MIRACULOUS MIRACLES™

Saint — Bl. Rosalie Rendu, DC

All Saints
Bl. Rosalie Rendu, DC
September 9, 1786 AD, Confort, Ain, Kingdom of France — February 7, 1856 AD, Paris, French Empire
French Daughter of Charity; apostle of the Paris poor; mentor of Frédéric Ozanam
Chapel of the Daughters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac, Paris, France — mother-house and Miraculous Medal Shrine, France
Feast
February 7
Canonized
Beatified November 9, 2003 by Pope St. John Paul II
Life

Jeanne-Marie (religious name Rosalie) Rendu was born on September 9, 1786 at Confort in the Ain department. In 1802, at the age of 15, Jeanne-Marie entered the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (founded 1633 by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac).

In 1802, Jeanne-Marie (name Sister Rosalie) was assigned to the Mouffetard neighborhood of Paris — the poor working-class Paris district. For 54 years (1802–1856), Sister Rosalie served the Mouffetard poor.

In 1832, when the young Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853, future founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul) sought personal spiritual direction on the vocation of Catholic charitable service to the Paris poor, Sister Rosalie became Frédéric's personal mentor.

On April 23, 1833, Frédéric Ozanam and six companions founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (Conferences of Charity) under Sister Rosalie's spiritual direction — the lay-Vincentian apostolate that would extend to the present day (over 800,000 members in 140 countries).

During the 1832 cholera epidemic and the 1848 revolutions, Sister Rosalie undertook the systematic Paris poor-relief ministry. She died at Paris on February 7, 1856 at the age of 69.

Miracles & Phenomena

  • The mentorship of Frédéric Ozanam

    Bl. Rosalie Rendu's personal mentorship of Frédéric Ozanam — leading to the April 23, 1833 founding of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (Conferences of Charity) — established the 19th-century Catholic lay-Vincentian apostolate. The SVP tradition extends to the present day (over 800,000 members in 140 countries).

Relics
  • Body
    Relics of Bl. Rosalie Rendu
    Chapel of the Daughters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac, Paris, France — mother-house and Miraculous Medal Shrine

    Her relics rest at the Daughters of Charity mother-house at 140 rue du Bac in Paris — the Miraculous Medal Shrine.

Iconography
  • Rosalie mentoring Ozanam

    The mid-19th-century French Daughter of Charity in blue-and-white Daughters of Charity habit mentoring the young Frédéric Ozanam in the Mouffetard neighborhood — the iconography of Catholic 19th-century Paris poor-relief tradition.

Patronages
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de PaulSociety of St. Vincent de Paul (mentor of the SVP founders)Catholic Paris poor-relief traditionCatholic lay-Vincentian apostolate
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