Louis-Marie Baudouin (2 August 1765 - 12 February 1835) was a French Roman Catholic priest who was the founder of the "Sons of Mary Immaculate" and also the "Ursulines of Jesus".
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
proclaimed him to be
Venerable
The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism.
Christianity
Cat ...
on 20 December 2012.
Life
Louis-Marie Baudouin was born in Montaigu, Vendée on 2 August 1765, the last of eight children. His father, a gardener at the Château de Montaigu, died when Louis-Marie was about two years old. As a boy, he became a chorister in the collegiate church of St. Maurice. The canons undertook the expense of his education with a teacher in the town. When his mother died in 1780, he was looked after by his eldest sister Marie. He then went ot live with his eldest brother, Pierre Martin, curate of Chantonnay. When Pierre Martin was made Curé of
Angles
The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...
in 1782, his younger brother accompanied him. That October Louis-Marie entered the Seminary of
Luçon
Luçon () is a commune in the Vendée department, Pays de la Loire region, western France. Its inhabitants are known as Luçonnais.
Luçon Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Luçon (comprising the Vendée), where Cardinal Richelieu onc ...
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
as a
Catholic priest
The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...
at
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
on 19 September 1789. He was assigned as curate to his brother, now Curé of Luçon. Besides preaching, he tended the sick at the hospital.
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. He became a hunted and proscribed priest who heard confessions and celebrated Mass in an underground cellar. After arrest and seven months imprisonment, he was released and went into exile to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
on 9 September 1792 along with 234 other priests. He spent most of it in Toledo, where Archbishop Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana sheltered over 400 French priests. While there, his brother's health failed and Pierre Martin Baudouin died in Toledo at the age of forty-seven.
While in Spain, Louis-Marie became a skilled lace maker, should he need to obtain a workman's passport to return to France. In August 1797, he and his colleague Father Lebédesque made their way to Bordeaux, where friends brought them to
Libourne
Libourne (; oc, label= Gascon, Liborna ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Ém ...
. From there they sailed to
Les Sables-d'Olonne
Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the administ ...
hidden aboard in a cask. They lived in hiding, sometimes going abroad disguised as sailors.
In 1799
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
allowed free exercise of worship following the end of the wars of the Vendée.
He was appointed to the parish of la Jonchère on 31 July 1801 at Chavagnes-en-Paillers. In 1803 a seminary was established in
Chavagnes
Chavagnes (; also called Chavagnes-les-Eaux) is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new Terranjou commune.Chavagnes International College.
Baudouin would visit the sick in the night dressed in disguise. He was a driving force for Marian devotion and constant reception of the sacraments.
In 1805 he undertook the beginning of a small society of the children of
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
. This became the twin congregations of the Sons of Mary Immaculate and the Ursulines of Jesus.
In 1812 the seminary of
Chavagnes
Chavagnes (; also called Chavagnes-les-Eaux) is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new Terranjou commune.La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...
. Baudouin moved to La Rochelle where he was appointed as the superior of the seminary and as the vicar general of the
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
.
In 1821 the
diocese of Luçon
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...
was restored and Chavagnes once again became the major seminary; Baudouin was re-appointed as its rector as well as being vicar general of the diocese.
Baudouin - in 1829 - retired to Chavagnes-en-Paillers. He died there at the age of 69.
Beatification cause
The cause of beatification commenced in France and spanned from 1864-5 which also bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God. Despite the fact that the cause commenced at this stage the formal introduction of the cause was on 7 September 1871 under Pope Pius IX. It continued on a local level and the two processes were ratified on 26 August 1911.
The
Positio
In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint.
Des ...
- the documentation on his life of
heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...
- was sent to the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...
in 1996 for further evaluation.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
recognized his heroic virtue on 20 December 2012 and declared him to be
Venerable
The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism.
Christianity
Cat ...
.
A miracle alleged to have been of his intercession was also investigated and the process that investigated the miracle was validated on 2 April 2009. The medical board that works for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the miracle on 21 March 2013.