Philippine Duchesne: A Woman with the Poor

by Catherine M. Mooney

Philippine Duchesne has a message for today's world in which the rich seem to be growing richer and the poor to be growing poorer. It is a message of justice and love for all people. It was for this conviction that Philippine, a Religious of the Sacred Heart missionary, became the fourth United States saint in 1988. This book is a bold historical biography of a remarkable woman who struggled her entire life to enflesh God's love and care in human situations. It opens with a critical discussion and forthright examination of how class, gender, and race have been influential factors in the selection of saints, and then details Philippine's life with its many failures and many achievements. It shows how this wealthy woman who belonged to a politically prominent French family decided to dedicate her life and gifts to the poor. It examines her difficulties as Sacred Heart's first missionary in the new world and it tells how this courageous pioneer woman provided free education for those who had long been denied the privilege--young women, the poor, and native Americans. This eminently readable biography provides a clear and scholarly assessment of Duchesne's religious and social world that is ideal for students and professors of U.S. church history. It raises important questions about women, the poor, and marginalized groups in Duchesne's time that are still pertinent to ask today.

278 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2007

About the author

Catherine Mooney holds a B.A. in History from Saint Louis University; an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School; an M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in medieval history from Yale University. She has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she was also co-coordinator of the Gender Studies program, and at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2009 she was awarded a research fellowship and served as visiting professor of Franciscan Studies at the Franciscan Institute in St. Bonaventure, New York. She has served on the boards of the Society for Medieval Feminist Studies and Monastic Matrix. While living in rural Argentina during its military dictatorship and “Dirty War,” she worked as a human rights advocate and taught in a seminary for campesino catechists and base community leaders. In addition to teaching and lecturing in universities and at scholarly conferences, she offers presentations and workshops in various pastoral venues and is active in several human rights efforts.

Dr. Mooney's work has received support from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation.

Reviews

[Mike Horne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am embarrassed that this is the first time I have read her biography (being a Sacred Heart educator for almost 15 years). This was very readable. I don't know if I feel that I really know St. Duchesne after this. But I am now reading the St. Barat bio. Most interesting thing (from both books) is the number of mistakes both of them make. Good to realized how inefficient, wrong headed, and "unsuccessful" you can be and still be a saint!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did like this book. It was so interesting as it starts with statistics on saints. What percent are men, women, rich, middle class, poor, martyrs, virgins and more. I found this fascinating. It also talks about how you become a saint, the cost, notoriety etc. Then it goes in to Rose Phillippine Duchesne, an American saint. It talks of her life in France why and how she came to America and what she did while here. It really talks about her as a person. The good and the bad. What people thought of her and what her superiors thought of her. It talks about what she did and really did not seem to sugar coat it. If made you feel as if she was a real person. Not some one in the clouds and so holy you would not want to be around her. She seemed so ordinary. It talks about her work, her prayer life and how she felt about things in the world. I think even if you were not Catholic you would find Phillipine an interesting person.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in high school, I chose Philippine Duchesne as my confirmation saint without knowing much about her besides that she was French and her feast day was close to my birthday. Recently I decided that I ought to know a bit more about her life, so I found this biography. I didn't realize that she left France to be a missionary in North America, and that most of her legacy stems from her doings in Missouri and Louisiana; I didn't know much about Catholic missionaries in the early 1800s to begin with, so all of that was fascinating to read about.

The introductory chapter on how saints are chosen was an excellent overview of something I've wondered about for a while. Mooney provides an intentionally balanced view of Duchesne, noting how many saints' biographies are skewed so as to suggest that they are otherworldly, with a holiness out of reach for mere mortals. She argues that presenting a saint's humanity makes them seem like more realistic role models for us. If anything, I think she may have gone too far in the other direction, pointing out Duchesne's shortcomings while glossing over what made her a candidate for sainthood. Still, I came away with the impression of a woman I could relate to, someone whose drive for justice and single-minded focus on the project at hand could at times keep her from seeing the larger picture.

I enjoyed this more than I expected, and I'm glad I sought out this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm enjoying learning about the patroness of my parish. It's also very neat to me that she lived in Louisiana and then she moved here just like I did. I really like that there's a section about the canonization process--it turns out that there was quite a bit I didn't know!