Saint Jeanne Delanoue

St Jeanne Delanoue

Saint Jeanne Delanoue

Foundress of the Sisters of Providence, St Jeanne was born in Saumer, in France in 1666. As a young woman she had a reputation for being small, flirtatious and bossy. When she grew up she took charge of the family draper's shop. At the age of 26, she met the Abbe Genetau and a visionary called Francoise Suchet. From this point she gave all her goods to the poor and turned her home and shop into a hostel for them. Situation by the River Loire, it had caves and wine cellars which she turned into extra dormitories. All this was lost in a disastrous earthquake in 1703.

Undeterred, St Jeanne made a new start, founding the Sisters of St Anne, later called the Sisters of Providence. The community worked through times of war and famine, caring for many sick, elderly, homeless and abandoned people. By the time she died on this day in 1736, there were 12 communities with more than 400 sisters.

St Jeanne was canonised in 1982.