To pray with Paul-Hélène
To pray with the Blessed Sr Paul-Hélène Saint Raymond
First of the 19 Martyrs of Algeria, 8th May 1994
A spiritual journey of ardour and confidence
Born in Paris on 24 January 1927, Paul-Hélène was the eighth of ten children. After studying at Sainte-Marie de Neuilly, she obtained a degree in physics and chemistry at the Sorbonne, before working for two years as an engineer at the Institut Français du Pétrole. From her writings and correspondence, we can see how her spiritual life developed.
Hélène thought about religious life and, after a period of discernment, entered the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Assumption in 1952. In her letter of commitment before taking her Perpetual Vows, she wrote to the Superior General:
« I would consider myself a missionary in the service of God and the Church, here or elsewhere, in a small corner of Paris or in South America, but I want to be totally available for whatever you want, or God wants».
After the training period, she was sent to Petit-Quevilly and then Creil as a nurse and family worker; she forged links with several families, which she maintained until her death. In 1963, she moved to Algiers as a nurse at the Belcourt medical and social centre. In 1974, she moved to Tunis and Casablanca.
In 1984, a health crisis forced her to take a break in France, an opportunity to take stock, ‘to deal with myself better and to gain more freedom’, she would say. She then returned to Algeria to Ksar el Boukhari, 180 km south of Algiers. But as her job as a foreign nurse became increasingly difficult, she was forced to look for another job.
Sister Paul-Hélène returned to Algiers in 1988 and joined the Marist Brothers’ Casbah Library. She went there every day on foot or by bus, depending on the course of events.
On 18 November 1993 she wrote to her family and friends:
« I hasten to tell you that we continue to go to work, do our shopping and pray, although we have stopped going for walks and going out in the evenings… Please pray for us and those around us. At the Casbah library, where I’ve been working for the last 5 years, there are still just as many young people as ever. We’re continuing to develop the Arabic collection, which is indispensable to them, and our relations with them are unchanged ».
Her Easter letter of 1994 reveals the seriousness of her analysis of the situation, as well as her life delivered in the logic of the answer she gave to Monsignor Teissier, Bishop of Algiers, who asked the sisters about their option to leave or to stay:
« Father, in any case our lives have already been given »
During a recollection, she had written:
« My first duty, the goal of my life, is to become “me”, to bring my potential to fruition in my relationships with others. An artesian spring. The water table only exists because it receives… Growth is achieved by living the positive of oneself and by having life-giving relationships; a self oriented towards the growth of people from their own possibilities ».
She added:
« Why did I get involved in the Maghreb Region’s “remain and endure”?’ Solidarity: you don’t let your friends down when they’re going through something difficult, when they’re in danger, when they’re taking precautionary measures… At a deeper level, a certain idea of man… son of God… brother gifted by God with a fire… allowing other fires to propel people to build a humanity“.’ 2/3 November 1993.
The sisters in his community emphasised his times of prolonged prayer in the Oratory.
“May the weakness and folly of our small numbers and our ageing be a place of welcome and power for the Spirit of God, so that our surrendered lives may be a sign where our witness is most often exercised in silence“, she said at the Chapter of her community in September 1992.
Since 1 December 1993, when the ultimatum for foreigners to leave the country expired, there have been at least 2 murders a week in Belcourt. The library, conceived as a place of study, became a place of refuge. On 27 February 1994, she noticed :
At around 2.30pm, two young girls who had just gone out came storming back into the library, ‘they were shooting from close range’. I tried to calm them down and asked God to protect everyone. One young woman reported that a dozen young conscripts who had come on leave had been shot… I murmured, ‘How long are we going to keep killing each other?
On Sunday 8 May 1994, as a march for peace was taking place, Sister Paul-Hélène left the Casbah community where she had been having lunch to go and open the library. She was at her table when 3 men came in, pretending to be police officers. They asked to see the person in charge, and as she directed them to the office, one of them shot Paul-Hélène in the back of the head, and she fell to the ground. Then, in his office, Brother Henri Vergès was shot at point-blank range.
They were the first of 19 martyrs to be beatified on 8 December 2018 in Oran
In conclusion, while awaiting their Canonisation, we can make our own the following Prayer to the:
« Blessed Martyrs of Algeria »
Prayer to the Blessed Martyrs of Algeria
Lord God, Father of Mercy, we thank you for the gift of their lives of our Blessed brothers and sisters of the Church of Algeria: your bishop Pierre, Henri and Paul-Hélène, Caridad and Esther, Jean, Charles, Alain and Christian, Angèle-Marie and Bibiane, Odette, Christian, Luc, Christophe, Michel, Paul, Bruno and Célestin.
Like your Son, they gave their lives for their brothers and sisters.
You inspired them to remain faithful and friendly
To their Church and to the people of Algeria.
We recognise, in the gift of their lives, the work of your grace and of your Holy Spirit, who led them to the supreme witness. We invoke you, Father, so that at the prayer of these Blessed, peace and friendship may prevail over the forces of division and hatred.
We invoke these witnesses of your Love to...
8 September 2018
Archbishop Desfarges of AlgiersSr Madeleine Rémond, Little Sister of the Assumption