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Pauline-Marie Jaricot Foundress of the APF
1822, when it all began
The foundation of the Society for the Propagation of the
Faith was due to the insight, the initiative and the
method of a young French lay woman, Pauline-Marie
Jaricot. She wished to form a missionary consciousness
in all Christians so that they would aid the Church to
carry out its task of preaching the Gospel and planting
the Church where it had not been before. She unselfishly
left it to others to develop the Society but was in her
own words 'the first match to light the fire.' A
reflection on her life and message is a welcome reminder
that both clergy and laity have a responsibility for the
missionary activity of the Church.
Vitality of Faith
Pope John Paul II in his 1990 encyclical Redemptoris
Missio noted an apparent decline in missionary activity
specifically directed to those nations and peoples who
have not yet had the opportunity of knowing the good
news of the Gospel. Missionary zeal is a sign of the
vitality of the Church, just as its lessening is a sign
of a crisis of faith. Pauline saw that the renewal of
the Church in France after the revolution would be
intimately linked with a renewed zeal for missionary
activity. Promoting the faith in foreign lands would be
the surest means of preserving and increasing the faith
in Europe.
Born in Lyon
Pauline was the last child of the strong Christian
marriage of Antoine and Jeanne Jaricot. Her parents
owned a silk factory, were well respected and wealthy.
Ten years after the flare-up of the French Revolution
she was born in Lyons on July 22nd, 1799 and died there
in obscurity and poverty on January 9th, 1862. In
between was a memorable life driven by concern for the
missions and concern for the poor.
She was very close to her older brother Phileas and as
they grew up together they shared a common interest in
missionary stories. One day Phileas announced he would
become a missionary and go to China. Pauline was eager
to accompany him. Phileas, however suggested another
plan: 'Little sister, you cannot come; but you shall
take a rake, rake in heaps of gold and you shall send it
to me in barrels.'
Change of Heart
At fifteen years of age she was introduced into the
hectic social life of the richer families in Lyons and
attracted the attention of many admirers. A Lenten
sermon on vanity in 1816 was the occasion for her
transformation from a selfish worldly teenager to a
deep-thinking person concerned about others. She was
seventeen. The romantic books, the love songs, the
special hair creations, the stylish hats and the silk
dresses were put aside.
A Lay Apostle
Pauline believed that God was calling her to a new life.
But for this teenager the call would not be to the
religious life, but to the life of a lay apostle. It was
as a committed member of the laity that she would
dedicate herself to Christ. She became a person of
constant prayer, having a deep devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament nourished by daily communion and adoration.
She dressed in the garb of a poor person. She sold her
inheritance and jewellery and shared the proceeds with
the poor and looked upon personal visits with them as a
privilege, aware that 'the poor honour us by receiving
us.'
Reparation
She felt the need of making reparation for the many
instances of neglect and insult placed before Jesus and
invited others to join in public reparation. In 1817 she
started a spiritual association of 'those who make
reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, unknown and
despised.' To the members she suggested that the
Stations of the Cross be held in common every Sunday.
Helping the Missions
In 1818 she planted the mustard seed of the Society for
the Propagation of the Faith when she appealed to two
hundred young girls working in her brother-in-law's silk
factory to make a weekly farthing contribution from
their meagre wages to ransom abandoned infants in China.
The seed grew and other groups joined to help all
missions. In 1822 the Society was officially
constituted. Pope John XXIII in 1962 stated that it was
Pauline Jaricot who 'thought of the Society, who
conceived it and made it an organised reality.'
Missionary Literature
In 1822 while only twenty-one years of age, she arranged
the printing and distribution of religious literature.
Her idea that basic religious missionary information
should be communicated would permeate the future Society
through the publication of the Annals which contained
reports from various mission territories aimed at
increasing the interest and commitment of the Society.
Living Rosary
Pauline believed that the Rosary was a sadly neglected
prayer. She adopted a plan similar to that of
Propagation of the Faith. She founded an association
called 'The Living Rosary' for people who would pray the
Rosary and make it better known. Groups of fifteen were
organised, and each member would say one decade of the
Rosary daily and meditate on the 'mystery of the rosary'
assigned to them each month by the drawing of lots. It
also sought to make reparation for sinners.
She saw the groups of fifteen containing the ‘good, the
mediocre and others who have nothing to offer but their
good will....fifteen pieces of coal, one is well lit,
three or four are half lit and the rest are not lit at
all. Put them together and you have a blazing mass.’
Pauline expanded the organisation to include the
distribution of prayer leaflets, holy pictures, medals
and rosaries.
Social Involvement
Pauline had a wide Christian vision of social problems.
Her efforts to solve these met with miserable failure
owing to the dishonesty of others in whom she had placed
her trust. Her first idea was to create a special fund
for the poor so that they would obtain interest free
loans. She had the plan of obtaining a large sum of
money from fifteen wealthy families to create the
capital of her 'Celestial Bank', but she was unable to
obtain the initial capital. Her next idea was to
purchase a factory where the dignity of the working
person would be upheld and families would not be
separated. Pauline was persuaded to purchase a factory
in Rustrel by a group of people who diverted the money
provided by her and her friends. Pauline would spend the
rest of her life involved in various judicial
proceedings flowing from their dishonesty. Despite all
her efforts the factory was sold off at a low price, and
Pauline was still burdened in paying back the remaining
massive debts incurred through the machinations of
others.
The Inner Person
She was a person close to God. 'I try to be in all
things not complicated and to reach a state of childlike
abandonment of self in the hands of a loving God. I feel
that it is my destiny to be in God's hands like a toy
with which he can do what he likes.' She united her
sufferings with those of Christ 'Patience, prayer,
submission, acceptance of the ways of divine providence
enable me to keep Jesus company on Calvary.' She prayed
for those who had abused her trust in them; 'Forgive
them, Lord, and fill them with blessings each time they
cause me more pain.'
Hidden Years
From 1822 Pauline hid herself in the shade, without ever
asserting herself. Her final years were a daily
martyrdom of poverty, physical weakness, illness,
abandonment by former friends and misunderstanding. She
died in the early morning of January 9th, 1862. Her last
words were fitting for the foundress of the Living
Rosary:- 'Mother! Oh my mother! I am all yours.'
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