Saint Marie Eugénie of Jésus, Anne Eugénie Milleret
Foundress of the Religious of the Assumption, Marie Eugénie was born on 26th August 1817 and died on 10th march 1898. She was beatified on 9 February 1975 and canonised on 3 June 2007.
1. A portrait
This photographic portrait (original on glass plate) highlights the gaze of Marie Eugenie: a benevolent gaze, a gaze which scans the horizon of the world and discerns the seeds of the kingdom of God.
2. An object
Marie Eugenie’s blotting paper, her travel blotter and her quill, given to her by Pope Leo XIII
These objects symbolize her desire to understand and research, to exchange ideas, and to resolutely engage in the social thinking of the Church of her time.
3. A place
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
The site of Saint Marie Eugenie’s conversion
At Notre Dame de Paris, Father Lacordaire’s words completed her understanding of the Catholic faith, awakened her generosity, and encouraged her desire to commit herself to good. Her search for truth found an answer in Christ. Her intelligence—her capacity to understand—her heart—her capacity to believe and love—and her actions could now be harmonized.
On December 8, 2024, the relics of Saint Marie Eugenie of Jesus were placed in the altar of Notre Dame de Paris, along with those of four other saints.
An inscription on the pulpit in the center of the cathedral’s nave commemorates her conversion.
4. A writing
Chapter of August 25, 1878
Therefore, everything in us is made so that we may live by the spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We must often look to see if our soul is oriented in the same direction and in the same way. What do I mean by that? When a cathedral is oriented towards something, it presents itself to the rays of the sun in a certain way. It orients its nightstand towards the light. It receives this light in a certain way. Well, is our soul habitually turned towards our Lord Jesus Christ, towards His feelings, towards His thoughts?
5. Manuscript extracts
Marie Eugenie, excerpts of a letter to Father d’Alzon , on March 5, 1844, n°1611
« … like the workers in our old cathedrals, many worked without knowing what they were doing in the city of the future. I have told myself this for a long time, that we must accept this role if necessary. There are so many even who work there without wanting to, just as the Romans made their way for the preachers of the Gospel ».
Marie Eugenie, Letter to Father d’Alzon, August 5, 1844, n°1627
« Since we founded this work and especially since I have strongly felt, through contact with others, that our spirit was not at all that of all religious men and women, I have desired with ever-increasing ardor that it would please God to found in His Church orders of men of a similar spirit, even of an analogous form, to give young Christian men and especially young priests a stronger, broader, more intelligent, more Christian character in one sense, and above all more noble and freer in another sense as well. »
6. A writing she loved
Excerpts of a letter to Father Emmanuel d’Alzon, August 16, 1844
Regarding the foundation of the Augustinians of the Assumption
«The moral foundation I would like to give to a new Congregation would be: 1. Acceptance of all that is Catholic; 2. Openness; 3. Freedom.
You understand that I have nothing to say about what is necessary for an Order to be an Order; I am only indicating what should distinguish a modern Congregation from those that already exist. I repeat: I know of nothing to get rid of self-esteem and self-love like the acceptance of all that is good outside of oneself; I know of nothing that wins over men today like openness, and I know of nothing stronger for fighting against the current enemies of the Church than freedom.
These thoughts could be better and more fully developed, but they are, I believe, easy to grasp. As for dogmatic thought, if I may use this expression, it can be summed up in these few words: helping Jesus continue his mystical incarnation in the Church and in each of the members of the Church. For, I believe, that it is by following this fact that we can establish Catholic truth in all its advantage against the pantheistic and materialistic errors of the day.»
« Etincelles » – Sr Véronique Thiébaut,
Religieuse de l’Assomption
July 2025