Saint Marie-Hermine of Jesus

Life story

Irma Grivot was born at Beaune, France, in 1866. In 1894 she entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary at Vanves near Paris and began her novitiate at Les Châtelets near Saint-Brieuc, where she took the name Marie-Hermine of Jesus. After her first vows she returned to Vanves as bookkeeper and trained as a nurse at Marseilles.

She was named superior of a group of seven sisters who reached Taiyuan-fu, the capital of Shanxi province, on 4 May 1899, to work with Bishop Grassi. They ran a dispensary and an orphanage. In 1900, as the Boxer movement reached Shanxi, she told the bishop that the sisters would rather die for Christ than seek safety (New Catholic Encyclopedia).

On 5 July 1900 the sisters were imprisoned with religious brothers, seminarians and lay people. On 9 July they were taken to the palace of the governor of Shanxi and beheaded. The sisters were the last to die; the order's account says they embraced one another and sang the Te Deum. Marie-Hermine was 34. Pope Pius XII beatified her on 24 November 1946, and Pope John Paul II canonized her on 1 October 2000 among the Martyr Saints of China.

Works and witness

• Entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in 1894
• Led the group of seven sisters who arrived in Taiyuan on 4 May 1899
• Helped run a dispensary and orphanage there
• Beheaded on 9 July 1900 with her sisters and other Christians
• Beatified in 1946 and canonized in 2000

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

• Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, “Canonisation of the 7 FMM martyrs in China” (fmm.org) – arrival 4 May 1899, 5 July imprisonment, 9 July beheading, Te Deum, ages, 1946 and 2000
• Encyclopedia.com, “Grivot, Irma, St.” (New Catholic Encyclopedia) – Vanves 1894, Les Châtelets, Marseilles nurse, told the bishop the sisters would rather die for Christ; birth given as 1867
• Holy See, list of the Martyrs of China canonized 1 October 2000 (vatican.va, ns_lit_doc_20001001_zhao-rong-compagni_en) – the seven FMM sisters, Boxer uprising 1900

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.