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 Centenary of the Death of Pauline Jaricot Scott 338-340 (1962) On July 5, 1962, Vatican City issued a three-stamp set to commemorate the centennial of the death of Pauline Marie Jaricot. A French member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, she was also the founder of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. The issuance of the stamp set in 1962 coincided with the declaration by Pope John XXIII proclaiming her as Venerable. Pope John wrote: Born in the wake of the French Revolution in Lyon, France, in 1799, she was the youngest of seven children. At the age of seventeen, she suffered a serious injury which left her with nerve damage which affected her movement and speech. While slowly recovering from her ailments, she began to lead a life of intense prayer. During this time, she developed an interest in helping missionary work around the world. Joining with the women employees at the silk factory run by her sister and brother-in-law, Jaricot established a means to help missionary workers both spiritually and financially. Through prayers and a small weekly contribution of one penny a week per person, the effort grew and, in 1822, led to the founding of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The Society continues to this day and is dedicated to helping missionary efforts worldwide. One hundred years later, on May 3, 1922, Pope Pius XI declared the Society for the Propagation of the Faith "pontifical". It is the oldest of four Pontifical Mission Societies of the Catholic Church (the others being the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Holy Childhood Association and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious). The Palazzo di Propaganda Fide is located at the south end of the Piazza Spagna, a one-minute walk from the Spanish Steps:  Front view on Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, Rome Photo by Sheila 1988 From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license In 1826, Jaricot was also responsible for starting the Association of the Living Rosary, which grew rapidly in France and spread to other countries. In 1832, Pope Gregory XVI gave the Association canonical status. Due to a failed business effort in 1845 (due to corrupt management by those she left in charge of the business) Pauline was left destitute, and she died on January 9, 1862. It is interesting that the cause for Pauline Jaricot reached a crescendo during the pontificate of Pope John XXIII. As Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, he headed the Italian branch of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The painting used for the Vatican City stamp set was commissioned by the Cardinal in 1921, and hangs in the headquarter of the Society in Rome. And as mentioned earlier, he ratified the first step of her beatification process by declaring her Venerable. In 2020, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to her intercession as the final requirement for beatification and, on May 22, 2022, her beatification was celebrated in her birthplace of Lyon. REFERENCES: |
