Bl. Catherine Jarrige

Feast Day: July 4

Catherine was born in 1754 and spent most of her life near her birthplace in Mauriac, France. The youngest of seven children, she was an embroiderer by profession. At the age of twenty-two Catherine became a Dominican Tertiary.

When Catherine was thirty-two the French Revolution erupted in France. During the Revolution (1789-1799), Catherine shared persecutions, trials and imprisonment with many priests who did not adhere to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. In the region of Mauriac, Catherine found refuge and food for priests, and the bread and wine necessary for the celebration of Mass. At night she would hide the priests in the woods of the Auze Valley and accompany them to the families who needed the administration of the sacraments. Like Saint Catherine of Siena, her patron, she was fearless above all in the profession of the faith and her love for the Church and priests.

In 1794, she was arrested and imprisoned, but quickly freed as a result of a popular insurrection on her behalf.

When the revolution was over, Catherine continued her works of charity. She went in and out of prisons at will, and no jailer would think of stopping her. She supervised the restoration of the parish church after revolutionaries had partially destroyed it She organized processions, saw that marriages were regularized, and arranged for children to receive their instructions.

Catherine finally ceased her labors at the age of eighty-two. In her last few days her friends gathered around her, sorrowing, and dressed her in a Dominican habit. She died on July 4, 1836 and was beatified on November 24, 1996 by Pope John Paul II.