St. Marie Magdalen Postel

Foundress of the Sisterhood of Christian Schools of Mercy. She was born on November 28 in 1756 in Barfleur, France, baptized Julia Frances Catherine. At the age of eighteen, she opened a school for girls in Barfleur. The French Revolution closed the schools, and Marie Magdalen sheltered fugitive priests until 1801, when Napoleon and the Holy See signed the famous Concordat which the emperor soon violated. In 1807, Marie Magdalen and three companions took vows before Abbe Cabart, starting the congregation. In 1815, the institute settled in Tamersville, France, and Mary Magdalen obtained the abbey of St. Sauveur le Vicomte. St. Mary Magdalen Postel was almost ninety years old when she died on July 16, 1846, venerated for her holiness and miracles. She was canonized in 1925.