Blessed Athanasius of Nicomedia Biography
Blessed Athanasius of Nicomedia Biography, Feast Day, Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death, Beatification Date, Canonization Date |
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Date of Birth | 11 October 1818 |
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Country of Birth | Belgium in Europe |
Matrimony/Holy Orders | Blesseds who were Priests |
Profession | Missionary |
Place of Work | Italy |
Date of Death | 22 February 1878 |
Place of Death | Florence, Italy |
Feast Day | February 22 |
Beatification | Beatified by Pope John Paul II on 23 December 1993 |
Canonization | Canonized by N/A |
Patron Saint of | N/A |
Biography
Blessed Émilie d’Oultremont d’Hoogvorst was born to nobility being the daughter of Count d’Emile Oultremont de Wégimont a de Warfusée, a diplomat who represented King Leopold I to the Vatican. From childhood, she had a great devotion to the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
she later developed a great admiration of St. Ignatius of Loyola marrying Victor van der Linden, Baron d’Hooghvorst in 1837. Emilie became a mother of two boys and two girls where she sought out Jesuits for spiritual guidance. When she was Widowed in 1847 and her sons entered college in France, she decided to move too.
On 8 December 1854, the day the rule of Mary‘s Immaculate Conception was proclaimed, she experienced a profound spiritual experience and announced she was joining the religious life. With a small group of young women, she started the Institutum a Maria Reparatrice (Sisters of Mary Reparatrix) on 1 May 1857 in Strasbourg, France.
On 2 May 1858, she made her vows, taking the name Mary of Jesus. Soon her daughters joined the Sisters which caused even more troubles in her family where few had supported her entering religious life and many complained that the girls had followed only for her mother‘s sake.
In 1859, Mother Marie had a request for help from Jesuit missionaries in Madras, India. The house expanded to India in 1860, England in 1862, Mauritius in 1866, Belgium in 1863, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and then Jerusalem in 1888. The mother-house was moved from Strasbourg to Rome, Italy.
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