The Basics: Born February 11, 1876, in France; died July 2, 1904, in Belgium; beatified November 20, 1994, by John Paul II; feast day, July 2. Woman religious, teacher.
The Story: It was a short life, full of both joy and challenge, but always focused on the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Eugenie, one of eight children, was sent with an older sister to an Ursuline boarding school and then attended a Sisters of Notre 
Dame college.
When she was nineteen, she discerned a vocation as a woman religious and joined the Sisters of the Holy Family of the Sacred Heart. She professed her final vows in 1897, and her primary assignment proved to be a joy, teaching children in France and then Belgium, including preparing them for First Communion.
But when Eugenie was twenty-six, things changed. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which ended the work she loved. She went to Rome for a couple years to help found a new house of her congregation, then returned to the motherhouse in Belgium in 1904. She died weeks later.
Eugenie’s Wisdom: “The Good Lord does not forbid laughing and amusing oneself, provided that we love Him with all our heart and that we keep our soul quite pure, that is to say, without sin.”
What We Can Learn from Eugenie: Life is short. Whatever your vocation–woman religious, wife, mother, teacher, artist, and so on–do it passionately today, for we do not know when the season will change.
To Learn More About Eugenie: Visit a site devoted to Eugenie. In addition, St. Joseph de Clairval Abbey has a more extensive biography of her available online.
To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my book, Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.
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