Eugénie Joubert

The religious life of Sister Eugénie Joubert was entirely devoted to the catechesis of children, particularly the poorest, the most underprivileged, and the most difficult. Sent first to Aubervilliers and then to Saint-Denis, she carried out her apostolate with remarkable enthusiasm, cheerfulness, and patience. She possessed a unique gift for captivating and calming the most turbulent children, transmitting Christian doctrine with great simplicity and a radiant love. In 1902, her health deteriorated severely: she was afflicted with tuberculosis. To allow her to rest, her superiors sent her to Liège, in Belgium, to a house recently founded by her congregation, where her sister Marie was the superior. Despite her great physical weakness, she found the strength to accompany the co-founder, Mother Marie-Ignace Melin, on a pilgrimage to Rome and Loreto in 1903. This trip to Italy was a source of wonder for her, especially during her visit to the Holy House of Loreto. Upon returning to Liège in 1904, the illness progressed rapidly, reducing her to inaction and great suffering, which she united with those of Christ. Sister Eugénie passed away prematurely on July 2, 1904, in Liège, at the age of 28, pronouncing the name of Jesus three times.

From the moment of her death, the reputation of holiness of Sister Eugénie Joubert spread rapidly among the faithful. Her grave at the Saint-Gilles cemetery in Liège became a place of pilgrimage and prayer. In 1911, the publication of her biography contributed to making her life and spirituality known in Europe and throughout the world. Faced with this popular fervor and the numerous graces attributed to her intercession, the Diocese of Liège opened the informative process regarding her reputation of holiness and her virtues in 1919, which concluded in 1933. The cause was officially introduced to the Secretariat of State and the Congregation of Rites on June 1, 1938, under the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. The decree of "non-cultu" was issued on July 19, 1939. On June 9, 1983, Pope John Paul II recognized the heroic nature of her virtues and proclaimed her Venerable.

The miracle accepted for her beatification is the inexplicable healing of Émile Legaye, a Belgian man born in 1894. Suffering from a serious incurable lung disease (gangrenous purulent pleurisy) and given up by doctors, he went to the Saint-Gilles cemetery on October 1, 1928, to pray at Sister Eugénie's grave. His healing was immediate and total, and he lived in restored health until 1950. This miracle was officially recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on December 11, 1992. The beatification ceremony was celebrated by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1994, in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. During his homily, the Sovereign Pontiff presented her as a model of daily holiness and an example for all catechists. Her liturgical feast is set for July 2, the day of her birth into Heaven. On June 30, 2024, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of her death and the 30th anniversary of her beatification, her relics were solemnly transferred and interred in a dedicated chapel within the Church of Saint-Gilles in Liège, during a celebration presided over by Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville, Bishop of Liège.

The spirituality of Eugénie Joubert is fully inscribed in the path of spiritual childhood, contemporary to that of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. It is characterized by absolute trust, evangelical simplicity, and total abandonment to the divine will. Two years before her death, she expressed this deep aspiration with these words: "I want to be like the very small child, carried in the arms of its mother."

Her love for Christ is translated into a constant search for union with God through the smallest daily actions, guided by her maxim: "Provided that Jesus is happy." She also nurtured a very strong filial devotion toward the Virgin Mary, often repeating: "To love Mary, to love her again and always more."

In 2016, during the international pilgrimage of catechists in Rome, Blessed Eugénie Joubert was chosen as the patroness of French catechists. Her spiritual legacy is today promoted by the association "The Friends of Blessed Eugénie Joubert," erected as a private association of the faithful by the Bishop of Liège in October 2023.