Bl. Alodie-Virginie Paradis

On our Saintly tour this November, lets journey a little closer to home and visit our neighbors in Canada.

Bl Alodie-Virginie Paradis (also known by her religious name, Marie-Leonie) was bone in Quebec in 1840. She was the only daughter in a family of six children. When she was not quite 14, she became a postulant of the Marianites of Saint-Laurent in Montreal. Despite her frail health, she was admitted and pronounced her vows three years later when she received the name Marie-Leonie. She taught for several years in Montreal and then, in 1862, she was sent to an orphanage in New York to work as a governess. She remained there until 1870.

The Marianite sisters were the feminine branch of the Holy Cross fathers. It was Sr. Marie-Leonie's desire to work in domestic service to the Fathers teaching in colleges. Her desire was achieved when her friend, Fr. Lefebvre, pastor of St. Thomas Parish at Memramcook, New Brunswick and superior of St. Thomas College requested sisters to help with the domestic work at his college. Presented with four recruits, he realized that none of them spoke French. Further appeal sent Sr. Marie-Leonie to him. She soon grew to love the region and the Acadian people who lived there. She was simple in speech and manners and kind to everyone. The people considered her a counselor and a saint. Many young Acadian girls were attracted to the religious life and to the domestic service of priests and seminarians.

The Bishop asked Sr. Leonie to found a small community to perform this service. This new community was founded as the Little Sisters of the Holy Family on 31 May 1880. Sr. Leonie became ill in 1894 and began a slow decline, but she continued to travel on behalf of the order which continued to grow numbering forty houses by the time of her death in 1912. Her feast day is May 3.