October 16 - 1831, Founding the Daughters of Mary

In 1831, Pauline founded the Daughters of Mary with whom she moved in at Lorette, on the slopes of the Fourvière hill. In addition to the six Hospitaller Sisters of Nazareth, who became members of this community, there were a few members of the Living Rosary, and a few pious and faithful worker friends of Saint-Polycape. Together they counted about twenty people. To these Daughters of Mary, Pauline offers a path she had already begun in Nazareth with the Hospitaller Sisters: a life of prayer, faith, obedience and love. On July 10 to 1833, on the eve of settling in at Lorette, she described her project to Bishop de Pins, administrator of the diocese: “[The house is] inhabited by the sisters of the noviciate of the hospital who did nothing and who do not want to have anything that ostensibly distinguishes them from the masses of the faithful. They wish, however, to come as close as possible to the evangelical counsels. Together they follow a regular lifestyle and in accordance with their goal, they propose to sanctify themselves by glorifying Jesus and Mary by the practice of good works supported by the spirit of faith and prayer. Since the works of charity are many and diverse, there is need for a flexibility in the hours of payer. Indeed, it is hardly possible to specify here the moments destined for specific prayers, except generally affirming the basic hours of rising, bedtime, meals and other prayers. This, notwithstanding, they try to make this Christian life as uniform as they can in order to avoid the jokes and caprices to which the human spirit is usually subject and to keep their souls in peace.” (Catherine Masson, Pauline Jaricot, 1799-1862, biographie, Paris, Cerf, 2019, p. 295-296).

At first glance, it was not question of establishing a “religious community” but forming an association according to Pauline’s personal desire to be cloistered in the world, which involved action and the practice of prayer. It was influenced by the Imitation of Jesus Christ, as indicated in the project presented to Pope Gregory XVI, approved by the latter, of living together, praying and working in the midst of the world following the evangelical counsels (Catherine Masson, Pauline Jaricot, op. Cit., p. 297).

At the request of the pope, the community was placed under the direction of the directors of the Living Rosary, thus establishing a link between it and the administration of the Living Rosary. Their state duty, after prayer, is the sermon in action, which is translated into all the activities generated by it. It is always a question of forming the habit of prayer by practice rather than by speech (Catherine Masson, Pauline Jaricot, op. Cit., p. 297). Pauline recommends among all the virtues, the simplicity of children, simplicity of mind, simplicity of heart towards God, simplicity towards neighbour, simplicity in action, simplicity in the spirit of humility, in order to always appear inferior to poor people whom we have the mission to serve. (Catherine Masson, Pauline Jaricot, op. Cit., p. 297)

She would lead, with them, a religious life in the world, responding to the enormous obligations created by the Living Rosary, a spiritual family of the dimensions of Pauline's universal heart. In fact, the project would mature over many months, especially when Pauline had serious health problems. During this period, “she felt dominated by the desire to glorify God and to contribute to the salvation of souls. She confesses that, if on the one hand she wishes to dedicate herself to the innumerable works of the apostolate, on the other hand she feels an obsession that pushes her to seek total detachment from the world so that she can rest in the purely contemplative life (Sister Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Biography, op. Cit., p. 173)

With the support of her family, Pauline Jaricot acquired the Frèrejean house on June 7, 1832. The house had a large park and a path that led directly to the shrine of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. As soon as she moved in, she placed the key at the feet of the Virgin Mary as a sign of thanks for the deal she had made. This gesture was accompanied by the promise to display on all the exterior doors this inscription: “Mary conceived without sin, pray for us”. The new property, situated in a privileged position in relation to Lyon, was destined to be recognized by all as Mary's domain and was to participate in the diffusion of her maternal protection. In concrete terms, it was a question of redistributing the spiritual burden accumulated to the world through the association of the Living Rosary. The homonymous work, which had 299 subscriptions in 1828, exceeded 3500 by the end of 1831 (Sister Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Biography, op. Cit., p. 180).

The inauguration of the house and the blessing of the new chapel took place on July 16, 1833, the feast of Our Lady of Carmel. The day chosen for the installation in the house was the feast of the Assumption of Mary, August 15. The religious significance of the event had to be emphasized. The name “Loreto” was chosen to indicate the continuity of the spiritual link with the House of Nazareth. It also expresses a return to the traditional sources of a local Church: the one in Lyon that has had religious links with the Italian Loreto since the 6th century. Above all, it is the expression of Mary's sovereignty in the government of all events, past and future. Everything within its walls must contribute to transforming the place into an oasis of spirituality, of pastoral and vocational discernment, of reunion of missionaries who return to their countries temporarily and of regular correspondence with known missionaries from all over the world. (Sister Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Biography, op. Cit., p. 181)

Pauline was going to sell up part of her real estate, without any lucrative intention, to anyone who would guarantee her a spiritual use in priority. She hints at this in a letter to Cardinal de Bonald in 1857. She writes, This poor woman who speaks to you serves as an instrument to Your Lordship in order to preserve the hillside of Fourvière, not from imaginary and future dangers, but from the real and imminent one of being invaded by buildings and small pleasure meetings. Thus preferring to make the properties available the Visitation Sisters of Lyon, the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, a boarding school mounted Saint-Barthélemy, refuge Saint Elisabeth, nuns of Saint-Régis, Jesuits near Notre-Dame de Fourvière. (Catherine Masson, Pauline Jaricot, op. Cit, p. 411).

Pauline had a special link with the Society of Jesus. In one of her notebooks we read, “What can I do, poor and weak creature that I am? If I had been of the other sex, it would have been possible for me to enter the Society of Jesus and thus take care of the salvation of all my brothers. Then, an interior voice whose accent I cannot define repeats to me: “If you cannot enter the Society of Jesus, could you not create the Society of Mary? (Sister Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Biography, op. Cit., p. 174)

With the Daughters of Mary, Pauline's spiritual community, the house of Loreto will have an extraordinary spiritual influence. In the same way that the chapel of Our Lady rises on the ruins of Trajan's forum, bathed in the blood of the martyrs, the House of Loreto is erected as the “center” that calls to itself the prayers of about 60 nations from all over the world. In its property, the Marian missionary movement expands with the coming and going of missionaries, apostolic vicars who go there to give thanks and to ask for new financial and spiritual resources. (Sister Cecilia Giacovelli, Pauline Jaricot. Biography, op. Cit., p. 213).

The original vocation of Pauline's first companions was missionary commitment, the practice of the living Rosary, but also the care of the poor and the sick. Pauline's various difficulties, the failure of her social work and no doubt her illness in 1834 as well as her long absence during her pilgrimage to Italy did not help to set firm foundations for the life of the community of the Daughters of Mary nor the possibility of finding the path for its perpetuity.