The Heart of a Missionary Film
The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States produced a wonderful film detailing the life of Blessed Pauline Jaricot called Heart of a Missionary which can be streamed here.

Learn more about Blessed Pauline Jaricot at www.BlessedPauline.org.

Pauline's Early Life
On July 22, 1799, Pauline was born to Antoine and Jeanne Jaricot in Lyons, France, the youngest of seven children. 

Lyons, Pauline’s hometown, was an industrial city that became famous for its silk factories. Her family were silk merchants, and bourgeois family of that French city. While the early years of her childhood were marked by the exclusive society life of Lyons, something would happen as a teenager that would open her heart to the whole world.

Vision for the Missions
At the age of 15, Pauline suffered a bad fall. Not long after that, her beloved mother died. It took Pauline many months to recover, emotionally and physically. When she did, she resumed her social life, but with less delight than before. Her heart, she wrote at this time, was “made for the whole world.” 

She began to long to help the missions – in China and the United States – a desire nurtured by her brother Phileas, who was preparing for the priesthood and who told Pauline all about the work and witness of missionaries.

Pauline saw this as her vocation – to become a missionary of the love of God. She came to believe that, “to truly help others is to bring them to God.”

One day while at prayer, 18-year-old Pauline had a vision of two lamps. One had no oil; the other was overflowing and from its abundance poured oil into the empty lamp. To Pauline, the drained lamp signified the faith in her native France, still reeling from the turbulence of the French Revolution. The full lamp was the great faith of Catholics in the missions – especially in the New World. By aiding the faith of the young new country of the United States of America, Pauline knew that seeds planted would grow and bear much fruit.

So she came up with a plan to support missionaries. She gathered workers in her family’s silk factory into “circles of 10.” Everyone in the group pledged to pray daily for the missions and to offer each week a sou, the equivalent of a penny. Each member of the group then found 10 friends to do the same. Even in the face of opposition from parish priests in Lyons, Pauline remained steadfast. Within a year, she had 500 workers enrolled; soon there would be 2,000.

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith
On May 3, 1822, in Lyons, a group of men called “Les Messieurs” gathered to discuss a request for funds for the missions in Louisiana in the United States. A representative of Louisiana’s Bishop Dubourg, Father Angelo Inglesi, hoped at this meeting to have an organization set up similar to Pauline’s “Propagation” which was doing so well. The organization he had in mind would be formed to help missions in Louisiana, which, at that time, extended from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada.

“No!” responded Benoît Coste who was one of “Les Messieurs.” He made the point that no single mission should be the sole beneficiary of funds that were gathered; any organization formed must help all missions everywhere. This was, indeed, Pauline’s own vision of universal help. When another member of the group, Victor Girodon, spoke glowingly of the Pauline’s plan, the group voted to adopt it. Eventually Pauline consented to join her efforts to those approved by “Les Messieurs.” It was, as she said, “a gain for the world.”

By 1922, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith became Pontifical, with their headquarters moved to Rome, under the direction of the Pope.
Within the first 100 years of its existence, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith sent some $7 million in help to the young church in the United States.

The young Church here at home started contributing to the Propagation of the Faith in 1833, with a humble gift of $6. Today, Catholics in the United States contribute about 25 percent of the support collected through the Propagation of the Faith for the more than 1,100 mission dioceses worldwide, the majority of which are in Africa and Asia.

Living Rosary Association
Shortly after the foundation of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Pauline established the Association of the Living Rosary to spread devotion to the Rosary and sustain the missionary work through this prayer.

Again, Pauline formed circles, this time of 15 people. Each person took one of the mysteries of the Rosary (according to the 15 at the time) and prayed that same mystery daily throughout the month, with the idea that the entirety of the Rosary was continuously being prayed. At the conclusion of the month, each person would receive a new mystery.

At the time of Pauline’s death in 1862, the Living Rosary was comprised of more than 150,000 groups of 15 people with 2,250,000 members in France alone. Today, the Living Rosary continues to be practiced in many parts of the world. After the addition of the Luminous Mysteries, the groups
now consist of 20 people.

Sharing in the Suffering of Christ
Pauline’s successful efforts – where clearly not isolated nor unique – were the main thrust behind the formation of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. She was “the match that lit the fire.” But there was a struggle – like with all new initiatives – to control what was quickly becoming a source of strength and hope for the missionary Church. At one point, Pauline was sidelined, and she struggled to ensure that what the Lord had inspired her to set in motion, would come fully to life. 

Another project, to help working class poor, caused Pauline to fall into debt – in part due to the unscrupulous nature of those involved in the effort with her. And yet, her prayer was: “My God forgive them and, in the degree that they have showered me with sufferings, heap blessings upon them.”

St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars and Pauline's spiritual director for many years, made this public tribute to Pauline: “I know someone who knows how to accept the Cross, and a heavy Cross, and how to bear it with love! It is Mademoiselle Jaricot.”

In Fr. Charles Dollen's biography of Pauline Jaricot, he wrote, “The theology of the Cross came alive for her… More and more she identified with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, loving, suffering, atoning.”

Pauline died penniless on January 9, 1862; the prayer found after her death, written in her own hand, ended with these words: “Mary, O my Mother, I am Thine!”

Path to Canonization
On February 25, 1963, 100 years after Pauline's death, Pope John XXIII signed the decree which proclaimed her virtues, declaring her “Venerable.” He also wrote: “It was she who thought of the society, who conceived it, and made it an organized reality.”

On May 26th, 2020, Pope Francis authorized the publication of the decree recognizing the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Pauline.

On May 22, 2022, Pauline was beatified during the 200th anniversary celebration of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

Blessed Pauline Jaricot, pray for us!