Pauline Jaricot celebration begins a year of milestones

WITH centenary celebrations planned this year to mark the anniversary of the establishment of World Mission Sunday,  as well as the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Missionary Union and the 200th anniversary of the creation of the Living Rosary Association, it was perhaps fitting that 2026 began with a small, but poignant celebration of Blessed Pauline Jaricot, the foundress of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

A group of people recently gathered in La Maison De Lorette—Pauline’s home in Lyon— to pray the Rosary, celebrate mass and read some of her historical religious writings in a special evening dedicated to this inspiring laywoman (above).

The fervour was palpable in Pauline's room, where the Lyon team of the Living Rosary gathered. After praying the Rosary, the group then visited the Chapel of Sainte-Philomène for Mass, celebrated by Fr Richard Ngweli, the Chaplain of La Maison De Lorette.

The participants were then invited to enter the house and gather at the bottom of the stairs, where Pauline Jaricot welcomed her visitors. Accompanied throughout the tour by the icon made for the Beatification in 2022, the group followed behind, led by Anne d'Harcourt (in the role of the storyteller), with Véronique Mellies (in the role of Pauline) and Martine de Langre (as a journalist).

Those gathered began by examining a painting that depicted Pauline’s decision, at the age of 17, to dedicate her life to the Lord following Fr Jean Würtz's sermon on the dangers of vanity, in St-Nizier. From that point, she gave up the trappings of a privileged life such as fancy clothing and adopted the outfit of the workers in her father's workshop. “I am Jesus, recognise my voice,” she was said to have heard at  the Chapel of the Virgin of Fourvière, when she took a vow of chastity, ‘in order to be the spouse of Jesus Christ in the world,’ in 1816.

In the room dedicated to the Propagation of the Faith, there was a talk on the ‘Sou de Pauline,' the fundraising initiative she set up in 1822, whereby she was able to convince her friends in the Reparatrices of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to put money aside each week and to find 10 people to do the same, but also to pray for the conversion of the people. Pauline described herself as having ‘a soul of fire,’ while adding that she ‘was just a match that lit the fire.’

In 1826, Pauline launched the Living Rosary, based on the same principle as for the ‘Sou for the mission. The group then reflected on the deterioration of her health, some ten years later. Affected by serious illness, she arrived in Mugnano, Italy. Her miraculous healing in the sanctuary dedicated to St Philomena led her to build the current chapel—a miniature reproduction of the Italian church.

Driven by a social Christianity, Pauline, as an ‘apostle of the working class,’ then bought a factory, hoping to improve working conditions. Of this new work, which affirmed the Social Doctrine of the Church, St John Vianney—to whom she was close—said prophetically: "There is no doubt that the Devil will make you pay the bill." Isolated, Pauline was indeed swindled and then ruined.

The event ended movingly in the room where Pauline died in La Maison De Lorette.

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