Blessed Marie Poussepin

Life story

Marie Poussepin was born on 14 October 1653 in Dourdan, France. Her father was a stocking manufacturer with a workshop, and her mother ran the household. When her mother died, when Marie was twenty-two, she took over the household and raised her younger siblings.

After her father's death in 1683 she took over the stocking business. She brought in machines to replace hand work, learned to operate them all, trained her workers and set up one of the earliest forms of support for employees. From 1690 she was a Dominican tertiary, and she gradually handed the business to her brother Charles.

In 1696 she moved to Sainville and founded a community there, which became the Sisters of Charity of the Presentation (also called the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin). The community gained legal recognition in 1724 and diocesan approval in 1738.

She died at Sainville on 24 January 1744. John Paul II beatified her on 20 November 1994. Her feast day is 24 January (14 October on some calendars). She has not been canonised.

Works and witness

• Took over her father's stocking business after 1683 and introduced machinery
• Became a Dominican tertiary in 1690
• Founded the community at Sainville that became the Sisters of Charity of the Presentation
• Beatified on 20 November 1994

Patron of

Dominican Sisters of the Presentation (her congregation)

Saints from the same country

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

References

• Dominican Sisters of Charity of the Presentation (domipresen.com): 'Marie Poussepin' (move to Sainville in 1696; beatified 20 November 1994)
• CatholicSaints.Info, 'Blessed Marie Poussepin', catholicsaints.info/blessed-marie-poussepin/

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