Biography
Eugénie JOUBERT (on the right) was born in Yssingeaux, Haute-Loire, on 11 February 1876. She was the 4th in a Christian family of 8 children.
She stood out with her communicative joy, despite the fact that her childhood was marked by the separation of her parents.
At the age of 5, she went to a boarding school directed by the Ursuline Sisters of Monistrol, where her older sister Marie was already.
She took her First Communion there at the age of 11. She remembered this encounter with Jesus for the rest of her life.
She wrote: "I kept delicious memories and indelible impressions of Monistrol".
At the age of 19, she responded to Jesus' Call by joining the Sisters of the Holy Family of the Sacred Heart.
This congregation was founded on 8 December 1889 (the day of the Immaculate Conception) by Father Louis-Etienne Rabussier S. J. and Mother Marie-Ignace Melin.
Sister Eugénie took her vows on 8 December 1897 in Saint-Denis.
She honours the Blessed Virgin in a special way, preferring the hidden life, like Mary in Nazareth.
Eugénie made her profession: "ONLY JESUS".
Her short life was devoted to the catechesis of the very young, the poorest and the most disadvantaged. She carried out this mission first in France, in Aubervilliers, then in Saint-Denis, and finally in Belgium, in Liège (photo here).
Her apostolate was rooted in her religious life, which radiated union with Jesus and love in the little things: “AS LONG AS JESUS IS PLEASED”.
She exhausted herself with work, but soon became bedridden: tuberculosis. In the silence of the infirmary, a loving intimacy developed between Jesus and her.
She followed the suffering Christ with love.
Eugénie died on 2 July 1904 in Liège, Belgium, aged 28, calling out the name of her Beloved.
Her tomb was later transferred to Dinant (Belgium), where the motherhouse of her congregation was located. The site of her tomb in the cemetery of Saint-Gilles in Liège (Belgium), marked by a cenotaph, is still venerated.
Several chapels were erected in various places in honour of Blessed Eugénie Joubert:
- in France, in the church of Saint-Pierre in Yssingeaux,
- in Belgium, in the church of Saint-Gilles in Liège where the Blessed was buried in a Chapel dedicated to her on 30 June 2024
- in Italy, in the building housed to the General House of the Sisters of the Holy Family of the Sacred Heart in Rome.
Sister Eugénie Joubert was beatified in Rome on 20 November 1994 by Pope John Paul II.
"The Kingdom of God can start in the heart of a child. Sister Eugénie understood that, and she put so mutch care in preparing the youngest for first confession and first communion. From an early age, everyone is called to bear witness to the truth. Without ceasing, the Church will echo the Lord's words: "Let the little children come to me! (Extract from the homily given by Saint John Paul II)
