Blessed Rosalie Rendu

Rosalie Rendu, DC (born Jeanne-Marie Rendu; 9 September 1786 – 7 February 1856) was a French Catholic member of the Daughters of Charity who organized care for the poor in the Paris slums during the Industrial Revolution. She was beatified in the Catholic Church in 2003. She was born Jeanne-Marie Rendu on 9 September 1786, in Confort, France, not far from Geneva. The eldest of four girls, she came from a family of small property owners which enjoyed a certain affluence and respect throughout the area. She was baptized the day she was born in the parish church of Lancrans. Her godfather by proxy was Jacques Emery, a family friend and future superior general of the Sulpicians in Paris. Rendu was three years old when the French Revolution broke out. Starting in 1790, it was compulsory for the clergy to take an oath of support for the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Numerous priests, faithful to the Catholic Church, refused to take this oath. They were driven from their parishes, with some being put to death and others having to hide to escape their pursuers. The Rendu family home became a refuge for these priests, some fleeing to Switzerland. The Bishop of Annecy found asylum there under the assumed name of Pierre. Jeanne-Marie was fascinated by this hired hand who was treated better than the others. One night she discovered that he was celebrating a Mass. It was in this atmosphere of faith, exposed to the dangers of denunciation, that Rendu was educated. She made her First Communion one night by candlelight in the basement of her home. This exceptional environment forged her character. The death of her father, 12 May 1796, and that of her youngest sister, at four months of age, on 19 July of the same year, shook the entire family. Rendu, aware of her responsibility as the eldest, helped her mother, especially in caring for her younger sisters. Madame Rendu, concerned about the education of her eldest daughter, sent her to the Ursuline Sisters in Gex.