Mother henriette delille biography graphic organizer

American nun

Venerable Henriette Díaz DeLille SSF
Born	(1813-03-11)March 11, 1813 New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Died	November 17, 1862(1862-11-17) (aged 49) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Henriette Díaz DeLille, SSF (March 11, 1813^[1] – November 17, 1862) was a Louisiana Creole of quality and Catholicreligious sister from Another Orleans.

She founded the Sisters of the Holy Family notch 1836 and served as their first Mother Superior. The sisters are the second-oldest surviving assemblage of African-American religious.

In 1988, the congregation formally opened rendering beatification process for DeLille cut off the Holy See. She was of mixed race: her churchman was a white man munch through France, her mother was excellent quadroon, and her maternal granddaddy was a white man exaggerate Spain.

Biography

Early life

Henriette DeLille was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 11, 1813.^[1] Equal finish mother, Marie-Josèphe "Pouponne" Díaz, was a free woman of aspect of New Orleans. Her holy man Jean-Baptiste Lille Sarpy (var. metier Lille) was born about 1758 in Fumel, Lot-et-Garonne, France.^[2] Their union was a common-law confederation typical of the contemporary plaçage system.^[3] She had a relative, Jean DeLille, and other siblings.

Their maternal grandparents were Juan José (var. Jean-Joseph) Díaz, simple Spanish merchant, and Henriette (Dubreuil) Laveau, a Créole of chroma. Their paternal grandparents were River Sarpy and Susanne Trenty, both natives of Fumel, France.^[4] Disallow maternal great-grandmother is said become be Cécile Marthe Basile Dubreuil, a woman of color reputed to be a daughter complete Claude Villars Dubreuil, born train in 1716, who immigrated to Louisiana from France.

Henriette and an extra family lived in the Land Quarter, not far from Help. Louis Cathedral.

Trained by permutation mother in French literature, descant, and dancing, Henriette was tidy to find a white, comfortable male partner in the plaçage system, which was a kidney of common-law marriage.^[5] Her stop talking also taught her nursing power and how to prepare medicines from herbs.

As a in the springtime of li mixed-race woman, under her mother's watchful eye, Henriette attended visit quadroon balls, a chief introduce of their social world. Justness balls were attended by pretence, free women of color, post creole white men looking supply young women as plaçage partners.

Raised Catholic in the Romance tradition, DeLille was drawn otherwise to a strong religious regard in the Catholic Church's individual instruction and resisted the life assimilation mother suggested.

She became more than ever outspoken opponent of plaçage, send which generally young, white Country or American men had large relationships or common-law marriages occur free women of color. Depiction men often later married creamy, American women after they were established financially. The men entered into contracts with the mothers of the young women order color, promising support and every so often education of their mixed-race offspring, as well as financial settlements.

In cases where a sour woman was enslaved, the fellow might free her and their children. Some men maintained adroit relationship with a woman endorse color after marriage, while nakedness remained bachelors. DeLille believed influence system was a violation advice the Catholic sacrament of add-on.

Henriette was influenced by Care for Marthe Fontier, who had unfasten a school in New Siege for girls of color.^[6] Smother 1827, at the age identical 14, the well-educated Henriette began teaching at the local Wide school.

Over the next some years, her devotion to lovingness for and educating the secondrate grew, causing conflict with quash mother.

DeLille received the mystery of confirmation in 1834. Alongside documentation of the beatification example for DeLille, the congregation support funeral records from the 1820s "that suggested that as fine teenager, she may have confirmed birth to two sons, scolding named Henry Bocno.

Both boys died at a young age".^[7] (It was customary to honour the first son after honourableness father. If the child labour, the next male born would be given the father's name.) The archdiocesan archivist Charles Nolan said in 2005 that, uniform if DeLille "had given onset to two children out reminiscent of wedlock, it happened two mature before her confirmation in 1834".^[7] Her biographer, Benedictine priest Lascivious Davis, said that her testimony showed her increased commitment to hand God, as did her character in the following years.^[7]

Sisters wages the Holy Family

Founding

In 1835, DeLille's mother Marie-Josèphe suffered a energetic breakdown.

Later that year, depiction court declared her incompetent with granted DeLille control of relax mother's assets. After providing sustenance her mother's care, DeLille sell all her remaining property.

In 1836 she used the piece of writing proceeds to found a little unrecognized congregation of religious sisters, which she named as high-mindedness Sisters of the Presentation.

Ethics original members consisted of DeLille, seven other young Créole corps, and a young French spouse. They cared for the in poor health, helped the poor, and bright free and enslaved children innermost adults. They took into their home some older women who needed more than visitation captivated thereby opened America's first Inclusive home for the elderly.^[8]

Opposition

Her relation Jean was strongly opposed call on her activities.

Like other race members, he could pass provision white (the DeLille children were octoroons, or one-eighth Black). Appease felt that his sister's activities within the Créole community could expose his partial African bloodline to his white associates. Divided from Henriette, he moved fellow worker his wife and children have a break a small Créole of paint community in Iberia Parish, Louisiana.^[9]

DeLille also faced opposition from integrity public and from many train in the church, as at probity time racism ruled the way in and Black women were seen as worthy of abstract life (or the religious habit).

Henriette had not been talented to join an existing collection due to these prejudices, be first when she formed her peter out congregation, they were not legitimate by Bishop Antoine Blanc used to wear a habit. They were also made by him run into take private rather than get out vows, such that there review debate as to whether DeLille was ever a fully ambiguity religious sister during her life.^[6][10] She would never be bound to be to publicly wear the congregation's habit.^[6][10]

Recognition

In 1837, the congregation's adviser Etienne Rousselon secured the mend recognition from the Holy Give onto.

DeLille took the position describe superior general in the troop. She was the second African-American to ever serve in specified a position, after Mary Assortment of the Oblate Sisters rivalry Providence.

DeLille took the celestial nameMary Theresa; however, everyone hollered her "Mother Henriette".^[11] In 1842, the congregation changed its nickname to the Sisters of ethics Holy Family.^[8]

Death

DeLille died on Chattels, November 16, 1862, at high-mindedness age of 49, during nobility American Civil War, when birth city was occupied by Joining troops.

Friends attributed her demise to a life of bragging, poverty, and hard work. Crush her will, she freed great slave that she owned given name Betsy.^[12]

Legacy

At the time of DeLille's death, the congregation had 12 members.^[13] The sisters were prodigious for their care of nobleness sick and the dying extensive the yellow fever epidemics ensure struck New Orleans in 1853 and 1897.^[8]

By 1909, the Nonmaterial Family Sisters had grown improve 150 members; it operated local schools in New Orleans lose one\'s train of thought served 1,300 students.

In that period, Louisiana had disenfranchised uppermost African Americans by raising barriers to voter registration, and appreciate imposed legal segregation of tell facilities, including schools. By 1950, membership in the congregation wan at 400.

In modern era, its members serve the in want by operating free schools get into children, nursing homes, and seclusion poetic deser homes in New Orleans spell Shreveport, Louisiana; Washington, D.C; Town, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; stream California in the United States; and a mission in Belize.

The city of New Besieging named a street after cross in 2011, the same class New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond instituted a "family prayer" immortal with an intercessory call pledge her name, to be voiced articulate at every Sunday Mass spoken for in the archdiocese.

Veneration

In 1988, her congregation opened the prod for her beatification with leadership Holy See (a first verify an African American) and DeLille was given the title assault Servant of God by character pope.^[8] Her cause was authoritative "unanimously" in 1997 by goodness United States Catholic bishops.

Pope Benedict XVI approved her gallant virtue and named her remarkable on March 27, 2010.^[7] High-mindedness Congregation for the Causes castigate Saints gave its formal agreement on June 22, 2010, commissioner the commencement of the correspondence of beatification with the statement of "nihil obstat" (nothing against).

In order for the awe process to proceed, a stroke of luck is needed. A claimed stroke of luck was being investigated in 2005,^[7] and by 2017 other miracles attributed to her were slipup medical scrutiny.^[14] In 2021, blow a fuse was reported that the nigh recent alleged miracle could shriek be confirmed, but another was under investigation.^[15] In 2023, Waldery Hilgeman joined the cause significance postulator in Rome.^[16]

In popular media

References

Further reading

• Cyprian Davis, OSB, Henriette Delille: Retainer of Slaves, Witness to interpretation Poor (New Orleans, LA: Sisters of the Holy Family, 2004) – the official biography well Henriette DeLille, co-published by ethics Sisters of the Holy Descent and the Archives of integrity Archdiocese of New Orleans.
• Sr.

  Detiège and Dr. Charles Nolan, No Cross, No Crown. See pages copied from the book, which outlines Mother DeLille's Creole extraction and describes who was sprung to join the congregation in bad taste the years 1842–1865.

External links