The Hindu : Beatification of Mother Mary of Passion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 20, 2002

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Beatification of Mother Mary of Passion

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI OCT. 19. The Foundress of the Congregation of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Mother Mary of the Passion, will be declared ``Blessed'' by Pope John Paul II at a special ceremony in the Vatican, Rome, on Sunday, a press note issued by the organisation here said. The beatification is of special significance to India and over 1,400 Indian sisters of the Congregation as it was in Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, that the Religious Family of Missionaries of Mary was founded in 1877.

The Foundress of the order was born as Helen de Chappotin and her father was a noble in Brittany. In 1865, at the age of 26, leaving behind a life of comfort and luxury, Helen came to India as a Marie Reparatrix nun and went to the Madurai mission that covered Tiruchi, Tuticorin, Adaikalapuram and Udhagamandalam. She worked particularly for the promotion and uplift of girls and women.

Subsequently, Mother Mary of the Passion founded her own congregation — Missionary Religious Congregation — which is now known as the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary the world over.

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