Easter of Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

Holiness emanates from Easter in the Church and in a particular way the Eudist Family, especially the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, celebrates the life of Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, its founder

1. Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
April 24
EUDIST
SPIRITUALITY
UNITY

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Easter of Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
Holiness emanates from Easter in the Church and in a
particular way the Eudist Family, especially the
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good
Shepherd, celebrates the life of Saint Mary Euphrasia
Pelletier, its founder.
The spiritual heritage of Saint John Eudes has borne so
much fruit for the Church over the years, thanks to this
new perspective on the relationship between Jesus and
human beings; Our founding father understood that being
a Christian implied being authentic and assuming the
commitment to form Jesus to the point of wanting to
assume his life and heart as his own.

3. Saint John Eudes was convinced that the Church needed a
renewal, but above all to look at God to become his
instrument, and not make God the instrument of the Church,
to the point of losing the authenticity of the Christian life
based on pray, work and execute any action in the style of
Jesus, to become a simple action.
Saint Mary Euphrasia wanted to be an instrument of God
because she found in this proposal an option for the poor
and the marginalized, and she committed herself to that
inclination, to follow not only the legacy of Father Eudes,
but that of Christ the Good Shepherd, always ready to Go
out to meet those most in need, the lost sheep to lift them
up, heal them, assume their burdens and give new meaning
to the feeling of their life.
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4. Rosa Virginia was born in northern France on July 31, 1796.
She entered the Order of Our Lady of Charity, a convent
founded by Saint John Eudes in 1641, where she took the
name Euphrasia. Passionate about the life these religious
sisters led, she wanted to multiply their lifestyle and expand
this mission to all nations.
Saint John Paul II remembers this event as “the willingness
in his heart to open himself to the world to awaken little by
little the desire to save souls and carry out missionary
action” (John Paul II, Message to the Reverend Mother
Liliana Tauvette on the occasion of the second centenary of
the birth of Rosa Virgina, July 31, 1996).
ROSA VIRGINIA PELLETIER
“SAINT MARY EUPHRASIA”
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5. In this way, the organization began into a Generalate for the
foundations that it was asked to carry out. This became the
origin of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the
Good Shepherd, which differed from the original foundation
of Saint John Eudes, whose spirit he always preserved with
great affection.
During her life, Mary Euphrasia founded 110 houses on all
continents. She died in Angers, on April 24, 1868. She was
beatified in 1933 by Pius XI and canonized in 1940 by Pius
XII.
Today the Active Sisters of the Good Shepherd and the
Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd serve in 65
countries, embracing the world with their zeal for the
salvation of all people, as a fourth vow alongside chastity,
poverty and obedience.
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Words of Saint Mary Euphrasia in
imitation of the Good Shepherd
Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is the model that we must
try to imitate to acquire the perfection of our state. Since he
deigned to associate us with his work and has placed us, to
take his place, in the fold where he has gathered so many
unfortunate sheep, it is our duty to form ourselves according
to his spirit and live his same life.
You will not be able to do good, dear daughters, nor will you
have the spirit of our vocation unless you have the thoughts,
feelings, and affections of the Good Shepherd. They must be
living images of him. Now, what has Christ said about
himself? I have come to save what was lost (Lk 19, 1 0) And
what has he done? He has followed sinners with the care of a
father, he has endured all kinds of hardships to make them
return to him.

7. Remember the ineffable kindness with which he
welcomed the Magdalene! See him sitting on the edge of
Jacob's well; He is tired and rests a little; is that a soul is
waiting; He wants to convert the Samaritan woman.
Consider it after his resurrection: he continues to
exercise his office as Good Shepherd; He goes in search
of two sheep who, disconsolate and sad, leave
Jerusalem, the city of peace, to go to Emmaus, a castle
of confusion. He joins the two disciples whose soul was
dismayed and their faith wavered, and he walks with
them, going neither faster nor slower. He takes part in
their conversation, adapts to their weakness, to instruct
them and illuminate the darkness of their spirit.
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8. This is the example, beloved daughters, that we must
imitate, because you are destined to become so many good
shepherds. It is necessary that they imitate the self-denial,
the spirit of charity and zeal of Jesus Christ himself. Like
him, they will go to Emmaus to look for runaway sheep and,
fulfilling the functions of a good shepherd, return them to the
fold.
Your task is difficult, but it is great, noble and divine, in the
eyes of faith. They should not be cowed by obstacles.
Sometimes God himself puts them before us to rekindle our
zeal when lukewarmness tempts us. The object of our
thoughts, desires, words and actions must be the salvation
of our beloved sheep, after the example of our Savior, whose
thoughts, desires, words and actions had no other goal.
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(From the talks of Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier 6: Angers, 1907, 39-41)

9. “What do we do in this world and why are we in it if it is not
to contribute to the salvation of our brothers?... Let us
present to our Lord the souls that have cost him their blood
and their lives as a pledge of our love and as a title to the
eternal reward that he prepares for us.”
Let us meditate with Saint Mary Euphrasia
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(From the talks of Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
4 y 62: Angers, 1907, 29-31. 360)
Father God, who granted your holy virgin Mary
Euphrasia to walk in the footsteps of the Good
Shepherd, grant us now to benefit from his example
so that one day we may achieve eternal gifts.
Amen.
PRAYER:

10. “A soul is worth more than a world”
Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier