Caroline Lenferna de Laresle
Mother Superior Caroline Lenferna de Laresle | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 20, 1824 Pointe-aux-Piments, Mauritius |
| Died | January 28, 1900 (aged 75) |
Caroline Lenferna de Laresle (20 March 1824 – 28 January 1900) also known as Sister/Mother Marie-Augustine was a Mauritian nun who founded the Congrégation des sœurs de charité de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-et-Perpétuel-Secours.
Life
Caroline Lenferna de Laresle was born in Pointe-aux-Piments, Mauritius, on 20 March 1824.
Afterwards, inspired in part by Father Xavier Masuy, a Belgian priest; Father Jacques-Désiré Laval; and Bishop
De Laresle founded her own order of nuns, the Congrégation des sœurs de charité de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-et-Secours (Congregation of Sisters of Charity of Notre Dame of Good Works and Succour) on 14 June 1850.[3][4] The order had six nuns by 1855 and expanded to more than 60 by 1860.[4] The order began in Port Louis and within 17 years had established 20 convents, hospitals, hospices, schools and nurseries.[1] De Laresle had been inspired to open the first orphanage after discovering an abandoned baby on Christmas Day.[1] The sisters founded their first primary school at Camp Yoloff, Faubourg de l'Est in 1853 and in 1855 came to the aid of the victims of an outbreak of cholera.[2] The order also ran a leper colony, and from 1868 the sisters also served in the Civil Hospital (now known as the Dr AG Jeetoo Hospital).[2][4]
As Mother Superior, de Laresle resisted control of the order by the successors of Collier as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis.[1][2] De Laresle visited Rome to petition for the order to be granted the pontifical right, bringing it under jurisdiction of the pope and removing it from diocesan control. This was granted by Pope Leo XIII, and in recognition of this the order added "Perpetual" to their name.[2] De Laresle died whilst in Rome on 28 January 1900.[1][2]
Legacy
De Laresle authored Je serai Soeur de Charité.[5] Her order continues to this day and now has branches in Africa, Europe, Asia, and South America.[2] Father Carmello Conti Guglia of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate spent four years collecting de Laresle's correspondence and wrote a biography that was published in Italy and is now being translated into French. Material uncovered by his research is being used to promote de Laresle's beatification.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Le R.P. Carmello raconte la mère Augustine du BPS". L'Express. 18 October 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Congrégation des sœurs de charité de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-et-Perpétuel-Secours (b.p.s.) (1850)" (in French). Diocese of Port Louis. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "Charité de Notre-Dame du Bon et Perpétuel Secours" (in French). Diocese of Nice. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9782701011806.
- ^ "Je serai Soeur de Charité": Caroline Lenferna de Laresle (in French). Maison-Mère B.P.S. 1989. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
