Emilie de Rodat

Émilie de Rodat (6 September 1787 – 19 September 1852), born Marie Guillemette (Wilhelmina) Emilie de Rodat, also known as Emily de Rodat, was a nun, virgin, mystic, and the founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche. She was born to a noble family near Rodez, in southern France. When she was 18 months old, she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in Villefranche, to protect her from the oppression of Christians during the French Revolution. When she was 16, she had a spiritual experience, and at the age of 18, she became a teacher. In 1815, she started a school for poor girls in Villefranche, which became the Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche. Despite Rodat's spiritual and physical difficulties, the community expanded, eventually founding 38 houses, 25 cloistered communities, and 32 schools with over 5,000 students; they also visited prisoners and cared for abandoned infants in China. By 1999, there were 520 Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche worldwide.

Rodat's feast day is 19 September. She was beatified in 1940 and canonized in 1950.

Early life Émilie de Rodat was born on 6 September 1787, to a noble family, in "a handsome manor-house called Druelle" When she was 18 months old, at the beginning of the French Revolution, she was taken to live with her maternal grandmother in the Château of Ginals outside Villefranche, where her family lived in peace during the Revolution and Napoleon's reign because it was in a remote area and was relatively unscathed from the persecution of Catholics and other religious groups. Her aunt, a secularized nun due to religious oppression, also lived with them. Rodat was described as "a normally lively child with a strong but not excessive religious sensitivity" She died on 19 September 1852, at the age of 65, and was buried in the crypt in the chapel of the first home she founded in Villefrance, which became a pilgrimage destination and where many people received prayers through her. At the time of her death, there were 38 houses, 25 cloistered communities, and 32 schools with over 5,000 students sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche in several countries. Streets in her home district, including Villefranche and Rodez, were named after her. As of 1999, there were 520 Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche worldwide.

Rodat's feast day is 19 September; it is celebrated in the house of Holy Family of Villefranche the third Sunday in September. She was beatified on 9 June 1940 and canonized by Pope Pius XII on 23 April 1950.