Blessed Marie-Céline de la Présentation

Jeanne-Germaine Castang (24 May 1878 – 30 May 1897) – in religious Marie-Céline of the Presentation – was a French Roman Catholic nun from the Poor Clares. Her childhood was marked with lameness and she suffered a noticeable limp for the remainder of her life after contracting the disease in 1882 and an operation for pain relief in 1891. Her desire for the religious life began in her childhood and after being turned from the Sisters of Saint Joseph she managed to be admitted into the Poor Clares where she soon became ill with tuberculosis. She was permitted to make her vows well before the usual time since she was in poor health. Castang's beatification cause opened on 18 June 1930 and her beatification was celebrated in the Bordeaux Cathedral on 16 September 2007. Jenne-Germaine Castang was born in mid-1878 as the fifth child of eleven children. Her father was a small landowner and her mother was born to notaries. Out of the eleven children three died at Nojals-et-Clotte and two others in Bordeaux from tuberculosis and malnutrition. The eldest daughter was able to join the convent of the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Aubenas. In her childhood she was noted for her strong and pious character as well as for her attentiveness to the needs of others. In 1882 Castang was infected with polio that froze her left leg and with a permanent limp. The girl came home with some friends but one suggested that all go paddling in an ice-cold stream; she was eager to join them but felt unwell afterwards and a serious leg problem arose not long after this incident. However she continued her education which first came from her parents and then from the Sisters of Saint Joseph where she was noted for her pious nature and for her strong devotion to the Eucharist.