Julie Billiart
Encyclopedia
Saint Julie Billiart was a French religious leader who founded, and was the first Superior General
of, the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
.
, Picardy
, Beauvais, Oise
, France
, the sixth of seven children of Jean-François Billiart and Marie-Louise-Antoinette (née Debraine). By the age of seven, she knew the catechism
by heart, and used to gather her companions around her to hear her recite it and to explain it to them. Her education was confined to the rudiments obtained at the village school kept by her uncle, Thibault Guilbiert. In spiritual things her progress was so rapid that the parish priest, Father Dangicourt, allowed her to make her First Communion
and to be confirmed aged 9. She took a vow of chastity
five years later.
She was held in very high esteem for her virtue and piety, and was commonly called, "the saint of Cuvilly". When twenty-two years old, a nervous shock, occasioned by a pistol-shot fired at her father by an unknown enemy, brought on a paralysis
of the lower limbs. Within a few years she was confined to her bed, and remained incapacitated for 22 years. During this time, when she received Holy Communion daily, Julie exercised an uncommon gift of prayer, spending four or five hours a day in contemplation. The rest of her time was occupied in making linens and laces for the altar and in catechizing the village children whom she gathered around her bed, giving special attention to those who were preparing for their First Communion.
, where Billiart took refuge with Countess Baudoin during the French Revolution
, she met Françoise, Viscountess of Gizaincourt
, who became her co-laborer in the work as yet unknown to either of them. The Viscountess Blin de Bourdon was 38 years old when she met Julie, and had spent her youth in piety and good works. She had been imprisoned with all of her family during the Reign of Terror
, and had escaped death only by the fall of Robespierre. A small company of friends of the viscountess (young and high-born ladies) was formed around the couch of "the saint". Billiart taught them how to lead an interior life, while they devoted themselves generously to the causes of God
and the poor. Though they attempted all the exercises of an active community life, some of the elements of stability were wanting, and these first disciples dropped off until only the Viscountess remained.
, 1 June 1804, Mother Julie, after a novena
made in obedience to her confessor, was cured of paralysis.
The first vows of religion were made on 15 October 1804 by Billiart, Blin de Bourdon, Victoire Leleu and Justine Garson, and their family names were changed to names of saints. They proposed for their lifework the Christian education of girls, and the training of religious teachers who should go wherever their services were asked for. Father Varin gave the community a provisional rule by way of probation, which was so far-sighted that its essentials have never been changed. In view of the extension of the institute, he would have it governed by a superior-general, charged with visiting the houses, nominating the local superiors, corresponding with the members dispersed in the different convent
s, and assigning the revenues of the society.
The characteristic devotions of the Sisters of Notre Dame were established by the foundress from the beginning. She was original in doing away with the time-honored distinction between choir sisters and lay sisters, but this perfect equality of rank did not prevent her from putting each sister to the work for which her capacity and education fitted her. She attached great importance to the formation of the sisters destined for the schools, and in this she was ably assisted by Mother St. Joseph (Françoise Blin de Bourdon), who had herself received an excellent education.
When the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame was approved by an imperial decree dated 19 June 1806, it numbered 30 members, In that and the following years, foundations were made in various towns of France and Belgium, the most important being those at Ghent
and Namur; Mother St. Joseph was the first superior of the latter house.
In the absence of Father Varin from that city, the confessor of the community, the Abbé de Sambucy de St. Estève, a man of superior intelligence and attainments but enterprising and injudicious, endeavored to change the rule and fundamental constitutions of the new congregation so as to bring it why into harmony with the ancient monastic orders. He so far influenced the Bishop, Msgr.
Demandolx, that Mother Julie had soon no alternative but to leave the Diocese of Amiens, relying upon the goodwill of Msgr. Pisani de la Gaude, bishop of Namur, who had invited her to make his episcopal city the center of her congregation, should a change become necessary.
In leaving Amiens, Mother Julie laid the case before all her subjects and told them they were perfectly free to remain or to follow her. All but two chose to go with her, and thus, in the mid-winter of 1809, the convent of Namur became the motherhouse of the institute and is so still. Msgr. Demandolx, soon undeceived, made all the amends in his power, entreating Mother Julie to return to Amiens and rebuild her institute. She returned, but after a vain struggle to find subjects or revenues, went back to Namur.
, and the mother-general suffered great anxiety, as several of her convents were in the path of the armies, but they escaped injury. In January 1816, she took ill.
She died on 8 April 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium
, aged 64.And also death was part of her shock of nervous when her father was attempt of murder,and was paralyzed for about twenty years.After twenty years she began to take her first footsteps for finally about twenty years ago.
was begun in 1881. She was beatified
on 13 May 1906 by Pope Pius X
and canonized in 1969 by Pope Paul VI
. Saint Julie was best-known for her charity. Her whole soul was echoed in the simple and naive formula which was continually on her lips and pen: el qu'il est bon, le bon Dieu! (How good is the good God).
Superior general
A Superior General, or General Superior, is the Superior at the head of a whole religious order or congregation.The term is mainly used as a generic term, while many orders and congregations use other specific titles, notably:* Abbot general...
of, the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is the name of a Roman Catholic order of religious sisters, dedicated to providing education to the poor.The order was founded in Amiens in 1803, but the opposition of the local bishop to missions outside his diocese led to the moving of headquarters to then...
.
Childhood
She was born on 12 July 1751, at CuvillyCuvilly
Cuvilly is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise....
, Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
, Beauvais, Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the sixth of seven children of Jean-François Billiart and Marie-Louise-Antoinette (née Debraine). By the age of seven, she knew the catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic...
by heart, and used to gather her companions around her to hear her recite it and to explain it to them. Her education was confined to the rudiments obtained at the village school kept by her uncle, Thibault Guilbiert. In spiritual things her progress was so rapid that the parish priest, Father Dangicourt, allowed her to make her First Communion
First Communion
The First Communion, or First Holy Communion, is a Catholic Church ceremony. It is the colloquial name for a person's first reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Catholic Church...
and to be confirmed aged 9. She took a vow of chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
five years later.
She was held in very high esteem for her virtue and piety, and was commonly called, "the saint of Cuvilly". When twenty-two years old, a nervous shock, occasioned by a pistol-shot fired at her father by an unknown enemy, brought on a paralysis
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
of the lower limbs. Within a few years she was confined to her bed, and remained incapacitated for 22 years. During this time, when she received Holy Communion daily, Julie exercised an uncommon gift of prayer, spending four or five hours a day in contemplation. The rest of her time was occupied in making linens and laces for the altar and in catechizing the village children whom she gathered around her bed, giving special attention to those who were preparing for their First Communion.
Amiens and Viscountess
At AmiensAmiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, where Billiart took refuge with Countess Baudoin during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, she met Françoise, Viscountess of Gizaincourt
Françoise Blin de Bourdon
Mother St. Joseph, also known as Marie Louise Françoise Blin de Bourdon was a French noblewoman and nun.-Biography:...
, who became her co-laborer in the work as yet unknown to either of them. The Viscountess Blin de Bourdon was 38 years old when she met Julie, and had spent her youth in piety and good works. She had been imprisoned with all of her family during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, and had escaped death only by the fall of Robespierre. A small company of friends of the viscountess (young and high-born ladies) was formed around the couch of "the saint". Billiart taught them how to lead an interior life, while they devoted themselves generously to the causes of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and the poor. Though they attempted all the exercises of an active community life, some of the elements of stability were wanting, and these first disciples dropped off until only the Viscountess remained.
Institute of the Sisters of Notre Dame
In 1803, in obedience to Father Varin, superior of the Fathers of the Faith, and under the auspices of the Bishop of Amiens, the foundation was laid of the Institute of the Sisters of Notre Dame, a society which had for its primary object the salvation of poor children. Several young persons offered themselves to assist the two superiors, Julie and Françoise. The first pupils were eight orphans. On the feast of the Sacred HeartSacred Heart
The Sacred Heart is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His divine love for Humanity....
, 1 June 1804, Mother Julie, after a novena
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
made in obedience to her confessor, was cured of paralysis.
The first vows of religion were made on 15 October 1804 by Billiart, Blin de Bourdon, Victoire Leleu and Justine Garson, and their family names were changed to names of saints. They proposed for their lifework the Christian education of girls, and the training of religious teachers who should go wherever their services were asked for. Father Varin gave the community a provisional rule by way of probation, which was so far-sighted that its essentials have never been changed. In view of the extension of the institute, he would have it governed by a superior-general, charged with visiting the houses, nominating the local superiors, corresponding with the members dispersed in the different convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
s, and assigning the revenues of the society.
The characteristic devotions of the Sisters of Notre Dame were established by the foundress from the beginning. She was original in doing away with the time-honored distinction between choir sisters and lay sisters, but this perfect equality of rank did not prevent her from putting each sister to the work for which her capacity and education fitted her. She attached great importance to the formation of the sisters destined for the schools, and in this she was ably assisted by Mother St. Joseph (Françoise Blin de Bourdon), who had herself received an excellent education.
When the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame was approved by an imperial decree dated 19 June 1806, it numbered 30 members, In that and the following years, foundations were made in various towns of France and Belgium, the most important being those at Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and Namur; Mother St. Joseph was the first superior of the latter house.
In the absence of Father Varin from that city, the confessor of the community, the Abbé de Sambucy de St. Estève, a man of superior intelligence and attainments but enterprising and injudicious, endeavored to change the rule and fundamental constitutions of the new congregation so as to bring it why into harmony with the ancient monastic orders. He so far influenced the Bishop, Msgr.
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
Demandolx, that Mother Julie had soon no alternative but to leave the Diocese of Amiens, relying upon the goodwill of Msgr. Pisani de la Gaude, bishop of Namur, who had invited her to make his episcopal city the center of her congregation, should a change become necessary.
In leaving Amiens, Mother Julie laid the case before all her subjects and told them they were perfectly free to remain or to follow her. All but two chose to go with her, and thus, in the mid-winter of 1809, the convent of Namur became the motherhouse of the institute and is so still. Msgr. Demandolx, soon undeceived, made all the amends in his power, entreating Mother Julie to return to Amiens and rebuild her institute. She returned, but after a vain struggle to find subjects or revenues, went back to Namur.
Later life, death and canonization
The seven years of life that remained to her were spent in forming her daughters to solid piety and the interior spirit, of which she was herself the model. Msgr. De Broglie, the bishop of Ghent, said of her that she saved more souls by her inner life of union with God than by her outward apostolate. In the space of twelve years (1804–1816) Mother Julie founded fifteen convents, made one hundred and twenty journeys, many of them long and toilsome, and carried on a close correspondence with her spiritual daughters. Hundreds of these letters are preserved in the motherhouse. In 1815 Belgium was the battlefield of the Napoleonic warsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, and the mother-general suffered great anxiety, as several of her convents were in the path of the armies, but they escaped injury. In January 1816, she took ill.
She died on 8 April 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
, aged 64.And also death was part of her shock of nervous when her father was attempt of murder,and was paralyzed for about twenty years.After twenty years she began to take her first footsteps for finally about twenty years ago.
Posthumous
The fame of her sanctity spread abroad and was confirmed by several miracles. The process of her canonizationCanonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
was begun in 1881. She was beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
on 13 May 1906 by Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
and canonized in 1969 by Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
. Saint Julie was best-known for her charity. Her whole soul was echoed in the simple and naive formula which was continually on her lips and pen: el qu'il est bon, le bon Dieu! (How good is the good God).