Today's post was suggested by my Spiritual Director who hear Pope Francis speak about this Venerable in a recent Wednesday Audience. I think that many of you will appreciate this close to contemporary laywoman who faced some of the same concerns that we do today.
Madeleine Delbrel was born in France in 1904. She was artistic and trendy, wearing her hair short and designing her own clothes. She was also an atheist. At 17 she wrote her atheistic manifesto titled, "God is dead . . . . Long live death!" She had decided that death was the only thing that could be counted on. She set out to live life to its fullest. However, when her fiancé suddenly decided to break off their engagement to join the Dominicans and her parents became estranged, her world fell apart.
She began to notice that her Christian friends, who enjoyed life as much as she did, did not find life to be absurd. She found herself returning to the question of God's existence and decided to try to pray. 1924 became the year of her conversion, for in praying she found God - or as she felt, He found her. She considered taking the veil as a vowed religious, but she felt called upon to be in touch with people and help them live happier lives. She and her friends founded a house of hospitality in a predominately communist suburb of Paris. Members of the house promised chastity and simple living. They worked for workers' rights and the unemployed while also evangelizing. This ministry along with her prolific writing often lead people to call her the "French Dorothy Day."
Madelein died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage at age 60. Her books, including the most popular, "We, the Ordinary People of the Streets" are still in print and available from your favorite book sellers.
Venerable Madeleine Delbrel, pray for us.
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