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Bienheureuse Marie-Rose Durocher
Fondatrice des Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de
Marie (+ 1849)
Elle a fondé une congrégation pour répondre aux besoins de l'instruction et de l'éducation religieuse des jeunes filles, notamment dans les milieux pauvres des campagnes auprès de Montréal: les Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie.
"Par sa foi, son jugement et sa créativité apostolique, cette femme a marqué la société et l'Église du Québec. Éducatrice née, elle a su développer les dons des personnes et ouvrir sa congrégation sur l'avenir." (source: Congrégation des Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie)
Martyrologe romain
Notre vocation, c'est Jésus-Christ
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/10115/Bienheureuse-Marie-Rose-Durocher.html
Statue de la Bienheureuse Marie-Rose Durocher à la
cocathédrale Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue de Longueuil (Québec).
BIENHEUREUSE
MARIE-ROSE DUROCHER
Dernière d’une famille de dix enfants, Eulalie
Durocher est née à Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, le 6 octobre 1811. À l’âge
requis, elle fréquente le pensionnat de Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu, tenu par les
religieuses de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame. Mais des problèmes de santé
l’empêchent de poursuivre ses études et son rêve discret de vie religieuse s’en
trouve compromis.
À 20 ans, elle devient gouvernante au presbytère de
Beloeil où son frère Théophile est curé. Elle sera l’hôtesse des lieux pendant
12 ans, jusqu’en 1843. Elle accueille les prêtres en repos, s’engage dans la
paroisse, visite les démunis, soutient les familles en difficulté, enseigne le
catéchisme aux enfants et organise les célébrations liturgiques, comme une
agente de pastorale avant la lettre. Ce séjour à Beloeil lui ouvre cependant
les yeux sur la pauvreté de l’instruction religieuse et le manque d’écoles, en
particulier, pour les filles des campagnes.
Un vaste projet d’éducation
Répondant à l’appel de Dieu par la voix de son évêque,
Mgr Ignace Bourget de Montréal, elle se rend fonder à Longueuil une nouvelle
communauté religieuse enseignante avec deux compagnes. La communauté s'appelle
les Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie.
La spiritualité de la nouvelle communauté s’inspire de
la devise des Oblats : évangéliser les pauvres. La fidélité à l’Évangile,
soutenue par la méthode d’oraison de saint Ignace de Loyola et la dévotion au
Saint-Sacrement, découle de l’héritage spirituel laissé par Mère Marie-Rose qui
avait pour devise : « Jésus et Marie, ma force et ma gloire ». Elle décède le 6
octobre 1849, jour de son anniversaire. Elle avait 38 ans.
Les Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie
poursuivent encore aujourd’hui cette œuvre indispensable d’éducation en ne
perdant pas de vue d’abord les personnes démunies. Plusieurs services nouveaux
se sont développés dans les domaines de la pastorale en paroisse, l’éducation à
la foi, l’accompagnement des personnes, l’accueil des diverses cultures, les
soins de santé et les services communautaires. Elles s’engagent également pour
la justice et la paix en collaborant à divers organismes dont Développement et
Paix.
Mère Marie-Rose a été béatifiée par le pape Jean-Paul II, le 23 mai 1982. L’Église l’a reconnue comme une femme apostolique, annonciatrice des temps nouveaux.
Liens intéressants:
Sœurs
des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie
SOURCE : https://diocesemontreal.org/fr/archidiocese/histoire/bienheureuse-marie-rose-durocher
Maison Jésus-Marie (autres appellations : Couvent des Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie, Couvent de Longueuil), 80-86, rue Saint-Charles Est, Longueuil snjm.qc.ca grandquebec.com patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca
En 1843, à la suggestion de Monseigneur Ignace Bourget, évêque du diocèse de Montréal, quatre éducatrices, Eulalie Durocher, Mélodie Dufresne, Henriette et Émélie Céré, œuvrant à Longueuil décident de fonder une communauté: Les Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie (SNJM).
Marie-Rose Durocher est femme de chez nous. Une femme
de la terre, née à St-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, province de Québec, Canada, le 6
octobre 1811. Elle a été femme de foi, femme bien incarnée, femme de tendresse
et femme d’action. Elle a beaucoup œuvré auprès des familles de son temps en
vue de donner une éducation complète, surtout aux femmes et aux enfants.
Comme laïque, chrétienne engagée, elle participe à la
vie de sa paroisse et visite les pauvres. Sa vie est simple. Elle fonde la
Congrégation des Sœurs des Saints
Noms de Jésus et de Marie qui, au XXIe siècle existe toujours. Eulalie
Durocher en est la première supérieure sous le nom de mère Marie-Rose. Elle se
consacre à l’éducation, surtout religieuse, des enfants.
Mère Marie-Rose s’éteint le 6 octobre 1849. Elle est
béatifiée par le Pape Jean-Paul II le 23 mai 1982 et devient alors la
Bienheureuse Marie-Rose. Nous fêtons la bienheureuse Marie-Rose le 6
octobre et le 23 mai, nous nous rappelons sa béatification qui a eu
lieu en 1982.
Fondation par la bienheureuse Marie-Rose
La fondation de la communauté par la bienheureuse Marie-Rose, a eu lieu dans la maison de la Fabrique de Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue, à l’angle nord-ouest de la rue Saint-Charles et du chemin de Chambly. L’année suivante, en 1844, les religieuses emménagent dans la maison de Louis Briquet, construite en 1740; ce bâtiment est la partie centrale de l’actuel couvent.
Cette maison est plusieurs fois agrandie. Elle est
d’abord haussée d’un étage l’année même, en 1844; elle est ensuite dotée d’une
chapelle à l’ouest, en 1846; enfin, en 1851, l’aile des dortoirs est
construite, selon les plans du célèbre architecte Victor Bourgeau. Depuis lors,
le couvent a conservé cette allure générale qu’on lui connaît encore
aujourd’hui.
La communauté des Saints Noms de Jésus et de
Marie, que l’on a longtemps appelée les « Sœurs de Longueuil », a
largement contribué au renom de la ville, car le nombre de couvents et d’écoles
qu’elle dirigeait a crû très rapidement. En 1885, à peine 40 ans après sa
fondation, la communauté dirigeait déjà 37 institutions, dont certaines en
Floride et en Californie.
Publiés récemment
Les
journées du patrimoine religieux
Communion
& onction des malades
SOURCE : https://www.cocathedrale.ca/bienheureuse-marie-rose-durocher/
Plaque de la Commission des lieux et monuments
historiques du Canada, située sur le terrain de la maison Jésus-Marie, rue
Saint-Charles Est, Longueuil Texte de la plaque : « Dans le climat de
ferveur suscité par le renouveau religieux des années 1840 au Québec, des
femmes énergiques et zélées établirent plusieurs communautés à vocation
sociale. Ainsi, Eulalie Durocher fondait à Longueuil, en 1843, la Congrégation
des Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie, vouée à l'instruction des
jeunes. Cette mission d'éducation amena ces religieuses à se disperser
rapidement en Amérique du Nord et sur d'autres continents. Leurs excellentes
institutions ont grandement favorisé l'essor de la culture, comme en témoigne
la célèbre École de musique Vincent-D'Indy, à Montréal. » - pc.gc.ca
DUROCHER,
EULALIE (baptisée Mélanie), dite mère
Marie-Rose, fondatrice et première supérieure des Sœurs des
Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie au Canada, née le 6 octobre 1811 à
Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Bas-Canada, fille d’Olivier Durocher et de
Geneviève Durocher ; décédée le 6 octobre 1849 à Longueuil,
Bas-Canada.
Eulalie Durocher était la dixième d’une famille de 11
enfants dont 3 moururent en bas âge. Son père, riche cultivateur, avait fait
une partie de ses études classiques, et sa mère avait reçu une formation des
plus soignées chez les ursulines de Québec. Tous les deux étaient donc en
mesure d’assurer à leurs enfants une éducation de qualité. Les frères
d’Eulalie, Flavien*,
Théophile et Eusèbe, accédèrent à la prêtrise, et l’une de ses sœurs,
Séraphine, devint religieuse chez les sœurs de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame.
Pour sa part, Eulalie ne fréquenta pas l’école de son
village ; c’est à la maison que son grand-père paternel, Olivier Durocher,
milicien distingué et érudit, se constitua son maître. Toutefois, à la mort de
ce dernier en 1821, la fillette entra comme pensionnaire au couvent de
Saint-Denis, sur le Richelieu, que tenaient les sœurs de la Congrégation de
Notre-Dame. Elle revint à la maison après sa première communion, soit à l’âge
de 12 ans, et bénéficia à domicile d’un nouvel enseignement privé sous la
direction de l’abbé Jean-Marie-Ignace Archambault, professeur au collège de
Saint-Hyacinthe. Désireuse de se consacrer à Dieu dans la vie religieuse, elle
entra en 1827 au pensionnat des sœurs de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame à
Montréal dans l’intention d’y faire par la suite son noviciat, à l’instar de sa
sœur Séraphine. Mais après deux années d’études, entrecoupées de longues
périodes de repos, elle dut renoncer à son projet de vie religieuse à cause de
sa mauvaise santé. Elle réintégra son foyer pour attendre alors l’heure de
Dieu.
À la mort de sa mère en 1830, Eulalie recueillit
l’héritage maternel et devint l’âme de la famille. Douée d’un tempérament
ardent, facilement impérieuse, profondément pieuse, elle exerçait un ascendant
particulier sur les personnes qui l’entouraient. Son frère Théophile, curé de
la paroisse Saint-Mathieu, à Belœil, réussit à convaincre son père de quitter
la ferme ancestrale pour venir s’installer au presbytère de Belœil, dont
Eulalie sera du même coup la gouvernante de 1831 à 1843. Dans le va-et-vient de
ce presbytère très fréquenté, la vocation d’Eulalie se dessina peu à peu. On y
discutait aisément des problèmes de l’heure, autant politiques, éducatifs que
religieux. La jeune gouvernante, intéressée, prit conscience du besoin
urgent de rendre l’instruction accessible aux enfants des campagnes, les
pauvres autant que les riches. En raison de la pénurie d’écoles et de maîtres,
la situation était alarmante ; elle se mit alors à rêver d’une communauté
religieuse qui pourrait facilement multiplier ses couvents. Aussi en 1841,
quand le curé de Longueuil, Louis-Moïse Brassard*,
fit appel aux Sœurs des Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie de Marseille, en
France, Eulalie s’inscrivit à l’avance, avec son amie Mélodie Dufresne, comme
novice de cette congrégation. Cependant, les sœurs de France se désistèrent.
L’évêque de Marseille, Mgr Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod, fondateur des
oblats de Marie-Immaculée, conseilla alors à l’évêque de Montréal, Mgr
Ignace Bourget*,
d’instaurer, avec les deux femmes désireuses de faire partie du groupe attendu
de France, un embryon de communauté religieuse.
Dans l’intervalle, un premier contingent d’oblats,
dont faisait partie le père Adrien Telmon, arriva à Montréal. Ce dernier vint à
Belœil pour y donner des missions populaires ; il ne tarda pas à
reconnaître en Eulalie une éducatrice d’âmes capable de rassembler des émules
et de les guider dans les voies spirituelles. Il l’encouragea sans hésiter à
fonder une communauté religieuse typiquement canadienne vouée à l’éducation de
la jeunesse. Sous la direction des oblats de Marie-Immaculée, les trois
premières aspirantes, Eulalie Durocher, Mélodie Dufresne et Henriette Céré,
commencèrent à se former à la vie religieuse en octobre 1843. Elles
s’installèrent à Longueuil dans un immeuble qui servait d’école et où Henriette
Céré était institutrice. Le 28 février 1844, Mgr Bourget présida
la célébration de la prise d’habit des trois femmes. Eulalie devint sœur Marie-Rose
dans la communauté qui adopta le nom et les constitutions des Sœurs des
Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie de Marseille. Le 8 décembre suivant,
dans l’église paroissiale, Mgr Bourget reçut les vœux de religion des trois
femmes. Sœur Marie-Rose devint alors supérieure, maîtresse des novices et
dépositaire.
Les épreuves ne manquèrent pas à mère Marie-Rose. Les
démêlés de sa communauté avec l’abbé Charles Chiniquy* ne
furent pas les moindres. Celui-ci, qui était entré au noviciat des oblats en
1846, voulut prendre en main la direction pédagogique des écoles qu’avaient
établies les Sœurs des Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie. Devant les fins de
non-recevoir de la clairvoyante supérieure, il discrédita publiquement la
communauté. Malgré les orages, mère Marie-Rose tint bon. Femme d’une
exceptionnelle vertu, très unie au Seigneur, éducatrice à nulle autre pareille,
elle donna à la communauté une impulsion que le temps n’a pas arrêtée. À son
décès, le 6 octobre 1849, le jour de ses 38 ans, la communauté
comptait déjà 30 professes, 7 novices, 7 postulantes et 448 élèves réparties
dans 4 couvents.
Au lendemain des funérailles, Mgr Bourget disait aux
sœurs endeuillées : « Je vous avoue dans toute la sincérité de mon
cœur, que j’ai été tout à fait ému en voyant tant de vertus réunies dans une
seule âme [...] Je l’ai priée de m’obtenir la même ardeur pour gouverner mon
diocèse, qu’elle avait pour vous diriger. » En 1880, Bourget
affirmait : « Je l’invoque en mon particulier comme une sainte et
j’espère que le Seigneur la glorifiera devant les hommes, en lui faisant
décerner par l’Église les honneurs de l’autel. » Ce dernier souhait fut
exaucé le dimanche 23 mai 1982, lorsqu’en la place Saint-Pierre de
Rome, devant une foule immense, Jean-Paul II proclama bienheureuse
Marie-Rose Durocher.
ACAM, 525.105.— ANQ-M, CE1-3, 6 oct. 1811 ;
CE1-12, 8 oct. 1840.— M.-C. Daveluy, « Mère Marie-Rose,
1811–1849 », Dix fondatrices canadiennes (Montréal, 1925), 27–31.—
P.[-J.-B.] Duchaussois, Rose du Canada ; mère Marie-Rose, fondatrice
dé la Congrégation des Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie (Paris,
1932).— Germaine Duval, Par le chemin du roi une femme est venue ;
Marie-Rose Durocher, 1811–1849 (Montréal, 1982).— Marguerite Jean, Évolution
des communautés religieuses de femmes au Canada de 1639 à nos jours (Montréal,
1977).— [J.-H. Prétot], Mère Marie-Rose, fondatrice de la
Congrégation des SS. Noms de Jésus et de Marie au Canada (Montréal,
1895).— Pierre Lambert, « Eulalie Durocher et les filles de Belœil »,
Soc. d’hist. de Belœil-Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Cahiers (Belœil, Québec),
10 (févr. 1983) : 11–30.— André Lemay, « Mère Marie
Rose », Bull. eucharistique (Montréal), 8 (août
1945) : 226–256.
© 1988–2020 Université
Laval/University of Toronto
SOURCE : http://www.biographi.ca/fr/bio/durocher_eulalie_7E.html
Maison Jésus-Marie (autres appellations : Couvent des Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie, Couvent de Longueuil), 80-86, rue Saint-Charles Est, Longueuil snjm.qc.ca grandquebec.com patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca
Also known as
Eulalie Durocher
Profile
Tenth of eleven children.
Drawn to the religious life,
but turned away
due to frail health. She became housekeeper to
her brother Theophile, a priest at
Beloeil. Because newly independent Canada still
had a bit of the wild about it, its bishop (the
whole country was a single diocese)
had trouble getting European religious to emigrate,
so he founded new communities. Eulalie helped found the Sisters of the
Holy Names of Jesus and Mary who serve as teachers,
taking the name Marie Rose.
Born
6
October 1811 at
Saint Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada as Eulalie
Durocher
6
October 1849 at
Longueiul, Quebec, Canada of
natural causes
13
July 1979 by Pope John
Paul II
23
May 1982 by Pope John
Paul II
· Readings
Do not
imitate those persons who, after having spent a few months as a postulant
or novice in
a community, dress differently, even ludicrously. You are returning to the
secular state. My advice is, follow the styles of the day, but from afar, as it
were. – Blessed Marie-Rose
Durocher, giving advice to a novice leaving
the religious life
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-marie-rose-durocher/
BLESSED MARIE-ROSE DUROCHER
Life
Eulalie
Durocher was born in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Quebec on October 6,
1811. The tenth child of a prosperous farming family, she attended schools run
by the Congregation of Notre Dame in Saint Denis and in Montreal. She was
friendly, cheerful, straightforward, and charming, and she easily won people’s
respect and trust. She had good judgment and had a solid practical sense.
Although she had an emotional and strong-willed character, she succeeded in
controlling it and came across to people as patient, soft, and humble.
As a teenager she wanted to become a religious, but
she had to give up that plan because of her health. When she was 19, her mother
died and she stayed home with her father and several of her brothers.
Eventually she went to manage the household of her brother Théophile, a priest
in Saint Benoît and then Longueuil, where she also helped with pastoral
ministry. For 12 years, her daily life included helping to look after priests when
they were tired and sick, helping the poor, and visiting the sick. She observed
first-hand that a lot of people had no education and the young needed both
schools and religious training. She joined the Congregation of the Children of
Mary, established in Beloeil by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The
congregation of Daughters of Mary Immaculate gave her the opportunity to
exercise her gifts for teaching the young. She became president and spiritual
animator.
Eulalie hoped that a teaching order of religious would
become established in every parish. She envisioned small convents where poor
and rich students alike would receive a good faith-based education. Such a
community existed – the Religious of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary of
Marseilles, approved by the Bishop of Marseilles, the Most Rev. Eugene de
Mazenod, who was founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The nuns didn’t
want to come to Canada, so Eulalie went to work, at the request of the Most
Rev. Ignace Bourget, Bishop of Montreal and with the support of the Oblates, to
establish one.
In October 1843, Eulalie left Beloeil for Longueuil.
There she founded, with two companions, a congregation which was inspired by
the rule of the sisters of Marseille. She took the name in religion of Sister
Marie-Rose. Many people were skeptical about the new community. It seemed to be
based on a dream and to have no resources. However, in 1845 when the Hon. Louls
Lacoste presented to Parliament the incorporation bill for the Institute; he
said, “I wholeheartedly disagree with my friends who think I’m mad to support a
community which, to all appearances, will not have a very long lifespan.” From
this beginning, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary became an
international congregation of Catholic Women Religious, Associated and Lay
Consecrated.
Mother Marie-Rose died prematurely on October 6, 1849.
The young congregation consisted of 29 professed nuns, seven novices, seven
postulants and four houses of education. She was beatified by Pope (now Saint)
John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
Spirituality
Eulalie Durocher manifested her talents as a hostess,
housekeeper and nurse when, as a laywoman, she collaborated with her brother,
who was a priest. She also helped to coordinate parish activity. She could
bring people together, she was a good teacher, and she organized retreats for
families and directed the first Marian sodality in Quebec, a movement that
would play an important role in the religious renewal of the 19th century. She
had an uncomplicated and intelligent approach to life, and was known for her
fidelity to prayer and her silent humility.
Her active charity and her determination were
determining factors in her decision to found a religious congregation based on
a spirit of sharing with, as she put it, “the most abandoned”. The Chronicles
of the Institute note that a year after her death, “God wanted the founding of
a new Institute to give a religious education to the poor and abandoned
children.” For Mother Marie-Rose, religious education was “the indispensable
foundation of all learning.”
In the summer of 1844, Mother Marie-Rose sent two of
her Sisters to the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Montreal to learn
advanced pedagogical methods. She added music, drawing, English, and home
economics to the basic curriculum to prepare the girls for their adult lives.
She established a boarding school and the fees paid by the parents of its
students financed free education for poor students.
The new religious community drew inspiration from the
Religious of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary of Marseilles and from the
community founded by its Bishop, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The motto of
the OMI’s was “He has sent me to evangelize the poor.” Mother Marie-Rose’s
personal motto was “Jesus and Mary, my strength and my glory.” She left her
Order with a spiritual heritage characterized by fidelity to the Good News,
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary, and the method of prayer of St.
Ignatius, founder of the Jesuit Order.
The life of the community was disrupted by a Catholic
priest who had become a Protestant minister, Charles Chiniquy. He turned up at
the Longueuil convent in 1846 and caused serious trouble, becoming the sworn
enemy of Mother Marie-Rose when she perceived his destructive intentions and
banished him from the convent. He spread calumny about the Sisters and sowed
discord in the parish. Mother Marie-Rose wrote, “I hope that God will take pity
on us. I find our situation really difficult; it seems that most of our
parishioners have risen against us. We pray every day that God will transform
our misery to his glory and enlighten our superiors and grant us patience and
submission.”
The only time Mother Marie-Rose reprimanded her
Sisters was when one of them spoke ill of others. She often said, “Let us pray,
let us suffer, and let us trust.” On her deathbed, she asked forgiveness of her
Sisters for lacking in gentleness, goodness and charity. But Bishop Bourget
would say of her that “Charity was her favorite among the virtues.”
THE LIFE AND
SPIRITUALITY OF BLESSED MARIE-ROSE DUROCHER
Monday, October 5, 2015
On October 6, the Church in Canada celebrates the life
and witness of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, founder of the Congregation of the
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, Longueuil. Eulalie Durocher was
born in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, on October 6, 1811. As a teenager
she wanted to become a religious, but she had to give up that plan because of
her health. When she was 19, her mother died and she stayed home with her
father and several of her brothers. Eventually she went to manage the household
of her brother Théophile, a priest in Saint Benoît and then Longueuil, Québec,
where she also helped with pastoral work. In October 1843, with two companions,
Eulalie founded a religious community which was inspired by the rule of the
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary of Marseille. She took the name in
religion of Sister Marie-Rose. Mother Marie-Rose died prematurely on October 6,
1849. At the time of her death, the young religious community already consisted
of 29 professed Sisters, seven novices, seven postulants and four houses of
education. She was beatified by Pope (now Saint) John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
The following outline of her life and spirituality is
part of an initiative by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to
celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. The CCCB English Sector Office for
Evangelization and Catechesis has developed catechetical resources on the life
and spirituality of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher.
The main text outlining her life and spirituality
which has been posted on the CCCB Website is a translation from the liturgical
booklets issued by the French Sector Commission for Liturgy and the Sacraments
as part of its ongoing series for all Canadian Saints and Blesseds. Printed
copies of the complete booklets in French are on sale from CCCB
Publications.
Link
to the biography of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher (PDF)
Link
to catechetical resources in English
Link
to the website of the Congregation
SOURCE : https://www.cccb.ca/announcement/the-life-and-spirituality-of-blessed-marie-rose-durocher/
DUROCHER,
EULALIE (baptized Mélanie), named Mother Marie-Rose,
founder and first superior of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
in Canada; b. 6 Oct. 1811 in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Lower
Canada, daughter of Olivier Durocher and Geneviève Durocher;
d. 6 Oct. 1849 in Longueuil, Lower Canada.
Eulalie Durocher was the tenth of 11 children, 3 of
whom died in infancy. Her father, a wealthy farmer, had partially completed his
classical studies, and her mother had been given the most attentive schooling
at the Ursuline convent in Quebec. Consequently both were in a position to
ensure that their children obtained a good education. Eulalie’s brothers Flavien*,
Théophile, and Eusèbe entered the priesthood, and her sister Séraphine joined
the Congregation of Notre-Dame.
Eulalie did not attend the village school; her
paternal grandfather Olivier Durocher, a distinguished and scholarly man who
served in the militia, undertook to be her teacher at home. Upon his death in
1821, however, the little girl went as a boarding-pupil to the convent run by
the Congregation of Notre-Dame in Saint-Denis on the Richelieu. After taking
her first communion at the age of 12, she returned home; there she was again
tutored privately by Abbé Jean-Marie-Ignace Archambault, a teacher at the
Collège de Saint-Hyacinthe. Eager to dedicate herself to God in the religious
life, she entered the boarding-school of the Congregation of Notre-Dame in
Montreal in 1827, intending to do her noviciate there as had her sister
Séraphine. But after two years of study broken by long periods of rest, she had
to abandon her plans for the religious life because of poor health. She went
back home, to await God’s good time.
At her mother’s death in 1830 Eulalie took over her
role and became the life and soul of the family. Of an ardent temperament,
easily peremptory, deeply pious, she had a special influence on those around
her. Her brother Théophile, curé of Saint-Mathieu parish in Belœil, managed to
persuade his father to move from the ancestral farm to the presbytery at
Belœil; Eulalie assumed the housekeeping duties, which she carried out from
1831 till 1843. In the comings and goings of the busy presbytery, Eulalie’s
calling gradually took shape. The serious political, educational, and religious
problems of the day were freely discussed there. She took an interest in them
and became aware of the urgent need to make education accessible to children in
the countryside whether rich or poor. As there was an alarming shortage of
schools and teachers, she began to dream of a religious community that could
easily establish more convents. When in 1841 the parish priest of Longueuil,
Louis-Moïse Brassard*,
appealed to the Sœurs des Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie of Marseilles, in
France, Eulalie enrolled herself in advance, with her friend Mélodie Dufresne,
as a novice in this congregation. But the French sisters did not proceed. The
bishop of Marseilles, Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod, who had founded the
Oblates of Mary Immaculate, then advised the bishop of Montreal, Ignace Bourget*,
to set up a fledgling religious community with the two women who had been eager
to be part of the anticipated French group.
In the mean time an initial party of Oblates,
including Father Adrien Telmon, had arrived in Montreal. Telmon came to Belœil
to conduct popular missions, and he quickly recognized in Eulalie a mentor able
to gather kindred souls about her and guide them in the ways of the spirit. He
lost no time in encouraging her to found a religious community typically
Canadian in its dedication to educating the young. She, Mélodie, and Henriette
Céré, the first three candidates, began to prepare themselves for the religious
life under the guidance of the Oblates in October 1843. They moved into a
building in Longueuil used as a school, in which Henriette Céré taught. On
28 Feb. 1844 Bishop Bourget conducted the ceremony when the
three young women took the habit. Eulalie became Sister Marie-Rose in the
community, which assumed the name and the institutions of the Sœurs des
Saints-Noms de Jésus et de Marie of Marseilles. On 8 December of that year
Bourget received the religious vows of all three in the parish church.
Marie-Rose was then named superior, mistress of novices, and depositary.
Mother Marie-Rose faced many difficulties, not
the least being her community’s disputes with Abbé Charles Chiniquy*.
Chiniquy entered the Oblates’ noviciate in 1846 and wanted to take control of
the teaching in the schools established by the sisters When he met with
refusals from the perspicacious superior, he publicly disparaged the community.
Despite the storms Mother Marie-Rose stood firm. A woman of great
virtue, in close communion with the Lord and a peerless educator, she gave the
community an impetus that has not been lost with the passage of time. When she
died on 6 Oct. 1849, on her 38th birthday, the community already had
30 teachers, 7 novices, 7 postulants, and 448 pupils in 4 convents.
After the funeral Bourget told the mourning sisters:
“I confess to you with heartfelt sincerity that I was deeply moved to see so
many virtues knit together in one soul. . . . I begged her to
procure me the same zeal for governing my diocese as she had for directing
you.” Thirty years later, in 1880, Bourget was to say: “I invoke her aid as a
saint for myself, and I hope that the Lord will glorify her before men by
having the church award her the honours of the altar.” His last wish was
fulfilled on Sunday 23 May 1982 in St Peter’s Square in Rome, when
before a huge crowd Pope John Paul II proclaimed Marie-Rose Durocher
blessed.
ACAM, 525.105. ANQ-M, CE1-3,
6 oct. 1811; CE1-12, 8 oct. 1840. M.-C. Daveluy,
“Mère Marie-Rose, 1811–1849,” Dix fondatrices canadiennes (Montréal,
1925), 27–31. P.[-J.-B.] Duchaussois, Rose du Canada; mère
Marie-Rose, fondatrice de la Congrégation des Sœurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et
de Marie (Paris, 1932). Germaine Duval, Par le chemin du roi une
femme est venue; Marie-Rose Durocher, 1811–1849 (Montréal, 1982).
Marguerite Jean, Évolution des communautés religieuses de femmes au Canada
de 1639 à nos jours (Montréal, 1977). [J.-H. Prétot], Mère
Marie-Rose, fondatrice de la Congrégation des SS. Noms de Jésus et de
Marie au Canada (Montréal, 1895). Pierre Lambert, “Eulalie Durocher et les
filles de Belœil,” Soc. d’hist. de Belœil–Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Cahiers (Belœil,
Qué.), 10 (février 1983): 11–30. André Lemay, “Mère Marie
Rose,” Bull. eucharistique (Montréal), 8 (août
1945): 226–56.
© 1988–2020 University
of Toronto/Université Laval
SOURCE : http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/durocher_eulalie_7E.html
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
A religious congregation founded at Longueuil, Quebec,
8 December, 1844, under the patronage of Bishop Bourget, of Montreal for
the Christian education of
young girls. The mother-house is at Hochelaga, Montreal.
The institute was incorporated by Act of the Canadian Parliament
17 March, 1845. A Decree cum
laude was issued by Pius
IX, 27 February, 1863, and a further Decree of
4 September, 187, approved the institute; the constitutions received definite
approval 26 June, 1901, and the institute was divided into seven provinces, 11
May, 1894, later increased to nine, 25 August, 1910. Under the direction of Rev.
J. Allard three Canadian aspirants
— Miss Eulalie Durocher, Miss Henriette Céré, and Miss Mélodie Dufresne — were
trained according to the institute of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
established by Mgr.
Eugene de Mazenod of Marseilles.
The took simple religious vows at
Longueuil, 8 December, 1844, as Sisters Marie-Rose, Marie-Madeline, and
Marie-Agnes. Bishop Bourget gave the institute diocesan approval
and appointed Mother Marie-Rose, general superior for life. The community
at Marseilles supplied
the title of the congregation and, with modifications, the habit and the rule.
Under Mother Marie-Rose, the congregation developed rapidly, and a course of
study providing equally for English pupils and French was sketched on lines
sufficiently broad to cover subsequent requirements. The teaching of boys was
not at first contemplated, but missionary conditions rendering it imperative in
certain provinces, permission from the Holy
See has been temporarily obtained. The postulate lasts six months. At
the end of the canonical year novices are
sent for six additional months to the different houses, where they become
practically acquainted with the life of the community. After five years, the
young religious reconsiders her vocation during a retreat of thirty days.
Final vows are
perpetual. Young girls desiring of leading a hidden life in the apostolate
of education,
or possessing little aptitude for instruction, may enter as auxiliary sisters.
Their spiritual preparation is similar to that of the choir sisters, and save
for minor details in dress, no outward distinctions exist between the two
classes. A general superior elected for five years, who may not be chosen for
more than two consecutive terms, governs the entire congregation, assisted by
four councillors. A general chapter assembles periodically to deliberate upon
the major concerns of the institute.
In 1859 Archbishop
Blanchet of Oregon
City, Oregon,
secured twelve sisters for his diocese.
Several years later, they were invited to Seattle,
Washington. Today these two States form one province, with a novitiate (1871)
and provincial headquarters at St. Mary's Academy and College, Portland.
This school was
empowered to confer degrees (July, 1893), also to grant a Teachers' State
Certificate good for five years, and a Teachers' State Diploma qualifying the
holder for life. In 1907, an Act of the Washington State Legislature,
afterwards ratified by the State Board of Education, accredited the Holy Names'
Academics at Seattle and
Spokane, as State Normal Schools. Two other provinces are located in the United
States. that of California,
established at Oakland (1868) by Bishop
Alemany, possesses a novitiate since
1871; the New York province includes Florida. Quebec has four provinces; Ontario,
one; Manitoba, one. Attached to Ontario are parochial schools in Detroit and Chicago.
St. Mary's Portland, opened (1860) a refuge for destitute and orphaned children
and still conducts a Home for Orphan Girls. The congregation numbers (1910)
professed sisters, 1257; novices,
110; postulants,
81. It conducts 99 schools,
residential, select, and parochial,
attended by 24, 208 pupils. Of these establishments, 48 are in the United
States.
Madden, Marie. "Sisters of the Holy Names of
Jesus and Mary." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 7 Oct. 2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10678a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Michael T. Barrett. Dedicated to the Sisters of the Holy
Names at Marylhurst.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10678a.htm
Maison Marie-Rose-Durocher (autres appellations :
Maison de la Fabrique,
Maison de la fondation de la Congrégation des Soeurs
des Saints-Noms-de-Jésus-et-de-Marie, Maison Labadie),
90, rue Saint-Charles Est, Longueuil, Québec patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca
Beata Maria Rosa (Eulalia Melania) Durocher Fondatrice
Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada, 6 ottobre
1811 – Longueuil, Canada, 6 ottobre 1849
La beata canadese suor Maria Rosa (al secolo Eulalia
Melania Durocher) fondò la Congregazione delle Suore dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e
di Maria. Giovanni Paolo II la beatificò il 23 maggio 1982.
Martirologio Romano: In località Longueuil in
Canada, beata Maria Rosa (Eulalia) Durochet, vergine, fondatrice della
Congregazione delle Suore dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e Maria per la formazione
umana e cristiana della gioventù femminile.
Una ragazza nata in un piccolo villaggio di campagna,
dalla salute gracile, non avrebbe mai pensato di fondare un giorno una
congregazione di suore insegnanti, diffusa oggi in varie parti del mondo, ma il
Signore, per le sue opere, si serve anche di piccoli strumenti.
Eulalia Durocher nacque a Saint Antoine sur Richelieu,
un piccolo paese del Quebéc (Canada), il 6 ottobre 1811 da una famiglia molto
religiosa. Era l’ultima di dieci figli, tre dei quali divennero sacerdoti e due
suore. Anche i genitori, che erano contadini, avevano in giovinezza pensato di
consacrarsi a Dio. Eulalia (battezzata con il nome di Melania) crebbe in un
ambiente sano, tranquillo e profondamente cristiano. All’età di dieci anni fu mandata
nel collegio delle Suore di Notre Dame a St. Denis in cui rimase due anni e in
cui ricevette la Prima Comunione. Ritornò poi a casa per problemi di salute
fino a quando, nel 1827, maturando la vocazione religiosa, entrò nella comunità
di Montreal delle medesime suore. Nei tre anni successivi dovette più volte
tornare a casa, sempre a causa della cagionevole salute, e infine rinunciò al
suo desiderio. All’età di diciannove anni, quando morì la madre, si trasferì
col padre presso il fratello sacerdote in un paese vicino. Si occupava delle
faccende della canonica, aiutando nelle opere parrocchiali e facendosi
apprezzare da tutti per disponibilità e gentilezza. L’anno seguente alcune
ragazze iniziarono ad aiutarla ed insieme formarono l’associazione delle Figlie
di Maria, la prima del Canada. Eulalia fu eletta direttrice dell’associazione
ma la sua vocazione di consacrarsi tutta a Dio rimaneva forte e nel 1841
pronunciò nelle mani del confessore i voti privati di povertà, castità e
ubbidienza. Il lavoro in parrocchia le dava poi modo di comprendere quanto
fosse necessaria l’istruzione dei poveri che a quei tempi ne erano quasi privi.
La situazione socio-politica del Quebéc era complicata. Nel secolo precedente,
dopo una guerra tra Francia e Inghilterra (1763), il paese era passato sotto il
controllo inglese. Fin dalla sua fondazione (1603), la cosiddetta “Novelle
France” era nata grazie all’immigrazione dal vecchio continente, regolata da
norme precise. Gli abitanti erano tutti cattolici francesi e spesso i rapporti
con i confinanti inglesi (protestanti) non erano facili. Con la Rivoluzione
Americana, in Canada si rifugiarono i coloni che non volevano separarsi dalla
Corona britannica. Si stabilirono soprattutto ad ovest, nell'Ontario, lasciando
ai francofoni i territori dell'est. La convivenza tra le due comunità, che
implicava la scelta dei governi, la libertà di stampa e il controllo del
commercio, era difficile. Ci furono rivolte sedate con la forza (1838) perché i
francesi, pur essendo in maggioranza, avevano meno diritti. In queste complesse
vicende si inserisce la storia della beata. Nella sua cittadina, per
l’istruzione del popolo, si cercò di far giungere dalla Francia la
Congregazione dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e Maria che, impossibilitata ad aprire
oltreoceano una casa, mandò le proprie costituzioni cui ispirarsi. Il
confessore di Eulalia, un Missionario Oblato di Maria Immacolata (fondati dal
De Mazenod), consigliò quindi alla giovane di dare vita ad una nuova famiglia
religiosa. La Durocher, contro ogni sua aspettativa, insieme a due amiche,
formò la prima comunità prendendo dimora in una vecchia scuola. Proprio in
quegli anni sant’Eugenio de Mazenod inviava dalla Francia i suoi missionari a
Montreal, aprendo la strada allo sviluppo della sua congregazione. La diocesi
cattolica era grande e c’era molto da lavorare. Nacquero così a Longueuil, il
28 ottobre 1843, le Suore dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e Maria. Approvate dal vescovo
Ignace Bourget il 29 febbraio dell’anno successivo, l’8 dicembre 1844 ci fu la
professione ed Eulalia prese il nome di Maria Rosa, venendo nominata superiora
e maestra delle novizie. Nel 1845 la congregazione ebbe la personalità
giuridica, con riconoscimento da parte del parlamento. Fondamentale fu la guida
degli Oblati di S. Eugenio nella formazione delle suore, e l’aiuto dei fratelli
di Suor Maria Rosa, in particolare di Teofilo. Si mantennero le costituzioni
dell’istituto di Marsiglia, adottando il metodo di insegnamento dei Fratelli
delle Scuole Cristiane. La congregazione moltiplicò il suo apostolato, alcune
iniziative erano a pagamento e così si potevano finanziare le attività
educative per le famiglie povere.
Madre Maria Rosa aveva ormai compiuto la sua missione
terrena, gettando in seno alla Chiesa un seme fecondo. Morì a soli trentotto
anni il 6 ottobre 1849. Poco prima di spirare, sorridendo, disse alle suore
raccolte intorno al suo letto: “Le vostre preghiere mi trattengono qui,
lasciatemi andare!”. La congregazione, che nel 1877 divenne di diritto
pontificio, si dedica ancora oggi prevalentemente all'istruzione e alla
catechesi, seguendo la spiritualità ignaziana. È diffusa in varie parti del
mondo, oltre al Canada e agli Stati Uniti, è presente in Giappone, Lesotho,
Brasile, Perù, Camerun, Haiti, Nigeria. Le spoglie mortali di Madre Maria Rosa
sono venerate nella cattedrale della diocesi di St-Jean-Longueil, la cattedrale
di St-Antoine. Papa Giovanni Paolo II l’ha dichiarata beata il 23 maggio 1982.
Autore: Daniele Bolognini
