Religious Sister and Martyr (1927-1994)
Her life
+ Paul- Hélène was born in Paris, France, and studied engineering at the Sorbonne before feeling the call to enter religious life.
+ In 1957, she entered the Religious of the Assumption. Following her religious profession, she worked as a family social worker before becoming a nurse.
+ She was assigned to her community’s mission in Algeria in 1964 and she served as a nurse and social worker there for 30 years. Remembered for her intelligence, charity, and almost tactless honestly, she retired medicine and worked alongside Blessed Henri Verès in the library of the archdiocese of Algiers.
+ Blessed Paul-Hélène was murdered by radicals in the archdiocesan library on May 8, 1994, and she was beatified with Blessed Henri and other Martyrs of Algeria in 2018.
For reflection
“This is our mission as Christians: to sow every day the seed of the peace of the Gospel in order to rejoice for the fruits of justice.”—Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, homily at the Mass of Beatification for the Martyrs of Algeria
Prayer
O God, who were pleased to give light to your Church by adorning blessed Paul-Hélène with the victory of martyrdom, graciously grant that, as she imitated the Lord’s Passion, so we may, by following in her footsteps, be worthy to attain eternal joys. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Martyrs)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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