The Basics: Born October 4, 1843, in what is now Israel; died March 27, 1927, in Israel; canonized May 17, 2015, by Pope Francis; feast day, March 25; woman religious.
The Story: Marie-Alphonsine was born into a very large family–nineteen children, eight of whom lived beyond childhood. She felt called to the religious life, and in 1862 took her final vows in the Religious of St. Joseph of the Apparition community. It was nearly twelve years later, on the Feast of the Epiphany, that she first had a vision of the Blessed Virgin. Exactly a year later, the Holy Mother appeared to her 
again and asked her to set up a religious congregation devoted to the rosary. And so, that is just what Marie-Alphonsine did. The first house for the Rosary Congregation, the first group of women religious to be founded in the Holy Land, opened in 1880 and Marie-Alphonsine and eight others took final vows in 1885.
While this woman religious had a special devotion to the rosary–she was saying it with one of her birth and spiritual sisters when she died–she also was devoted to service. Marie-Alphonsine spent time in a number of Holy Land locales: Nazareth, followed by fifteen years in Bethlehem, and then a return to her hometown of Jerusalem, where she founded an orphanage. Rosary congregation members have established throughout the Middle East schools, hospitals, cultural centers, and training centers to learn tailoring and needlework.
Marie-Alphonsine did not tell anyone about the visions she had experienced until shortly before her death. Her sister found her journals that recorded the events at that time.
What We Can Learn from Marie-Alphonsine: Marie-Alphonsine’s experience reminds us to be open to God’s messengers. What they say on His behalf may take us in an unexpected direction, which makes it all the more important to listen.
To Learn More About Marie-Alphonsine: Visit the site for the community she founded, the Rosary Congregation.
To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my books, Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from Our Sisters in Faith or Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.
