Pierre Bonhomme

On October 15, 1833, Pierre Bonhomme officially founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Calvary in Gramat with four young women: Hortense Pradel, Adèle Pradel, Cora Rousset, and Mathilde Rousset. After a retreat in Rocamadour, they dedicated themselves to the service of the poor and to education. The congregation developed rapidly: it took charge of the care of the mentally ill at the Leyme asylum (1844) and in Paris (1856) with Doctor Jean-Pierre Falret, and opened a school for deaf-mute children in Mayrinhac-Lentour (1854) and then in Paris (1856). In 1860, he drafted the first Rule of Life for the institute under the patronage of Our Lady of Calvary.

Nicknamed the "missionary of Quercy," Pierre Bonhomme preached more than 60 parish missions in ten years in the Lot and Tarn-et-Garonne departments. In 1848, he suffered a severe loss of voice in Puy-l'Évêque and had to give up preaching in 1849. He accepted this infirmity with faith and devoted himself to the spiritual direction of his congregation. He died of a heart attack in Gramat on September 9, 1861, at the age of 58, after a pilgrimage on foot to Rocamadour. His cause for beatification opened in Cahors in 1952, and he was declared venerable by John Paul II on October 23, 1987.

The recognition of a scientifically inexplicable healing, validated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on October 27, 2000, paved the way for his beatification. The decree approving this miracle was promulgated on April 23, 2002, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins in the presence of Pope John Paul II. Pierre Bonhomme was solemnly beatified by John Paul II on March 23, 2003, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome, with the Pope highlighting his strength drawn from the contemplation of the Passion of Christ.

The spirituality of Pierre Bonhomme rests on the mystery of the Redemption and the contemplation of Christ on the Cross, under the patronage of Our Lady of Calvary. His pastoral maxim, "The heart is won by the heart," still guides the Sisters of Our Lady of Calvary. Today, the congregation is present in France, Brazil, Argentina, Ivory Coast, Guinea, and the Philippines, continuing its works of education, healthcare, and support for the disabled and the destitute.