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Concept
Émilie de Villeneuve
Summary
Émilie de Villeneuve (9 March 1811 – 2 October 1854) was a French Catholic nun and the founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Castres.
After she died her cause of canonization was opened. She was beatified in 2009 after a miracle attributed to her intercession was ratified. She was approved for sainthood in 2014 and was canonized by Pope Francis on 17 May 2015.
Jeanne-Emilie de Villeneuve, also named Émilie de Villeneuve, was born in Toulouse, on 9 March 1811 From an early age, she lived in Hauterive Castle (near Castres), where her sick mother had withdrawn for treatment. She lost her mother at the age of 14 in 1815, followed by her sister Octavie in 1818.
After her mother's death, she lived some time in Toulouse where her grandmother supported her education and that of her sisters. At the age 19, de Villeneuve was back at Hauterive, where she managed family life, mitigating of this task her father, then mayor of Castres (from 1826 to 1830). She planned to join the "Daughters of Charity". But during the cooling off period imposed by her father, she created (with the approval of her bishop), and in collaboration with two companions, the Congregation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1836. The religious community rapidly became known under the name of "Blue sisters of Castres" because of the color of their clothes.
In the anonymity of a house in Castres, with her companions, she served the poor: young workers, sick people, prostitutes and those who were convicted in prison. Then, the congregation saw the growing number of its sisters, and its influence extended to Africa (Senegal, Gambia, and Gabon).
De Villeneuve called on others to become missionaries wherever they were, daring to take a stand for justice, peace, respect and attention to the smallest in all our places of life, to do all this out of love, according to the motto taken by the congregation: "to go where the voice of the poor calls us".
Official source
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