October 6 - 1819: the great missionary movement – multiplication of pennies

When Pauline presented the plan for the Society of the Propagation of the Faith to Father Würtz, who remained her extraordinary confessor and director, he made this unforgettable reply: “Pauline, you are too stupid to have invented this plan. Therefore, not only do I allow you, but also I strongly urge you implement it! (David Lathoud of the Augustinians of the Assumption, Marie-Pauline Jaricot, op. cit., p. 114). For his part, Philéas received the approval of the Directors of the Foreign Missions. As early as 1819, the collection was working by the dozen. At her various meetings, especially on Sundays, Pauline Marie Jaricot explained her plan, insisting that the missionaries needed money to continue the mission in China and elsewhere, following in the footsteps of Saint Francis Xavier. The people gathered together are presented with Pauline's method (or plan) and are then asked to pledge. They were asked to give a penny a week, while praying for the missions and committing themselves to recruit others to make the same contribution. For example, a lady offers to buy a black bonnet, instead of her white one, which costs her a penny to iron. She will save the penny for ironing and can give that penny every Sunday. Other ladies found it easier to save the penny for the chair in church and attend mass standing up. Philéas made the first payment to the Foreign Missions upon his arrival in Paris on October 20, 1820. There, he met missionaries, some of whom were preparing to leave for Cochinchina. He invited his sister to pray for them and to organize so that the nascent work could support them financially.

The Propagation of the Faith will grow in Lyon and in Saint-Vallier, thanks to the commitment of several members of the Jaricot family. It is, above all, about being devoted to the poor and of giving particular attention to the downtrodden and those without faith, as Philéas writes to Pauline in his letter of January 19, 1821: “…Jesus Christ is naked and suffers hunger in his limbs and I would keep a piece of luxury furniture that will always be useless to me! Yes, useless because: 1) they wear long beards in China and 2) I would not have the courage to announce with such jewels, Him who had no place to rest his head......”. In fact, Phileas desires to be sacrificed unsparingly for the greater glory of God. He feels a great attraction to work for the salvation of the little ones and the poor, in the countryside, in hospitals, in prisons... France, China or America, it doesn't matter! He was as determined as was Pauline, whom he never stopped encouraging in the setting up of the new Society, which had to be done quietly so as not to attract opposition.

The door-to-door penny collections had plenty of snags. “If the benefactor has his merit, the collector also has his. He triumphs over his repugnance by extending his hand, he imposes on himself the immediate inscription on his sheet of the smallest gift, he walks, he wears out his strength in union with the distant sowers of the Gospel. Here a new excellence of the plan of the Propagation of the Faith begins to shine. It is not only the meager offerings that begin to accumulate, but also the sacrifices of the “tens”, the “hundreds”, the heads of the “thousands”, etc.  In this way the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, as it scatters the seeds of salvation to the ends of the earth, offers the sanctifies of the faithful who take part in it, bringing them privileged graces. Pauline’s reward for having founded the Society was the Cross, a heavy cross she would carry for the rest of her life. Her first two collaborators, Philéas and Victor Girodon, were called to the priesthood. (David Lathoud of the Augustinians of the Assumption, Marie-Pauline Jaricot, op. cit., pp. 147-148). In 1821-1822, the collection by the “tens” gathered about 200 francs, which at the rate of one penny per week, indicated 1000 associates, a significant number after such a short period of time. The number of associates must have been higher because on May 20, 1820, there were more than 500 associates (see David Lathoud of the Augustinians of the Assumption, Marie-Pauline Jaricot, op. cit., p. 150).

Philéas began to share the news of the Missions that he received in letters sent to him by the directors of the Foreign Missions. Pauline would read them to her first “tens” (the first ones formed by her Reparatrixes in the Terreaux and Saint-Polycarpe neighborhoods) who met every Sunday at her home. Printed material was prepared and distributed to the members of the Association of the Propagation of the Faith in Lyon and soon elsewhere, also proposing a collection. Should we see in this the embryo of the future Annals of the Propagation of the Faith? On March 11, 1822, Victor Girodon wrote to encourage Philéas, who is sometimes considered the first Spiritual Director of the Propagation of the Faith: “... do not let the work that God has begun through you will perish. Let the following thoughts give you strength and animate your zeal. Think of how many souls will perhaps be the fruit of your efforts, how hearts that do not know the Sweet Name of Jesus will bless it, how the empire of the Devil will be restricted, how the number of unfortunate people who descend daily into Hell will be diminished, how the number of the chosen ones increased... I will send you news of our dear Missions by the end of the month...” (David Lathoud of the Augustinians of the Assumption, Marie-Pauline Jaricot, op. cit, p. 153).