Mary Fabyan Windeatt - Pauline Jaricot: Foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith

Pauline Jaricot

Foundress of the Living
Rosary and the Society
for the Propagation of
the Faith

Mary Fabyan Windeatt

Nihil Obstat:	Francis J. Reine, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur:		Paul C. Schulte, D.D.
Archbishop of Indianapolis
Feast of St. Philomena
August 11, 1952

Copyright 1952 by St. Meinrad's Abbey, Inc. Originally published in 1952 by Grail Publications, St. Meinrad, Indiana, under the title Pennies for Pauline: The Story of Marie Pauline Jaricot, Foundress of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith .

ISBN: 0-89555-425-9

Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 93-60214

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

1993

For all who have given to the Missions, whether at home or in faraway landsespecially to those who have given their lives.

BOOKS BY MARY FABYAN WINDEATT

In This Series

Stories of the Saints for Young People ages 10 to 100

THE CHILDREN OF FATIMA

And Our Lady's Message to the World

THE CUR OF ARS

The Story of St. John Vianney,
Patron Saint of Parish Priests

THE LITTLE FLOWER

The Story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

PATRON SAINT OF FIRST COMMUNICANTS

The Story of Blessed Imelda Lambertini

THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL

The Story of Our Lady's Appearances to St. Catherine Labour

ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT

The Story of Our Lady's Slave,
St. Louis Mary Grignion De Montfort

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

The Story of "The Dumb Ox"

SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA

The Story of the Girl Who Saw Saints in the Sky

SAINT HYACINTH OF POLAND

The Story of the Apostle of the North

SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES

The Story of the Little Doctor of Lima, Peru

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA

The Story of the First Canonized Saint of the Americas

PAULINE JARICOT

Foundress of the Living Rosary and
The Society for the Propagation of the Faith

DECLARATION OF OBEDIENCE

In obedience to the decrees of several Roman Pontiffs, in particular those of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that we in no way intend to prejudge Holy Mother the Church in the matter of saints, sanctity and miracles. Final authority in such matters rests with the See of Rome, to whose judgment we willingly submit.

The Publishers

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

A YOUNG GIRL'S HEART

Anthony Jaricot was experiencing his usual temptation to pride as he walked up the center aisle of his parish church one Sunday morning in January, 1814, to attend High Mass with his family. How good to feel the hundreds of admiring eyes turned upon him! To know that he was one of the wealthiest and most respected men in Lyons! That his children were handsome, clever, well-educated and devoted to one another, and that he had the best wife in the world!

Then resolutely he put such thoughts aside. His reputation, his prospering silk business, his wife and family, were undeserved gifts from God. But for the goodness of Divine Providence, he might still be only a struggling factory hand, condemned to the poverty that had been the lot of so many in France since the Revolution twenty-five years before.

"Lord, forgive me!" he reflected soberly. "Everything I have is Yours. Everything! "

However, no such scruples bothered fourteen-year-old Pauline Jaricot as she followed her father up the aisle to their accustomed place. In fact, after the briefest of prayers, she settled back to enjoy the considerable flutter which the family's entrance had caused. On all sides necks were still being craned, and the girl's dark eyes glowed with excitement. Sunday was such a wonderful day! As usual, Mama looked elegant, this time in the dark green coat from Paris, with the ermine collar and cuffs. On all sides young women were gazing admiringly at Paul and Phileas, those two unmarried brothers who some day would inherit their share of the Jaricot fortune. But there was no use in pretending that she, Pauline, was not attracting envious glances, tooin her new pink wool, with a dashing little hat to match, trimmed with white rosebuds and a touch of ostrich plumes.

"If only Lucian likes it!" she thought hopefully, scarcely aware of the fact when the priest and his ministers entered the sanctuary and the organ intoned the Introit for the third Sunday after Epiphany. "Pale pink's the very latest thing." Then, with a frown: "But I should have worn another hat. This one's too much like Claire's, and she, poor girl, has no style at all...."

An hour or so later, however, the horrid little qualm had been forgotten. Lucian was standing beside her on the church steps, loud in his praises of the new pink wool. And the hat.

"You're the prettiest girl in Lyons, Pauline," he confessed. "Everyone knows that."

Pauline dimpled demurely as Anthony Jaricot clapped the young man on the shoulder. "So, you still like our little girl, son? Well, just remember what I told you."

Lucian nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, sir! I'm to work hard to prove myself. Then maybe some day"

"Then maybe some day we'll give you our Pauline. Isn't that right, Joan?"

Madame Jaricot hesitated. "Maybe," she said slowly. But as some of the light faded from the boy's eyes, she smiled and stretched out her hand. "Lucian, why not spend the day with us?" she suggested. "Sophie and Laurette are coming for dinner, and some friends of Paul and Phileas, too. If you're not busy...."

"YOU'RE THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN LYONS!"

At once the boy's face brightened. "I'd like that very much, Madame. If... if it's all right...."

"Of course it's all right!" boomed Anthony Jaricot. "There's nothing I like better on a Sunday afternoon than a house full of young folks having a good time. Come along, son. Our carriage is over this way."

For the rest of the day, because of Lucian's presence, Pauline was in a state of great excitementenjoying the games, the singing and dancing, which were always included in a Sunday party at the Jaricot house. What a lucky girl she was! Why, her oldest sister Sophie had been nearly seventeen before she had found a husband in Zachary Perrin! Poor Laurette had been sadly close to twenty before Victor Chartron had claimed her as a bride. But she, Marie Pauline

"I'll be married this summer, right after my fifteenth birthday!" she told herself happily. "Oh, dear Lord, how can I thank You for sending Lucian my way?"

But as spring approached and the Jaricots left their comfortable house in Lyons for Tassin, the beautiful country estate which had been purchased some two years before, Pauline's heart was often heavy. Although everyone else in the family approved of her marriage to Lucian, her mother had suddenly announced that she must wait a year or so before taking such an important step.

Pauline felt outraged. "But Mama, I love Lucian!" she had burst out tearfully. "And he loves me! Why can't you understand?"

Madame Jaricot only smiled. "Darling, I do understand. But you're still very young. And I don't want you to make any mistake. After all, it wasn't so very long ago when you thought you might like to be a nun. Remember?"

Pauline tossed her head. "A nun! That was ages ago, Mama, when I was only twelvea mere child. Now I'm grown-up. I know what I want. Really!"

But Madame Jaricot was firm. A year would soon pass, she said. Lucian would be as welcome as ever as a guest, but there must be no more talk about an immediate wedding.