Chappotin de Neuville, Helénè de
CHAPPOTIN DE NEUVILLE, HELÉNÈ DE
Founder of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary; b. Nantes, France, May 21, 1839; d. San Remo, Italy, Nov. 15, 1904. Helénè, the daughter of Sophie Caroline (du Fort) and Paul Charles Chappotin, displayed interest in the missions early on. She entered the Society of mary reparatrix in 1864 and took the name Mother Mary of the Passion. From 1865 to 1876 she labored in the Madura missions of India, and was appointed provincial superior there at the age of 29. In 1877 Pope Pius IX authorized her to found the Institute of Missionaries of Mary. The founder had been interested in the Franciscan mode of life since her brief association with the poor clares in 1860. She was received into the third order of Franciscans in 1882, when her own institute became permanently affiliated with the franciscans and took the name Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. Mother Mary of the Passion received final approbation of her constitutions from the Holy See (May 11, 1896). Her Meditations liturgiques et franciscaines (5 v. Paris 1896–98) constitutes a legacy of spiritual writings for her missionary sisters. Her cause for beatification was introduced in 1923.
Bibliography: t. f. cullen, Mother Mary of the Passion (abr.ed. North Providence, Rhode Island 1942). g. goyau, Valiant Women: Mother Mary of the Passion …, tr. from French by g. telford (London 1936).
[m. f. condon]