The first real New Orleans saint? Henriette Delille's path to canonization
Gallery: Sister Henriette Delille, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family
It was 2011, and Archbishop Gregory Aymond was seeking a sacred antidote to the violence, murder and racism infesting his hometown. He turned to a venerable figure in New Orleans history, but a person only vaguely known to even the most ardent Roman Catholics, and composed a prayer that is now recited at every local Mass. It ends with the plea: "Mother Henriette Delille, pray for us that we may be a holy family."
Unknown to many Catholics, the object of their prayers was a French-speaking woman of African descent. She was born in 1812 and grew up in the 500 block of Burgundy Street, and she lived a part of her life as a mistress in a social system known as placage, whereby wealthy white European men entered relationships with free women of color to circumvent laws against interracial marriage.
After the deaths of her two young children born through a concubine relationship, however, Delille at age 24 formally rejected the societal norms and experienced a religious transformation that eventually led to the formation of the Sisters of the Holy Family order. The community of Creole nuns provided care for those on the bottom rung of antebellum society, administering to the elderly, nursing the sick and teaching people of color who at the time had limited education opportunities. To this day, Holy Family nuns continue to serve out the mission launched in the mid-1800s by doing good works around the globe.
Now, 175 years after she founded the order, Delille stands at the doorstep of sainthood. If canonized, she will become the first New Orleanian, and the first U.S.-born black person, to be recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI by formal decree declared Delille "venerable," a level of sanctity that no other local person has reached. Today as Catholics recite Delille's name during Mass, doctors, scientists and other researchers from Little Rock, Ark., to Rome are trying to determine if two miracles attributed to Delille's intercession are valid. Verification of the miracles, one in Arkansas and one in Texas, are the last two steps in an arduous process to declare Delille a saint. Both cases involve people who were near death but recovered after prayers were offered to Delille.
But even as her cause for canonization remains pending with the Vatican, Aymond says, Delille stands as a titanic historical figure.
"Henriette Delille showed extraordinary courage and virtue in choosing to love God and to serve His people, particularly those most in need," Aymond said. "Her legacy lives on through the ministry of the Sister of the Holy Family and has already been recognized worldwide."
Read it all: http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2017/03/henriette_delille.html
Unknown to many Catholics, the object of their prayers was a French-speaking woman of African descent. She was born in 1812 and grew up in the 500 block of Burgundy Street, and she lived a part of her life as a mistress in a social system known as placage, whereby wealthy white European men entered relationships with free women of color to circumvent laws against interracial marriage.
After the deaths of her two young children born through a concubine relationship, however, Delille at age 24 formally rejected the societal norms and experienced a religious transformation that eventually led to the formation of the Sisters of the Holy Family order. The community of Creole nuns provided care for those on the bottom rung of antebellum society, administering to the elderly, nursing the sick and teaching people of color who at the time had limited education opportunities. To this day, Holy Family nuns continue to serve out the mission launched in the mid-1800s by doing good works around the globe.
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI by formal decree declared Delille "venerable," a level of sanctity that no other local person has reached. Today as Catholics recite Delille's name during Mass, doctors, scientists and other researchers from Little Rock, Ark., to Rome are trying to determine if two miracles attributed to Delille's intercession are valid. Verification of the miracles, one in Arkansas and one in Texas, are the last two steps in an arduous process to declare Delille a saint. Both cases involve people who were near death but recovered after prayers were offered to Delille.
But even as her cause for canonization remains pending with the Vatican, Aymond says, Delille stands as a titanic historical figure.
"Henriette Delille showed extraordinary courage and virtue in choosing to love God and to serve His people, particularly those most in need," Aymond said. "Her legacy lives on through the ministry of the Sister of the Holy Family and has already been recognized worldwide."
Read it all: http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2017/03/henriette_delille.html
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