Saint’s Biography

Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier was born as Rosa Virginia Pelletier on July 31, 1796, on the island of Noirmoutier off the coast of Vendée in France. Her father Julien Pelletier was a doctor, and he and his wife Anna Mourain had fled Soullans during the French Revolution.

Education

In 1806, her dad passed away. In 1808, Catholic sisters came to Noirmoutier to open a school, and Rosa Virginia attended. After three, the sister died, so the school closed.

Rosa’s mother returned to Soullans. She decided that the best thing for Rosa was to go to boarding school, so she was sent to a convent in Tours for education. In 1813, Rose mother died before she finished school and had difficulty adjusting to the new life.

On 20 October 1814, Mary joined the Refuge of Our Lady of Charity at Tours. The charity founded in 1641 by Saint John Eudes to save prostitutes and protect women in risk. Later, the congregation became “The Good Shepherd’s Institute”.

On October 20, 1814, she entered the congregation as an 18-year-old, and on September 6, 1815, she began the novice. She took a vow on September 9, 1817, and got the monastery name Maria Eufrasia or Mary of St. Eufrasia.

On May 26, 1825, Mary elected superior in the house in Tours, at only 29 years old. Her first act was to establish the “Magdalena Sisters”, where older, reformed prostitutes could live a religious life where they combined prayer and manual work.

Achivements

In 1829, she was sent to Angers on the bishop’s invitation to found a sanctuary and a shrine. She was accompanied by five sisters from Tours. After performing the mission successfully, she handed the house over to others and returned to Tours.

Two years later the house of Angers was in danger of being shut down because of lack of resources. The local bishop persuaded Bishop of Tours to leave Maria Eufrasia to Angers and take over the leadership there again., A rather painful battle broke out between the two communities, and it ended with Maria Eufrasia on January 9, 1831, being elected as a prime minister in Angers and leaving Tours.

By 1833, the house in Angers had been restored, and four new houses were established in different cities. Everyone was self-directed and under the control of the local bishop. She also created a contemplative fellowship that would pray for the active social work of the other sisters.

Goals

The experience of Mother Eufrasia led her to the fact that the Congregation needed radical organizational changes. Mary found that what was needed, rather was a new congregation under a central authority rather than separate houses.

Mary was determined to establish a central organization with a general superior who was responsible. She met with resistance and people accused her of being an innovator, ambitious and disobedient, and that she destroyed the spirit that had kept the institute going for so long. But her opponents also admitted that she was “capable enough to rule a kingdom”.

With humility and determination Pope Gregory XVI on January 16, 1835, approved the new Angers institute, Our Lady of Mercy of the Good Shepherd of Angers. The institute expanded, and during the 33 years Mother Eufrasia led it, it included 2,760 sisters in 110 housings on four continents, including the United States, Chile, and Australia.

In all his work, Mother Eufrasia showed great care for her sisters, the wicked, and the girls who suffered from difficult family relationships. She showed exemplary strength and courage in difficult times.

Death

She died of cancer on April 24, 1868 in Angers, 71 years old in France.