St. Emily de Vialar

Emily, the daughter of a French Baron was born in 1797 at Gaillac, France. She attended school in Paris, but came home in 1812 after her mother’s death. For fifteen years she ran her father’s household and during this time also ministered to the poor and the ill. Emily wanted to be a religious, but her father was set against it. When she inherited a large sum from her grandfather, Emily bought a house in which to start a convent. The bishop quickly gave his approval for a new order and Emily and her companions were clothed in the habit. The new community was named the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition (referring to the angel’s appearance to him in dreams). Despite painful heath problems, Emily worked for years to spread her congregation; forty convents had been established by the time of her death on August 24, 1856. She was canonized in 1951. St. Emily de Vialar’s feast day in June 17.