The girl who was rejected

Eulalie was the youngest of ten children and by no means the most robust. At one point, she tried to become a nun, but she was turned away because her health was too frail. She ended up working as a housekeeper to her brother who was a priest.

Meanwhile, the bishop of the diocese was having a problem. His diocese was, very, very, very large and he could not get enough nuns for the education of the children.

Before long, the providence of God came through. The bishop asked Eulalie to found her own religious order.

The girl who had been rejected was now the foundress.

Within six years, the Sisters of the Holy Names had 30 members teaching nearly four hundred children.

Her congregation now well on its way, Eulalie Durocher, known now as Mother Marie Rose, was called home to the Lord on her 38th birthday on this very day in 1849. She was declared one of the Blessed by the great Pope John Paul II in 1982.

(adapted from an earlier post)