement de la Somme pendant la Revolution>, ii. 144,
etc.
3 Jeanne de Croquoison, Mme de
Franssu (1751-1824), Foundress of the Congregation of the Nativity, is regarded
as one of the restorers of Christian education in France. There are two convents
of the foundation in England, one at Eastbourne and the other at Sittingbourne.
4 The Rule of the Congregation de
Notre Dame was approved by Gregory XVI in 1844.
5 The Bishop (1766-1821) was the son
of the famous Marshal Duc de Broglie who advised a "whiff of
grape-shot"-"pour la canaille il faut la mitraille!"-as a short
and sharp cure for the rising Revolution, or rather the anarchic part of it.
The remedy unfortunately was not applied till 1799, when Bonaparte used it with
complete success on the mob, that sought to revive the disorders of 1791-1792
and the carnage of 1793-1794.
(Taken from Vol. V of "The Lives or the Fathers,
Martyrs and Other Principal Saints" by
the Rev. Alban Butler, (c) Copyright 1954, Virtue and Company, Limited, London.)
Provided Courtesy of
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Julia (Julie) Billiart V (RM)
Born in Cuvilly (near Beauvais),
Picardy, France, on July 12, 1751; died on April 8, 1816; beatified in 1906;
canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Julia, baptized Marie Rose Julia Billiart,
was born to prosperous peasant farmers who also owned a small shop in Cuvilly.
Early in life she evinced an interest in religion and helping the sick and the
poor. At 14, she took a vow of chastity and dedicated herself to the service
and instruction of the poor.
In 1790, the curé of Cuvilly was
replaced by a priest who had taken the oath prescribed by the revolutionary
authorities, and Julia rallied the people to boycott him. She also helped find
safe houses for fugitive priests, and for this reason was taken to Compiegne,
where she had to change addresses often for her safety.
A friend brought her to Amiens to
the house of Viscount Blin de Bourdon after the Reign of Terror. There she met
Frances Blin de Bourdon, Viscountess de Gézaincourt, who became her friend and
worked with her. Daily the viscountess and a small group of pious women
gathered in Julia's sickroom for the sacrifice of the Mass. Throughout the
French Revolution (1794-1804), Julia encourage the group in their works of
charity. Heightened persecution forced Julia and Frances to move to a house
belonging to the Doria family at Bettencourt, where, with a group of women,
they conducted catechetical classes for the villages.
At Bettencourt Julia met Father
Joseph Varin, who was convinced that the saint was meant to achieve great
works. When Frances and Julia returned to Amiens, they laid the foundations of
the Institute of Notre Dame, whose objects were to see to the religious
instruction of poor children, the Christian education of girls of all classes,
and the training of religious teachers. They also opened an orphanage.
The rules of the institute were
somewhat innovative, requiring the abolition of the distinction between choir
and lay sisters. At a mission held by the Fathers of the Faith of Amiens in
1804, the teaching of women was given to the Sisters of Notre Dame. At the end
of the mission, Father Enfantin asked Julia to join him in a novena without
telling her why, and on the fifth day, the feast of the Sacred Heart, he
ordered her to walk. After 22 years as an invalid, at the age of 44, she got up
and realized that she was cured.
Now fully functional, she worked to
extend the new foundation and to assist at missions conducted by the Fathers of
the Faith in other towns. She did this until the work was halted by the
government. The educational work continued, however, and convents were opened
at Namur, Ghent, and Tournai.
Unfortunately, Father Varin's post
of confessor to the sisters was filled by a young priest who estranged Julia
from the bishop of Amiens, and the bishop pressed for her withdrawal from his
diocese in 1809. She moved the mother house to Namur, joined by nearly all the
sisters, where she was well received by the bishop.
Soon she was vindicated and invited
to return to Amiens, but since it was too difficult to restore the foundation
there, Namur became the motherhouse. As of 1816, it was clear that Julia's
health was failing rapidly. While repeating the Magnificat, she died. By the
time of her death 15 convents had been established (Benedictines, Delaney,
Encyclopedia, Gill, Walsh, White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0408.shtml
A ventidue anni, fu colpita dalla paralisi alle gambe, pur in quelle condizioni, sotto la guida del suo parroco, si dedicò alle pratiche di pietà e all’insegnamento del catechismo ai bambini. Costretta alla fuga, durante la Rivoluzione Francese, perché accusata di nascondere dei sacerdoti restii alle nuove norme civili, si diresse ad Amiens, dove incontrò padre Varin, superiore dei Padri della Fede, il quale la convinse a fondare un’organizzazione dedita all’educazione cristiana delle fanciulle.
Cominciò nel 1803 la vita in comune con alcune compagne, pronunciando i voti nel 1804, anno in cui avvenne la miracolosa guarigione delle sue gambe. Superiora nel 1805, allargò la sua opera fondando scuole dappertutto in Francia e Belgio, nel 1809 il vescovo di Amiens, dando credito a voci calunniose su di lei, ordinò che lasciasse la sua Casa, ma tutta la Comunità la seguì e si istallarono a Namur in Belgio, sotto la protezione del locale vescovo; nel frattempo cambiarono il nome in “Suore di Nostra Signora di Namur”.
Pur essendo d’istruzione limitata, seppe diffondere le sue fondazioni in Belgio, formando anche schiere di maestre. Fervente devota al Sacro Cuore ebbe anche il dono di estasi e miracoli, morì a Namur l’8 aprile 1816. Beatificata da s. Pio X il 13 maggio 1906 e dopo il riconoscimento di due miracoli avvenuti uno in Belgio e l’altro in Brasile è stata canonizzata il 22 giugno 1969 da papa Paolo VI.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
Santa Giulia Billiart Vergine, Fondatrice
Cuvilly (Dipartimento Oise, Francia), 12 luglio 1751 - Namur (Belgio), 8 aprile 1816
Nacque il 12 luglio 1751 da una famiglia agiata a Cuvilly (Francia), sedici anni dopo, la miseria colpì la famiglia e Giulia fu costretta a lavorare. A 22 anni, fu colpita dalla paralisi alle gambe e, sotto la guida del suo parroco, si dedicò alle pratiche di pietà e al catechismo dei bambini. Costretta alla fuga, durante la Rivoluzione Francese, perché accusata di nascondere dei sacerdoti, si diresse ad Amiens, dove incontrò padre Varin, superiore dei Padri della Fede, il quale la convinse a fondare un'organizzazione per l'educazione cristiana delle fanciulle. Cominciò nel 1803 la vita in comune con alcune compagne, pronunciando i voti nel 1804, anno in cui avvenne la miracolosa guarigione delle sue gambe. Superiora nel 1805, allargò la sua opera fondando scuole dappertutto in Francia e Belgio, nel 1809 a causa di false calunnie fu costretta a lasciare la sua Casa, ma tutta la Comunità la seguì a Namur in Belgio. Nel frattempo cambiarono il nome in «Suore di Nostra Signora di Namur». E anche in Belgio seppe diffondere le sue fondazioni. Fervente devota al Sacro Cuore ebbe anche il dono di estasi e miracoli, morì a Namur l'8 aprile 1816. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Maria = amata da Dio, dall'egiziano; signora, dall'ebraico
Martirologio Romano: A Namur lungo la Mosa nel Brabante, nell’odierno Belgio, santa Giulia Billiart, vergine, che fondò l’Istituto di Santa Maria per la formazione della gioventù femminile e propagò con zelo la devozione verso il Sacratissimo Cuore di Gesù.
Leggere la vita di santa Giulia, sembra di leggere la vita di altre sante o beate fondatrici anch’esse di Congregazioni religiose, tanto gli episodi salienti sono quasi uguali. Nacque il 12 luglio 1751 da una famiglia agiata a Cuvilly (Francia), sedici anni dopo, la miseria colpì la famiglia e quindi Giulia fu costretta a lavorare anche con lavori manuali pesanti.
A ventidue anni, fu colpita dalla paralisi alle gambe, pur in quelle condizioni, sotto la guida del suo parroco, si dedicò alle pratiche di pietà e all’insegnamento del catechismo ai bambini. Costretta alla fuga, durante la Rivoluzione Francese, perché accusata di nascondere dei sacerdoti restii alle nuove norme civili, si diresse ad Amiens, dove incontrò padre Varin, superiore dei Padri della Fede, il quale la convinse a fondare un’organizzazione dedita all’educazione cristiana delle fanciulle.
Cominciò nel 1803 la vita in comune con alcune compagne, pronunciando i voti nel 1804, anno in cui avvenne la miracolosa guarigione delle sue gambe. Superiora nel 1805, allargò la sua opera fondando scuole dappertutto in Francia e Belgio, nel 1809 il vescovo di Amiens, dando credito a voci calunniose su di lei, ordinò che lasciasse la sua Casa, ma tutta la Comunità la seguì e si istallarono a Namur in Belgio, sotto la protezione del locale vescovo; nel frattempo cambiarono il nome in “Suore di Nostra Signora di Namur”.
Pur essendo d’istruzione limitata, seppe diffondere le sue fondazioni in Belgio, formando anche schiere di maestre. Fervente devota al Sacro Cuore ebbe anche il dono di estasi e miracoli, morì a Namur l’8 aprile 1816. Beatificata da s. Pio X il 13 maggio 1906 e dopo il riconoscimento di due miracoli avvenuti uno in Belgio e l’altro in Brasile è stata canonizzata il 22 giugno 1969 da papa Paolo VI.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli