Saints for Black History Month
In this month devoted to Black History, we Catholics remember and honor several Black Saints and Saints-to-Be. On a table in the Gathering Room of our Sisters of Notre Dame chapel in Chardon, Ohio, you can see a display of their pictures.
On the window sills along a hall stand their pictures with a quotation from them. This week I’m letting them help produce this blog post . . .
How appropriate that February is the month of St. Valentine’s Day, a celebration of love. These holy people loved God with all their heart.
Last week I introduced St. Martin de Porres. Today may I present Saint Josephine Bakhita, who is not well-known. She died the year I was born, 1947, and became the first African woman to be canonized in modern times. She is the patron saint of Sudan, which definitely needs her intercession nowadays.
Saint Josephine Bakhita
Josephine was born in Sudan around 1869, one of seven children in a well-to-do family. About the age of 8, Arab slave traders abducted her and and forced her to walk barefoot about 600 miles to El-Obeid. She was so shocked that she forgot her name; her enslavers called her Bakhita, Arab for lucky, and made her embrace Islam. On the journey she was sold twice.
In El-Obeid, an Arab bought her as a maid. One of his sons who was offended by her whipped and kicked her so cruelly that she was confined to her straw bed for over a month. Her next owner, a Turkish general, had her serve two women who whipped and beat her every day. They subjected to the horrific traditional custom of scarring. In all, 114 patterns were cut into her skin and filled with salt.
Improved Conditions
In 1883, Bakhita was bought by a kind Italian man and two years later left for Italy with him. After riding a camel for 400 miles, they arrived at a Sudan port and sailed to Italy. She was given to a friend, Augusto Michieli, and became a nanny to his daughter.
Although the Michielis went to Sudan to prepare to move there, the daughter and Bakhita were left in the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. Bakhita said, “Those holy mothers … introduced me to that God who from childhood I had felt in my heart without knowing who He was.”
When it was time to go to Sudan, Bakhita refused to leave. A court ruled that because the British had outlawed slavery in Sudan before she was born and in Italy it was illegal, she had never legally been a slave. She was free and chose to remain with the Canossians.
Conversion and Vocation
Bakhita was baptized, given the name Josephine, confirmed, and received Communion from the future Pope Pius X. Jesus became her “Master.” She joined the Canossians. For 42 years she was cook, sacristan, sewer, and doorkeeper at the same convent. When she visited other convents, she helped to prepare Sisters for work in Africa. She was known for her gentleness and humility.
Despite later pain and sickness, Sister Josephine was cheerful. One Saturday, when asked how she was, she replied, “I am so happy: Our Lady … Our Lady.” Those were her dying words.
When asked “What would you do if you were to meet your captors?” Josephine replied, “If I were to meet those who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands. For, if these things had not happened, I would not have been a Christian and a religious today.”
Sister Thea Bowman
You may recall that in 1989 Sister Thea Bowman addressed the United States Bishops and concluded by having them sing “We Shall Overcome” during which they linked arms. She is now a Servant of God, a step on the way to canonization. Here is a video of Mahalia Jackson singing that song:
Here also is a powerful video of Sister Thea’s speech to the bishops:
I’ve encountered sundry wonderful Black people in my personal history, such as my first-, second-, and fourth-grade teachers, a librarian in the public library I visited as a child, a schoolmate at Notre Dame Academy, a librarian and two housekeepers at Notre Dame College, the maintenance man at Regina High School, Cleveland’s Franciscan bishop, and the pastoral minister in our Health Care Center.
- Which Black person has enriched your life?
Saint for Black History Month, Martin de Porres
A saint for Black History Month that comes to mind is the Dominican laybrother St. Martin de Porres. As patron saint of racial justice, this mulatto is the go-to intercessor for today when strife between races is rampant.
My Experience with St. Martin
St. Martin had the gift of healing. When I was in great pain from a herniated disc in my neck, I dreaded having surgery, so I prayed to him for a cure. Then a Sister informed me that a sign St. Martin was going to intercede for you was that you would see a mouse! (That stems from the time Martin found mice nibbling at church vestments and instead of killing them, escorted a horde of them outside. He made a deal: if they would stay outside he would feed them every day, which he did.) Notice the two mice in the painting above.
Reluctant to come across a mouse, I switched intercessors and turned from Martin to St. Francis of Assisi. Nevertheless, as I watched the movie Babe, I saw three mice acting as the narrators! I didn’t mind that kind of mice. And, yes, doctors healed me.
Who Is Saint Martin?
Jean Martin de Porres Velazquez was born in Lima, Peru, on December 9, 1579. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman and a former slave of African and Native descent from Panama. Martin’s racially mixed heritage denied him any rights as a Spanish citizen. After his sister was born, their father abandoned the family, leaving them in poverty. After two years of primary school, Martin was apprenticed to a surgeon-barber and was trained as a pharmacist, doctor, and surgeon.
Vocation
At age 15, Martin was received by the Dominicans, first as a servant and then as an almoner, begging money from the rich to assist the needy. He still did barbering and was dubbed the Saint of the Broom because he did menial work in the kitchen, laundry, and housekeeping. Eight years later, he prior disregarded the law and let Martin take vows as a Third Order Dominican. Some of the 300 men in the monastery mocked Martin.
Spirituality
Devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, Martin spent hours in prayer. He also practiced severe penances.
Humility
When he was 34, Martin became a Dominican lay brother and was assigned to the community infirmary. It’s said that he refused this promotion several times. Supposedly when the abbey was in debt, he proposed, “I am only a poor mulatto, sell me.”
St. Martin’s Supernatural Gifts
When an epidemic broke out, novices who fell ill were confined to locked quarters. Undeterred, Martin passed through locked doors to care for each patient.
It is said he had the gifts of levitation, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, and an ability to communicate with animals. Miraculous cures were attributed to Martin before and after his death at age sixty.
Charity
Martin’s universal charity was expressed by tender compassion for the individual. No one was turned away. His gift was that of “ministry to all.” He even opened an animal hospital at his sister’s house. I wonder what she thought of that!
When the Prior reprimanded Martin for disobeying by bringing a sick person into his room, the Saint said, “Please correct me if the rule of obedience takes precedence over that of charity.” The Prior then let Martin free to serve others in any way necessary.
Martin established an orphanage and a hospital for poor children.
Martin was beatified in 1837 and canonized in 1962. This first Black saint of the Americas has an impressive job description. He is the patron of racial harmony, people of mixed race, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and animals. His feast is celebrated on November 3.
St. Martin of Porres, pray for us.
Another Healer Saint like St. Martin
Last year I came across “Saint Padre Pio’s Powerful Healing Prayer,” which is quite beautiful. Besides praying it myself, I’ve been passing it out. You might add it to your daily prayers too.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me.
I thank you for sending your Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the world to save and to set me free.
I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me.
Loving Father,
touch me now with your healing hands,
for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul, and spirit.
Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son,
our Lord, Jesus Christ, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.
Cast anything that should not be in me.
Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells.
Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas.
Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection
by the power of Jesus’s precious blood.
Let the fire of your healing love pass through my entire body
to heal and make new any diseased areas
so that my body will function the way you created it to function.
Touch also my mind and my emotions,
even the deepest recesses of my heart.
Saturate my entire being with your presence,
love, joy, and peace, and draw me ever closer to you every moment of my life.
And, Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit
and empower me to do your works
so that my life will bring glory and honor to your holy name.
I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
You might be interested in learning more about Padre Pio. This video is about an hour long:
Christ the Healer
Of course, the greatest healer of all time is Jesus Christ. He healed a wounded world and while on earth tirelessly cured people suffering from various ailments. Today he makes his healing available through the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Let’s pray to him to heal our country.
• What do you find most inspiring about St. Martin?
• To whom do you pray when you are sick?
A Smile Can Change Your Day
A smile can change your day. You probably heard the riddle “What is the longest word in the dictionary?” The answer is “smiles” because there is a mile between the two “ses.” A smile is a universal language and called the cornerstone of our social fabric. Smiling has several positive effects. Research shows that it even prolongs your life. How? The physical act stimulates your brain to put you in a good mood, and happier people tend to live longer.
The Smithsonian Magazine has a whole article devoted to smiling.
Smiling is virtuous. Saint Teresa of Calcutta said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” It signals friendship.
A Smile’s Other Positive Effects
A Smile Promotes Health
You smile when you are happy, but you can also make an artificial smile, as when you say, “Cheese,” for a photo. It makes no difference if your smile is genuine or faked, it tricks your mind and makes you healthier. Smiling reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and boosts your immune system. It releases the happy hormones and so functions as an antidepressant. It can even reduce pain.
A Smile Is Contagious
Try smiling at the clerk at the checkout counter and see that this is true. Likewise, when someone smiles at you, you smile back. A smile forms a bond between people.
A Smile Brings Beauty to Your Face
A smile lightens up a face and makes you look more youthful, a natural Botox. Therefore it makes you more attractive. People assume you are a good person. Frowns and scowls do the opposite. Smiling also makes you look competent.
A Smile Encourages
Smiling puts people at ease. Once when I ended up the leader of a procession in a large church, I was nervous and unsure about what to do. As I walked down the aisle toward the bishop seated in the front, he smiled broadly, instantly calming me.
A Smile Makes You More Confident
Here’s a tip: Smile at yourself in the mirror. It has the same physical and mental effects as smiling at someone else, especially if you accompany it with positive self-talk. By the way it was found that children smile 400 times a day while adults average 20 a day. I wonder how those numbers were arrived at!
The Most Authentic Smile
The most pleasing smile is one that makes the corners of your eyes wrinkle with crow’s feet. It involves two sets of muscles: the ones that lift the corners of your mouth and the ones that lift your cheeks. This is called a genuine or Duchenne smile, named for a 19th century scientist who mapped the muscles of the human body. It makes for true enjoyment. By the way, turning a frown upside down to form a smile may not really require more muscles. It’s not known how many muscles are involved in a smile. It depends on the kind of smile.
Here is a short video of a happy baby that is sure to bring a smile to your face: https://youtu.be/KSyCeCK-wCE?si=Yi-bmX3rv_qexAs-
Smiling in Photographs
In photos from olden days, people are not smiling. There are several theories about the reason for this. One is that people considered smiling in a photo undignified. Another is that people had bad teeth. (I can identify with this. For my First Communion photos, I couldn’t smile because my front teeth were in great need of braces!) In religious art, Jesus is seldom depicted laughing or smiling. Here is a rare one:
A Smiling Emoji
In the 1960s an insurance company commissioned Harvey Ross Ball was commissioned to create an image to boost its employees’ morale. Ball did it in ten minutes and was paid $45. In the 1970s, brothers who owned two Hallmark shops copyrighted the iconic face. In France a journalist trademarked the design, called it Smiley and founded the Smiley Company. Lawsuits ensued.
Now smiley faces are ubiquitous. I just added one to a text yesterday.
Our Smiling Saint
Saint Julie Billiart, the spiritual mother of us Sisters of Notre Dame, despite terrific sufferings, smiled a lot. In her village, when she was a young woman who cared for others, people dubbed her “The Saint Who Smiles.”
Songs about Smiling
The lyrics to Charlie Chaplin’s song “Smile” make sense:
Smile tho’ your heart is aching,
Smile even though it’s breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky- You’ll get by,
If you smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through- For you.
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide ev’ry trace of sadness,
Altho’ a tear may be ever so near,
That’s the time you must keep on trying,
Smile- What’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.
There are two more popular songs about smiling. Bing Crosby recorded the song “Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella.”
And Frank Sinatra gave us this one:
• When has someone’s smile brightened your day?
A Pine Tree Forest, a Holy Place
Majestic pine trees, a pine tree forest, on our Sisters of Notre Dame property in Chardon began with a donation of 200 small trees decades ago. Over the years, these have grown to become towering trees, a forest of them. Because they were planted so close together, their branches wove together and formed a shield that the sun’s rays couldn’t penetrate. As a result nothing grows on the forest floor. It is covered with dead, brown pine needles, solidly packed. Some call it the Black Forest.
A trail leads into the forest. A shrine of the Blessed Mother stands adjacent to the opening. A Notre Dame Village resident, Don Trask, recently renovated this shrine, clearing away the tangled bushes that hid it. Now I can see it from my apartment that fortunately overlooks the forest. Don turned his photo of the shrine into his Christmas card this year.
Entering the stand of pine trees, you are enveloped in dim light. All is quiet. It’s like an empty church, a sacred spot.Because the ground is flat, you can easily spot any creature that passes through: a deer, a groundhog, or a person. A creek runs through the far end of the forest, and the left side opens up onto a small lake.
Formerly a bench in a small clearing near the beginning of the forest invited you to rest, absorb the peace of the place, and pray. Now the bench is gone, and over the years lightning strikes and strong winds have felled a number of the trees. These lie on the ground, so the forest is rather like a cemetery and you are tempted to wear a hard hat if you venture in.
Dancing Amid the Pine Trees
One evening, during my annual retreat, I stood on the hill overlooking our retreat house. (My holy hill has since been leveled to make a football field!) I was watching a glorious sunset and listening to Christian music. When I reported my experience to the Jesuit director, Tom Radloff, I commented, “It was so beautiful, I felt like dancing.”
The following day, as I was eating lunch, the director came to me and said, “I’m sorry, but I have to cancel our meeting today. Instead, go to the hill and dance.”
“I can’t do that,” I whispered, shaking my head. “Everyone in the dining room would see me.”
“It might do them good,” he said. “Do it for God.”
I still shook my head.
“Well, then,” he said, “go to the Black Forest and dance.”
Obediently, that afternoon I trudged up the hill from the retreat house to the dense forest, entered it, and noticed a rare place where a ray of sun had broken through the canopy of branches. The sunbeam looked like a spotlight. I set my bag down, put the Walkman on my head and turned it on. I began to dance. At first, I was rather self-conscious. But the more I leaped and turned, the more I got into it.
As a child I had briefly taken free ballet and tap lessons, but ages had passed since I danced. That day it felt exhilarating to praise God with my whole body.
It was summer, and the temperature had to be in the nineties. After a time, I grew very hot exercising more than I had all year. My heart was pounding as though it would burst, I was breathless, and my face felt flaming red. I thought, I could have a heart attack. I imagined people discovering my body there in the woods. A smile would probably be on my face. My obituary would read, “She died dancing before the Lord.” So, I stopped.
Pine Tree Forest Beauty
The sun rises beside the forest, and some mornings I’m treated to beautiful scenes.
If I’m lucky, I’ll espy a rainbow arching over it,
perhaps a double one.
Sometimes a full moon rises over the pine trees.
Dark days have a beauty all their own.
A snowstorm decorates the trees’ branches with white caps, creating a breathtaking view.
Trees in Our Culture
Trees in Literature
Who is not familiar with Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees” and Robert Frost’s “Birches”? Other literary works have a tree as a main character. For example, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Giving Tree, and The Hidden Life of Trees.
Trees in the Bible
The infamous tree in the garden of Eden led to the downfall of the human race. Kind David’s son Absalom died when his long hair snagged on a tree, leaving him hanging and vulnerable. Jesus called Zacchaeus down from a sycamore tree and cursed the fig tree that didn’t bear fruit. In the end, Jesus died on a tree to save the world.
Your Favorite Tree
In front of our family home was a sycamore tree that bore what we called monkeyballs. When I taught at Regina High School, my room once overlooked an apple orchard that was a sight to behold in the spring when it burst into a bevy of white blossoms. I especially loved the large oak tree on our land in the country because my dad hung a tire swing from it.
• What tree(s) played a role in your life?
Here is a video I took soon after I moved into my apartment and before all the cottages were built:
You might enjoy this song “The Green Cathedral.” We sang it in our choral class at Notre Dame Academy on Ansel Road.
St. Julie Billiart, Spiritual Mother, Model for All
St. Julie Billiart founded the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, who passed her spirituality on to the Sisters of Notre Dame of Coesfeld, my community. We were founded by two young women in Germany. We regard St. Julie as our spiritual mother. Her life was incredible, amazing.
Recently I had occasion to look up a video program on St. Julie’s life that I had made for my province. I had hoped to show it to you, but it’s been blocked on vimeo. Luckily I saved the script, which I share with you here:
St. Julie Billiart, Childhood
About 270 years ago in the French village of Cuvilly Mother Julie was born. She was named Marie Rose after her sister who had died at age seven. The name Julie was added. For the 25th anniversary of Julie’s canonization a street in Cuvilly was renamed Julie Billiart. In Namur there is also a street named for her. Julie valued her baptism. During her time, religious received Communion only on days that the Superiors permitted. Julie said that her Sisters may receive Communion on their baptismal anniversary and their feast day.
The Billiart house was one-storey mud house with three rooms: a bedroom, Julie’s room, and the family’s store. It had a large courtyard. The home was destroyed in 1918 during World War I but reconstructed in brick in 1934 and renovated in 1984.
A Born Teacher
When it came to religion, Julie was precocious. By the age of seven she had memorized the whole catechism. When she was eight, she was already gathering poor children and teaching them religion and how to read and write. While children made their first communion at age thirteen or fourteen, Fr. Dangicourt, let her make it privately when she was nine. She made a vow of chastity when she was fourteen and at the age of twenty obtained permission to receive the Eucharist every day.
As a child, Julie enrolled herself in the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, promising to pray from 2 to 3 in front of the Blessed Sacrament on Good Friday. On the day she was confirmed, a Knight of Malta approached her in a crowd and presented her with a relic of the true cross, which she donated to her parish.
First Tragedy
Julie’s older sister Madeleine was almost blind, and her younger brother Louis was sickly and crippled. Julie helped care for them and for other needy people in the village. When thieves stole most of the goods in the Billiart store, the family faced poverty. For six summers Julie worked as a harvester and taught religion to the other workers. The rest of the year, walking or on horseback Julie traveled to other towns to sell lace and fabric that remained.
The Carmelite sisters at Compiegne were her friends, and they helped her refine her needlework skills. They also introduced her to the writing of St. Teresa of Avila. These were the sisters who were taken to the scaffold in the French Revolution.
Sickness
When Julie was twenty-three, she was with her father in the store when a rock crashed through a window and a bullet nearly missed him. This incident triggered a nervous reaction in Julie which led to her complete paralysis, which she endured until she was fifty-three years old and cured miraculously during a novena to the Sacred Heart. Modern doctors think Julie might have had multiple sclerosis.
From her bed, Julie prepared children for First Communion and served as spiritual director to well-to-do ladies. She also spent long hours in prayer. People called her the Saint who Smiles. Fr. Dangicourt brought Julie Communion every day and gave her a cat, which much later a zealous priest had her kill as an act of penance. When the bishop heard of the Saint of Cuvilly, he asked to see her. She went by stagecoach with her father to Beauvais. There before twelve priests, the bishop questioned Julie about the faith. He concluded, “That young woman seems to me to be inspired by God himself. I will be surprised if we don’t hear more about her later.”
Julie suffered other ailments besides this long-lasting one that was accompanied by insomnia, nausea, and convulsions. As a child, she began to lose her sight. Her mother took her and her sister Madeleine to Lyon where an icon was known for healing vision problems. Both girls were cured. Many times during the course of her life, Julie succumbed to diseases like malaria.
Persecution
During the French Revolution, from her sickbed Julie arranged hiding places for loyal priests and refused to see the parish schematic priest. A friend, knowing that Julie was in danger, invited her to stay at her chateau. Julie’s sixteen-year-old niece accompanied her and stayed with her for twenty-two years. Revolutionaries came after Julie, threating to burn her at a bonfire, she and her niece narrowly escaped hidden under hay. They landed in Campeinec, where they moved five times.
Prophetic Vision
One Good Friday there, Julie had a vision in which she saw Jesus on the cross surrounded by women in strange clothing. A voice said, “Behold the daughters whom I give to you in this institute, which will be marked by the cross.” Julie saw sisters whom she recognized later and the one who would be her companion and support was revealed to her, namely Francoise.
A Best Friend
Francoise Blin de Bourdon was the opposite of Julie, who was five year older than she. She was a highly educated aristocrat who had been presented at Versailles, the court of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and had become friends with his sister. Like Julie, she was a victim of the Revolution. Imprisoned with family members, she was slated to be guillotined on July 29. Fortunately, the Reign of Terror ended the day before. Francoise went to live at her brother’s mansion, Hotel Blin. She intended to become a Carmelite. Julie arrived two months later.
At first Francoise felt uncomfortable with Julie because she could hardly understand her labored speech, but gradually the two became friends, friends for life. As Julie once said, “We’re like two bees under one bonnet.”
In 1799 the two women, Julie’s niece, and their chaplain Father Thomas were forced to flee again and went to Bettencourt. There the priest helped Julie speak. With the coming of Napoleon, Catholics were allowed to practice their faith again after the seven-year-hiatus. Julie, Francoise and Fr. Thomas began teaching at their house.
A New Community
When Fr. Joseph Varin, superior of the Fathers of the Faith as the Jesuits were called witnessed Julie teaching from her portable chair, he was very impressed. Eventually he persuaded her to establish a religious community with Francoise. On Feb, 2, 1804, Julie, Francoise, and a woman named Catherine made a vow of chastity, promised to devote themselves to the education of orphans and teacher formation. They renewed their consecration to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At age fifty-two, Julie became Mother of this community that had Our Lady as patroness. That day Fr. Varin gave each sister a medal of the Our Lady of Guadalupe. This medal is visible in St. Julie’s portrait. (See top photo.) Soon after, Catherine became ill and left.
In France, habits were not allowed, so Julie’s sisters wore outfits dyed violet. Outdoors they wore the garb of peasant women: a woolen mantle and a white pleated cap that tied under the chin.
A Cure
Julie and Francoise taught catechism classes at the Amiens cathedral where the statue of “The Beautiful God” stood by the west doors. In 1804 they began giving a month-long mission there. On the day after the mission closed, Fr. Enfantin, appointed Julie’s spiritual director, invited her to pray the novena “for someone” that led to her cure.
Freed from paralysis, Julie went from town to town giving missions. On October 15, 1805, Julie and three other sisters pronounced vows according to a longer rule of life. Julie became Sister Mary Ignatia, but because the Jesuits had been suppressed, Fr. Varin advised that she go by the name Julie. Francoise became Sister St. Joseph.
Julie was innovative in planning her community. French communities were cloistered, but her sisters would be like Jesus, out in the world spreading the faith. They would be contemplatives in action. They would not pray the Divine Office together and there would not be two classes of sisters, choir sisters who prayed and lay sisters. All would be equal. They participated in daily Mass, meditated for an hour in the morning and a half hour in the evening before the Blessed Sacrament. At noon they made an examination of conscience. Daily they prayed the rosary and read from a spiritiual book. Each evening they prayed an Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus together, and on the Thursdays before First Fridays they made a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Every year each sister made a silent eight-day retreat.
Different Kind of Community
Fr. LeBlanc would be in charge of the new community, and Father Sambucy became their confessor. Unfortunately the confessor had his own ideas about the community. For one thing he envisioned it as working solely in Amiens.
On February 2, 1806 during instructions on the Presentation, Julie began singing the Nunc Dimittis. After the line “a light of revelation to the Gentiles, she stopped, and staring at the crucifix when into a trance. Later she told Francoise, “God let me know that we will carry the ight of the gospels to all nations. We are not to be liminted to one diocese of country.” That is why she would exhort her sisters, “Have a heart as wide as the world.”
In June that year Julie was invited to visit the bishop of Ghent 120 miles away and did so with Fr. LeBlanc’s blessings. Thus began the Sisters spread into Belgium, where the sisters were permitted to wear habits. Julie designed them: a black dress, a black wool bonnet over a white cap, and a white cape. A black veil would be worn only in chapel. The next convent opened in Belgium was in Namur.
Crosses
Back in Amiens, Julie decided to broaden the ministry from caring for orphans to opening free schools for girls. Fr. Sambucy, a gifted but overzealous man, regarded himself as the founder of the community. He undertook to take Julie’s place in guiding the sisters and reforming them as a monastic community. To get rid of her, he turned the Bishop of Amiens, Bishop Demandolx, against her and wrote poison pen letters about her to other clergy and Julie’s friends. He persuaded Francoise to turn over her finances to him. Father Varin made Fr. Sanbucy ecclesiastical superior of the SNDs. Fr. Sanbucy appointed Sr. Victoire, superior of the convent in place of Mother Julie. This young, uneducated sister had only been with the community a year and a half.
The Misguided Bishop
Things came to a head when Bishop Demondolx forbade Julie to step foot in Amiens. When she was seriously ill, he allowed her an audience. During it, kneeling on the floor she begged his pardon, although she hadn’t done anything wrong. He allowed her to go to the convent until she recovered. Then the bishop ordered that Julie and Victoire be co-superiors. Since Julie was not allowed to leave the convent, Fr. Sambucy was to do the visitation in the convents. The situation grew worse. Despite the humiliation and abuse she suffered at the hands of the clergy, Julie took it all in stride and trusted her good God.
Eventually the Bishop ordered Julie to leave his diocese, and she found refuge in Namur. Later he invited her back, but lack of vocations and finances there prohibited it. The bishop died from a brain tumor, which perhaps explained his strange behavior.
War
Julie’s energy was boundless. She opened one house after another, kept in touch with all the sisters by visits and letters that fill seven volumes today. over twelve years, she made 120 journeys. In 1813 she visited Pope Pius VI who was under house arrest. He gave her a crucifix. All she said about the visit was that they wept together about the troubles of the Church.
After the Allies defeated Napoleon, they invaded France and Belgium which was under French control. For five months Julie protected seventy sisters and children at Namur and saw that they were fed. She hid the community valuables and barricaded the door. Sometimes she prayed all night and could hear the pounding at the door. Napoleon rallied battles were fought in Belgium and again hungry soldiers roamed the streets. Julie was worried sick about the sisters in her houses.
Most Painful Cross
Her heaviest cross, though, was from her own sisters. Because Napoleon did not remove Bishop Pisani of Namur from his post and sister Julie supported this bishop, some sisters accused her of being against the Church. Those in Ghent threatened to break from the community. In addition, because Julie departed from the daily schedule when people’s needs called for it, some sisters reported her to the bishop. This went on for five years. Most painful was that these were three of her earliest followers whom she loved. Two of them didn’t realize their mistake until after she died.
After falling on a wet staircase in the Namur convent, Julie became ill. For days she was in excruciating pain. She couldn’t eat and couldn’t bear the slightest sounds. On April 7, she sang the Magnificat and then became unconscious. She died at 2 a.mm the next day. Signs were posted around Namur, “The Saint is dead.” Shops were closed on the day of her funeral. Julie left behind 15 houses she founded and 82 sisters and novices.
Here is an upbeat song about God is good:
• What most impressed you about the life of St. Julie Billiart?
• St. Julie’s maxim was “How good is the good God!” Why do you think she could say this when her life was rife with crosses?
