Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil-Martiny

Marie Deluil-Martiny (28 May 1841 – 27 February 1884), known in religion as Marie of Jesus, was a French Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus. She was murdered by the convent's gardener in 1884. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1989. Marie Deluil-Martiny was born in Marseille on 28 May 1841, the eldest of five children. Her father, Paul Deluil-Martiny, served in the legal profession. She had one brother and three sisters, the last of which was Clemence (1849-1859). She was baptized hours after her birth with the name "Marie-Caroline-Philomène". On the maternal side were a number of members who were nuns. She was also the great-niece of the Servant of God Madeleine Rémuzat (1696-1730). Maries education commenced at the age of eleven of which nuns oversaw. Prior to the reception of her First Communion her parents sent her to a convent in Marseille to prepare for the sacrament. On one occasion she stopped her recreational activities and took a friend, Angelica, aside and confided her happiness at the imminent reception of the Eucharist and remained absorbed in that thought for several moments. She received her First Communion on 22 December 1853 and later received the sacrament of Confirmation on 29 January 1854 from the Bishop of Marseille, Eugène de Mazenod. At the age of fifteen while still in school she gathered a small group of students and dubbed it the Oblates of Mary. This small group was short lived since the students' superiors discovered it and dissolved it as soon as it was learned it had been established. She made a retreat towards the end of her studies in which it proved decisive for her religious vocation. She began writing in a spiritual journal around this time. Martiny also refused several marriage offers around this time due to realizing her true purpose and her call to follow Jesus Christ.