Jean-Martin Moye

In 1762, Jean-Martin Moye founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence with Marguerite Lecomte to provide free instruction to poor young girls. Despite opposition, the work grew. In 1771, he left as a missionary to China with the Paris Foreign Missions Society. After a stopover at the Isle of France where he evangelized the slaves, he arrived in Sichuan in 1773. There, he founded the Society of Chinese Virgins for the education and care of the sick. Returning to France in 1784, he was forced into exile in Trier in 1791 due to the French Revolution. He died there of typhus on May 4, 1793, after having dedicated himself to the care of sick soldiers.

After his death in exile, his reputation for holiness spread rapidly, carried by the Sisters of Providence who reconstituted the congregation in the 19th century. His spiritual writings continue to guide his spiritual daughters. His cause for beatification was introduced under Leo XIII, who declared him Venerable on January 14, 1891. Pope Pius XII promulgated the decree of the heroic nature of his virtues on May 21, 1945, paving the way for his beatification following the recognition of a miraculous healing.

Jean-Martin Moye was beatified on November 21, 1954, by Pope Pius XII in Rome. His feast day is set for May 4. The process for his canonization was suspended by the Sisters of Providence, who felt that the high financial costs of a trial in Rome were not in keeping with their charism of extreme poverty, preferring to dedicate their resources to the poor.

The spirituality of Jean-Martin Moye is based on trusting abandonment to Divine Providence, evangelical poverty, simplicity of heart, and apostolic charity. His legacy is perpetuated through several autonomous branches of the Sisters of Providence (Portieux, Saint-Jean-de-Bassel, Gap, Champion, San Antonio) which work today on four continents among the most destitute.