French Church celebrates the beatification of Pauline Marie Jaricot

Pope Francis beatified Pauline Marie Jaricot, founder of the Pontifical Mission Society (PMS) for the propagation of the faith, on May 22, in Lyon, France.
 
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples presided over the Mass.
 
More than 500 priests and bishops from around the world concelebrated at the Mass.
 
Tagle welcomed the 120 National Directors of the PMS, who came to Lyon in honor of their founder. 
 
This year, the PMS Directors General Assembly is being held in Lyon, instead of Italy, as is usually the case.
 
"Pauline Marie Jaricot was a woman who lived, loved, and let Jesus Christ, the Word of God, dwell in her and through her," said Tagle in his homily. 
 
A living testimony to the power of love that identifies with Jesus, she is a living example of that love," he said.
 
Jaricot was obedient to the Holy Spirit, who encouraged her to spread the Gospel and serve the poor through her creative ideas and initiatives. 
 
The Cardinal noted her extensive spiritual and missionary insights, adding, "The Holy Spirit opens wider paths so that Jesus' words and love can reach more people."
 
"Jaricot was following the deep spiritual and social tradition of the Church of Lyon in her actions," he stated.
 
Archbishop Olivier de Germay led Lyon's local community in welcoming the beatification wholeheartedly. 
 
Jaricot was both contemplative and active at the same time, said the Archbishop.
 
She was a wealthy woman who "found herself poor, humiliated, and forgotten," he added.
 
Evangelization and missions defined Jaricot's life, and her motto, "A Penny and a Prayer," sums up her life well—an impressive accomplishment for a young woman who founded PMS in her teens.
 
Jaricot's prayers and contributions to the missions were crucial to the growth and development of mission churches in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific.
 
Since its founding 200 years ago, the PMS for the propagation of the faith has provided prayer, animation, and financial support to the missionary activity of the Church.
 
Over 200 years ago, a simple invitation between neighbors had a life-changing effect on the PMS.  
 
Prayers and donations were invited by Pauline Marie Jaricot for the universal missions of the Catholic Church.
 
Pauline's network gradually spread across continents, and today, about 1,100 dioceses in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands enjoy the benefits of what she began and others continued.
 
In addition to the ministry and witness of mission priests, religious, and lay pastoral leaders, the Pontifical Mission Societies support evangelization and the building of the Church.
 
Throughout the Pope's missions, these missionaries provide food, education, and medical care.

They reveal the compassionate heart of Jesus through their work.
 
Jaricot was born on July 22, 1799, the last child of French parents Antoine and Jeanne Jaricot.
 
Her older brother would help nurture her love for the missions by being an influential person in her life; Phileas had been born two years earlier, on February 2, 1797.
 
Curé of Ars, who was Jaricot’s spiritual director for many years, described her this way in public: "I know someone who can accept the Cross, a heavy Cross, and bear it with love—Mademoiselle Jaricot." 
 
In a biography of her, Father Charles Dollen wrote: "The theology of the Cross came alive for her."
 
She became increasingly identified with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, who loved, suffered, and atoned." 
 
On January 9, 1862, Pauline died, and the prayer she wrote in her hand, found after her passing, ended with these words: “Mary, O my Mother, I am Thine!” 
 
Pope John XXIII proclaimed Jaricot "venerable" 100 years after her death in 1963. - Anbu Selvam