Blessed Hélène-Marie-Philippine de Chappotin de Neuville
Also known as
- Marie of the Passion
- Marie de la Passion de Chappotin
Profile
The death of two sisters and a cousin led Hélène to look for meaning in life, which led to her discerning a call to religious life. Her mother died when Hélène was 20 years old, and she put the religious life on hold to run her family home and help raise her younger siblings. In December 1860, having a great devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi, she was finally able to follow the call and joined the Poor Clares, but health problems forced her to return home. When she recovered, her confessor directed her to the Society of Marie Reparatrice which she joined in 1864, making her profession in Toulouse, France on 15 August 1865, taking the name Mary of the Passion. Missionary to India in March 1865. Provincial superior of three Reparatrice houses in July 1867. In the mid-1870‘s, she became embroiled in disputes among missionary houses in India which led to going to the Vatican to seek help settling the issue. On 6 January 1877 she obtained permission from Pope Pius IX to found the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. Worked with Servant of God Father Bernardin de Portogruaro. Due to internal politics and dissension, she was removed from her position as superior of the Order in March 1883; an inquiry by Pope Leo XIII cleared her of all allegations and she was re-elected to the position of Superior in July 1884. Today the Missionaries continue their good work with 2,000 sisters at 86 houses on four continents.
Born
- 15 November 1904 in San Remo, Imperia, Italy of natural causes
- interred in a private oratory at the general house of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Rome, Italy
- 28 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II (decree of heroic virtues)
- 20 October 2002 by Pope John Paul II
- her beatification miracle involving the healing of a religious sister who suffered from “pulmonary and vertebral TBC, Pott’s Disease”
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Hélène-Marie-Philippine de Chappotin de Neuville“. CatholicSaints.Info. 7 July 2023. Web. 20 April 2024. <>