Beatification of Catholic Mission founder
International
Nearly 12,000 people, including more than 500 priests, gathered to celebrate the beatification of Pauline Marie Jaricot in her birthplace of Lyon, France, on Sunday May 22.
Born a wealthy heiress, Pauline died poor, having embraced not material but spiritual wealth in the love of God.
She devoted her life to the work of mission and was founder of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, one of the works of Catholic Mission. Pauline was a person of great faith, bold courage and generous creativity.
The beatification was presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, at the direction of Pope Francis.
‘Pauline dedicated her life to the mission, to the service of the poor and to prayer,’ wrote Pope Francis in the letter read during the beatification.
The wondrous cure of Mayline Tran, a young French girl, was the first miracle that paved the way for the recognition of Pauline as blessed.
At the age of three, Mayline choked on food which resulted in her body being deprived of oxygen. She suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma. When the students from the Catholic school that Mayline attended heard of her dire situation they organised a prayer novena asking for Pauline’s intercession for her healing.
Mayline’s recovery was medically inexplicable. She did not suffer any disability or side effects and made a full recovery. It was deemed by a panel of experts as a medical miracle. This event led the family to embrace the love of God and return to their faith.
Catholic Mission national director Fr Brian Lucas attended the beatification and met Mayline and her family.
“It was particularly inspiring to hear her father explain how the experience of the miracle led him to be baptised and how much the faith and love of those close to his family had grown,” Fr Brian said.
In an expression of her faith and gratefulness, the procession was led by Mayline, who presented Pauline’s wooden cross and the relic of Pauline’s heart onto the altar.
The beatification marks a key milestone in Pauline’s journey to become a saint. Another miracle needs to be recognised by the Church as another significant step in the process of her cause for canonisation.
The event has also served to focus attention on the immense work of mission that Pauline has inspired over the past 200 years.
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