Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, R.S.C.J., (August 29, 1769 – November 18, 1852) was a Catholic Religious Sister and French-American saint. She spent the last half of her life teaching and serving the people of the Midwestern United States.
She was born in Grenoble, France and died in St. Charles, Missouri. Along with Saint Madeleine-Sophie Barat, she was a prominent member of the Society of the Sacred Heart. She was the founder in America of the first houses of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
She was the daughter of Pierre-Francois Duchesne, an eminent lawyer, and her mother was a Perier, ancestor of Casimir-Perier, President of France. When she was 19 years old, she joined the convent of the Visitation, which her family did not know. She was educated by the Visitation nuns, entered that order, saw its dispersion during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, vainly attempted the reestablishment of the convent of Ste-Marie-d'en-Haut, near Grenoble, and finally, in 1804, accepted the offer of Mother Barat to receive her community into the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1815 St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was instructed to create a Sacred Heart House in Paris.
In 1818, Rose Philippine Duchesne headed out to America with a few other members of the Society. She arrived in New Orleans, and traveled the Louisiana territory and ended up in St. Charles, Missouri which was close to St Louis, Missouri. Bishop Dubourg welcomed her to New Orleans, when she sailed up the Mississippi to St. Louis, finally settling her colony at St. Charles. Here she created a new house of the Sacred Heart Society in a log cabin. This was the first house ever built that was outside of France. This newfound house faced many struggles including lack of funds and very cold weather. Another major problem was that Duchesne struggled to learn English. She and four other members of her Society continued to create schools in America. By the year 1828, six houses had been added in America.
"Poverty and Christian heroism are here," she wrote, "and trials are the riches of priests in this land." Other foundations followed, at Florissant, Grand Côteau, New Orleans, St. Louis, St. Michael; and the approbation of the society in 1826 by Leo XII recognized the work being done in these parts. She enjoyed her work with these students, but truly desired to work with Native Americans. Years later, a school in Kansas was founded for the Potawatomi tribe children. At this new house, she spent much of her time taking care of sick Native Americans. The Native Americans named her Quahkahkanumad, which stood for "Woman Who Prays Always". Inspired by the stories of Father De Smet, S.J., Duchesne was determined to continue on and help students in the Rocky Mountains, but she became ill when she was about 73, and had to go back to St Charles. During the last ten years of her life, she resided in a small shack, where she was said to have been praying majority of the time. She died in 1852 at the age of 83.
She was canonized on July 3, 1988, by Pope John Paul II.
Resources
Excerpt from a historical account of the Potawatomi - Rose Philippine Duchesne by Shirley Willard with adaptation from Louise Callan
Shrine at St. Ferdinand
St. Rose Philippine established the first school in Florissant. She lived in the convent from 1819-1827 and again from 1934-1840.
Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne
Rose Philippine Duchesne began the first free school west of the Mississippi in 1818, now known as the Academy of the Sacred Heart.
Poem by Judith Brown, RSCJ
The Woman Who Never Gave Up by Jeanne Kun
Books about Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
Philippine Duchesne: a woman with the poor by Catherine M. Mooney
Venerable Philippine Duchesne from Project Gutenberg
Philippine Duchesne, frontier missionary of the Sacred Heart, 1769-1852 by Louise Callan
Quotes from Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
Learn to let others do their share of the work. Things may be done less well, but you will have more peace of soul and health of body. And what temporal interest should we not sacrifice in order to gain these blessings?
.... the dear Lord has favored us with a share of His cross. The greatest and undoubtedly the hardest to bear is the lack of success in our work here. If a saint had been in charge, all would have gone well.
You may dazzle the mind with a thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed of before; yet, if you have not developed in the soul of the pupil strong habits of virtue which will sustain her in the struggle of life, you have not educated her, but only put in her hand a powerful instrument of self-destruction.
Humility is the virtue that requires the greatest amount of effort.
We cultivate a very small field for Christ but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements, but a heart that holds back nothing for self.
Let us bear our cross and leave it to God to determine the length and the weight.
Jesus went before us on the narrow path along which He beckons us to follow Him.
There are no difficulties except for those who worry too much about tomorrow.
For a long time a very strong and deep attraction has drawn me to missionary life.
I live now in solitude and am able to use my time reflecting on the past and preparing for death. I cannot put away the thought of the Indians and in my ambition I fly to the Rockies.
Strength of character is certainly needed to face life in the world and to stand by right principles, especially in the age in which we live.
If we love Jesus, we shall be loved in return by Him, and that is perfect happiness.
Love aright and you will never be sad. Embrace God’s will and you will be filled with joy and peace.
Do not look back to the past, nor forward to the future. Claim only the present, for it holds God’s will.
Let’s try not to be exacting with other people, but rather to pass over in silence those thousand little annoyances that tend to irritate us. For we know that no one is perfect in this life, and we must put up with the defects of others as they put up with ours.
The worst defect in the world would be to consider yourself free from faults. Being too greatly saddened by one’s faults can come from having one’s pride humiliated.
Strengthen in us, O God, the work You have begun in us.
Preach by example of your lives rather than by words. Example is the very best sermon.
Let us never lose courage or despair of God’s mercy. We have only to humble ourselves before God in order to obtain grace to become all that we ought to be.
Lord, I lean on You alone for strength. Give me your arm to support me, your shoulders to carry me, your breast on which to lay my head, your Cross to uphold me, your Eucharist to nourish me. On you Lord, I shall sleep and rest in peace.
