Patron Saint of the Day- St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

November 18th
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

St. Rose was born in Grenoble, France in 1769. She wanted to be Visitation nun, but the French Revolution ended those plans when the Visitation nuns were expelled from their home in 1788, before Rose could make her profession. During the Revolution, Rose hid fugitive priests, visited prisons, and taught. When she could not reorganize the Sisters of the Visitation after the Revolution, she offered the house to the Society of the Sacred Heart and joined that order herself.

At the age of forty-nine, Rose was sent to America. She traveled to St. Charles, Missouri and established a convent, orphanage, and the first free school west of the Mississippi. She was renowned for her courage and fortitude through pioneer conditions. At seventy-one she established a school for the Native Americans, who called her "The Woman Who is Always Praying". She continued to teach and nurse the sick until her death in 1852.

Thought for the day from EWTN.com: "Setback after setback after setback, even into old age! This woman of bronze—St. Rose Philippine Duchesne—let nothing stop her, nothing discourage her, nothing slow her down. We can do almost anything for God if we refuse to be discouraged and are willing to pay the price: the price is something called holiness."


Links of Interest:
Food on the Frontier from Missouri Department of Conservation
The Society of the Sacred Heart