Helene de Chappotin - Developing Christian Communities

Helene de
Chappotin
MARY OF THE PASSION
She was a
predestined
Child.
It was a large family:
Helene, her four
brothers and
sisters, their
parents and her
Aunt.
Helene had a horror of
the dark. Her mother
wanted the child to
overcome this fear and
promised her a ‘voucher
for bread’ for the poor
each time she went to
sleep without the light.
One day she was being
punished by being
deprived of reading. So
she wrote a story herself.
In the evening the penance
was lifted and Helene had
to read from the her first
work before her
assembled family.
Jeanne Jugan, foundress of
The Little Sisters of the Poors,
visited the Family. Asking the
sisters “Which of you
three will become a nun?”
Helene shouted: “I don’t want
To! I don’t want to leave
Mama!”
Helene initially said the same
thing to the Bishop of
Nantes who also visited.
But upon his insistence
and with a heavy heart
from the sacrifice she
was making, she knelt
down and said: “Well
then your excellency,
I’ll be a missionary.”
In 1850 grief entered into
her life. Her closest friend
and cousin Auriele died.
Her beloved elder sister,
Martine also passed
away two months later.
Four years later, her sister
Louise died, leaving two
little orphans.
Helene suffered and asked
herself about life, death and
the superficiality of worldly
life.
Helene was resolved
to be religious.
A few days before her
departure her Mum
had a stroke and died.
Helene came to the
conclusion that the grief of
separation was responsible
for her Mother’s death.
In 1860 Helene joined the
order of the Poor Clares.
Life in the monastery fulfilled
her wishes.
But some months later
she fell ill and was forced
to return back home.
Helene wondered what God’s
plan for the future was for her?
In 1864 she took the habit and
received the name of Mary
of the Passion.
She was sent to India
for missionary work and
had a successful and
Prosperous trip.
But God destined Helene for
greater things.
In 1876, there began a series of
difficulties; Mary of the Passion
left India for Rome. She would
never return but she was able to
pass on to her daughters
her experience and
her mission zeal.
In 1877 she obtained the
authorization from Pius
IX to found a new institute:
The Missionaries of Mary
(Later the Francsican
Missionaries of Mary)
The institute was
organized, vocations
began to come.
Foundations followed
one after another.
In 1903 during a moving
audience Leo XIII said
to Helene the foundress:
“I bless you so that you
may do the work of God;
you will go to heaven.”
On the 15th of November
1904 Mary of the Passion
died in San Remo.
On 20th October 2002,
Pope John Paul II
declared her blessed.
Her legacy lives on today through the work of the
Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and its affiliates
such as Ave Maria College.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Franciscan Missionaries of Mary website
http://www.fmm.org/fmm/s2magazine/index1.jsp?idPagina=4
• Paintings by Sr. Maria Adelwida, FMM