Euphrasie- Adele Barbier     founder of

Sisters Of Our Lady Of The Missions

(Religieuses de Notre Dame des Missions)

She was born January 4, 1829 in Caen, France.   She was brought up from her earliest years in a family where human and christian values are the only wealth that really matters.  Euphrasie imbibes from her mother, Jeanne Leclerc, a deep desire to serve God.  Her father, Louis Barbier, is a shoemaker by trade and instills in Euphrasie a sense of honesty and pride in a job well-done.

Attraction to Distant Lands:

Euphrasie's attraction to distant lands is another family heritage.  Her father was born in Guadeloupe.  While very young Euphrasie listened with delight to her father and grandmother as they told her of enchanted islands so different from the narrow streets and alleys of ancient Caen.

In 1847 she entered a new missionary institute known as the Sisters of Calvary.

After two years with the Sisters from Cuves, France she made her religious vows adding a fourth vow of "zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls."  In 1851 she was sent to London and the Sisters of Calvary changed its name to the Congregation of the Compassion. 
Here Euphrasie, constantly progressing in virtue and in the interior life, devoted herself to numerous works of charity.  Tried by severe illness and painful humiliation, she bore all with nobility and fortitude and when it became already obvious that the Institute itself had deflected
from its missionary purpose, Euphrasie obtained permission to transfer to the Congregation of the Marist Sisters so that she could be sent to Oceania.

Euphrasie Barbier arrived in Lyons, France on August 15th, 1861, where in the special plan of God she had to wait, and with the cooperation of the Marists she began to found a new Congregation to which she gave the title of Our Lady of the Missions.

In 1864 the first Sisters were sent to New Zealand missions.

In 1867 the first General Chapter was celebrated in which Mother Mary of the Heart of Jesus (Euphrasie Barbier's religious name) was elected Mother General an office she held until her death.   Although laboring under poor health, she undertook an arduous journey into Oceania during the period 1872-76 to visit the Sisters and encourage them in their apostolate, returning to Europe by America.  In the years 1883-87, she went to India and Oceania visiting the missions of the Congregation and sparing herself no labour to spread the Kingdom of God. 

In 1890 the Constitutions were approved

For a period of seven years and with her accustomed ardour the Servant of God continued to direct the Congregation with motherly
concern remaining steadfast in the example she gave her sisters.  All who knew her testify to her extraordinary spirit of penance, but it was a spirit firmly rooted in obedience.  Likewise they testify to her faith tried by innumerable great sufferings and labours; to her firm hope in Divine
Providence even in the greatest dangers and obstacles; to the humility of her life hidden with Christ in God, and this in the midst of outstanding missionary achievement; moreover, they testify to her profound wisdom and prudence shining forth in her writings which are quite numerous; but above all, to her fervent and practical love of God and neighbour combined with a spirit of reparation and devotion to Mary and contemplation of the divine mysteries so that she appears to be a model to all faithful christians intent on missionary works.

On January 18, 1893 in Sturry, England, Mother Mary of the Heart of Jesus gave back her soul to God.

What Kind of Person Was Euphrasie Barbier

Perhaps nothing can symbolise better than the interplay of light and shade Euphrasie Barbier's
outgoing personality resulting from the sharp contrasts in her nature.

                                    "Faith, impetuous will-power, up-rightness,
                                      cordiality - these are the forces that fashioned
                                      the future foundress." (Father Philpin de ivières)

Small and slight, but with boundless energy, she was familiarly known as "The little Mother". 
Despite her health having been undermined by privations and illness, she had great enthusiasm for life.  There seems to be no limits to her vitality.   She pays regular visits to her communities, tramps the roads of France and England in search of funds for her new
foundations and undertakes long trips round the world to visit her far-off missions.  She also applies herself energetically to manual tasks and, if needs be, she can turn carpenter or cobbler.

Warm-hearted: Iron-willed.   If Euphrasie left her ontemporaries with an impression and, at times, an apprehension of her irresistible will power it is because, knowing how vulnerable she was, she had to restrain a very affectionate nature.  She keenly feels the pain of separation from her Sisters when they set out on the missions and, without fearing to appear too human, she is not afraid to admit this in all simplicity.  But her joy is spontaneous at the prospect of a new encounter:  "I have only time to tell you that before God who is our bond of union I do not think that you can be happier than I am at the thought of seeing each other soon again and of being able to have a heart to heart talk."

Unshakeable firmness and compassionate kindness.  Tenacity - another quality inherited from the Barbier family - interwoven with a life of discipline bringing both body and spirit under its sway, forged qualities of leadership in Euphrasie which were sometimes considered rather demanding and inflexible.  

A woman of strong conviction, she resolutely holds on to her own ideas without yielding a single iota when she knows she has the truth on her side.   With astonishing obstinancy she can be intransigent when a principle is at stake.   Mother Marie's path was not without
differences of opinion and antagonism, but despite these conflicts, people were genuinely unanimous in recognising her incomparable goodness.  Nobody is excluded from her concern for her family and her Sisters.   Severe in regard to herself, she is careful that others want for
nothing.  She often spends entire days and nights looking after Sisters who are ill. 

A great contemplative firmly rooted in reality.  Her letters to the communities are full of practical commonplace details.   Mother Mary's feet are firmly planted on the ground.  Nothing escapes her concern for the welfare of others.  In personal memories collected from those who
knew Mother Mary, Father Coulomb, her biographer, highlights her spontaneity and presents her as a very direct, down-to-earth person endowed with an unmistakable sense of humour.

A woman of action like St. Teresa of Avila whom she admires very much, Euphrasie is also a great mystic.  Father Bruno, her spiritual director affirms: " She has climbed every step of the mystical ladder by which strong souls called to the heights of mystical contemplation arrive without even being aware of it."