October 2 - Pauline Marie Jaricot, a girl from Lyon
Pauline Marie Jaricot and her friends in Lyon recognized the importance of the Church’s universal mission. They organized themselves into groups of support for missionaries. From the very first years of this bourgeoning society, they were determined to support all missionaries who needed help.
On May 3, 1822, the Society of the Propagation of the Faith was founded in Lyon. It was so successful in garnering the support of French and European Christians that on May 3, 1922, Pope Pius XI declared the Society “Pontifical” (see the text of Pius XI, “Extension of the Work of the Propagation of the Faith - Motu Proprio Romanorum Pontificum”, in Catholic Documentation (DC) n°158, June 24, 1922, col. 1534). On the same day the Holy Father declared the other two Mission Societies “Pontifical”: the Society of the Holy Childhood, founded in Parish in 1843 by Bishop Charles Forbin Janson and the Society of St. Peter the Apostle for the formation of indigenous clergy, founded in Caen in 1889 by Jeanne Bigard and her mother Stephanie. Blessed Paolo Manna founded a fourth Missionary Society in 1918 in Parma, Italy. Pope Pius XII declared this Society to be the Pontifical Missionary Union (PUM) on October 28th 1956.
Pauline Marie Jaricot was, in a certain sense, the inspiration for all four Pontifical Mission Societies. Thus, on October 22, 1972, Pope St. Paul VI noted that “the intuition, initiative and method” of this beautiful work, deserves special attention. How did she commit herself to following Jesus? How did she link prayers and collections for the missions? How did she root her missionary commitment in a spirituality, which she was able to share with her family and friends? These are the main questions to which the life of Pauline Marie Jaricot provides illuminating answers. This young girl from Lyon committed herself to following Jesus in evangelization.
Pauline was born into a family of rich silk manufacturers in Lyon, on July 22, where she received a good Christian education. She was pretty and coquettish, seeking to please. Later in life she would write, “My parents gave a few parties to amuse us on Sundays. They organized social gatherings of large groups of fathers, mothers, young women and some young men, who came with my brothers as well as with their friends. There, they played word games, danced, and so on... Dissipation necessarily led to forgetting the presence of God, and they gave themselves over entirely to the mad joys of the world: One sang tender songs; another received the kisses required in the course of these games, which naturally had to throw disorder in their hearts... The desire to please, the desire to prevail over the others, the coquetry, and sometimes-even spite were manifested there (in my poor heart), hidden... It was necessary to be dead, or sick, not to feel at least some impressions from so many flatteries, attention, and gentle words on behalf of the young people that surrounded us” (J. Servel, Un autre visage. Textes inédits de Pauline Jaricot, Lyon, Ed. du Chalet, 1962, p. 95). Increasingly coquettish, Paulette did not seem to be looking forward to any major missionary commitment. But, thanks to her brother Philéas, a student at the seminary of Saint Sulpice in Paris - connected with the Foreign Missions of Paris – who was preparing to leave for China as a missionary, Pauline was became aware of the critical situation of the missions. Prior to this, she had a life-changing conversion experience. A sincere encounter with the Lord always provokes a desire for conversion, a joy to improve one's relationship with him and with one's fellow human beings.