Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier de Ages

Joan Elizabeth Lucy Bichier des Âges (5 July 1773 – 26 August 1838) was a French religious sister, commonly referred to as Elizabeth Bichier. Together with Andrew Fournet, she founded the Sisters of the Cross, Sisters of St. Andrew, a religious congregation which was established for the care of the poor and the instruction of rural children in the Diocese of Poitiers in 1807. She also helped to inspire the founding of a community of priests dedicated to missionary service, the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram. She has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.

Life

Early life Bichier was born in 1773 in the Château des Âges, home of her aristocratic family near the village of Le Blanc, then in the ancient province of Poitou (now the department of Indre), located in the Central Loire Valley. She was one of the couple's four children and later was commonly called Elizabeth by her family. She was baptized that same day at the local Church of Saint-Génitour. Her mother was a religious person and ensured that her daughter was taught how to pray and the basics of the Catholic faith. Elizabeth proved a ready student, already feeling drawn to prayer from her childhood.

After the outbreak of the French Revolution, the local population resented the restrictions placed on the practice of the Catholic faith. Within a few years, this unrest led to various popular uprisings. During this period, her oldest brother, Laurent, chose to emigrate from France. Shortly after that, their father fell ill and later died on 16 January 1792.

A new direction The following year, a former servant came by the house and covertly informed them that a refractory priest would be presiding at a secret Mass at a farm in Marsyllis, about away. This was the Abbé Andrew Fournet, the underground pastor of Maillé, who would give Bichier a new direction in her life, answering her longings. The following week she set out at night on a donkey, led by the same former servant, to participate in the service. After a journey of three hours, they arrived at the site. After the Mass, Fournet began to hear the confessions of the people. As Bichier approached him, the peasants gave way to her, an aristocrat. Fournet challenged Bichier over her presumption, and she let him hear the confessions of the entire congregation, going last just as the sun was rising.

Bichier died in 1838, at which time there were about 600 Daughters of the Cross serving in some 100 communities.

Veneration Bichier was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1934 and canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1947. Her remains are enshrined at the motherhouse in La Puye.

Legacy Having reached a high number in membership of some 3,100 at the start of the 20th century, with 430 houses, today, they number about 600 members. They currently serve or have served around the globe in France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Uruguay, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, China, and Thailand.