Friends of Mother Marie-Leonie
Let's give thanks to God!
Pope Francis announced on July 1st,
that the canonization of Blessed
Marie Leonie Paradis
will take place in St. Peter's Square,
Vatican City, Rome,
Sunday, October 20, 2024
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Saint Michel Cathedral Basilica,
Sherbrooke
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Eucharistic celebration at 10 a.m.
of Saint Marie Leonie Paradis
Dear Friends of Mother Marie Leonie,
A new year of animation begins in September 2024 and continues until August 2025. This is the year of the canonization of Marie Leonie Paradis, which we want to live in thanksgiving to God who showered her with his blessings.
Throughout the year, we will pray the rosary together in gratitude, asking God for the blessings we wish to live according to Mother Marie Leonie's testimony. All the mysteries of the rosary are prayed during the week on specific days. That's why you'll receive four sheets to help you meditate on them, week after week.
With Pope Francis forthcoming proclamation of her holiness, he offers her to us as an inescapable witness that holiness is for each and every one of us. A woman of great faith, she allowed herself to be challenged by God in her daily life, putting all the love of her heart into welcoming events and people as the expression of His will. She imitated every member of the Holy Family, as they adjusted to the events that life brought them, thus fulfilling God's will.
Let us remain united in praying the rosary, Mother Marie Leonie's principal devotion throughout this year, is also accompanied by the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Deep gratitude to God for Mother Marie-Leonie,
Rachel Lemieux, p.s.s.f. August 2024
Official travel agency for the canonization of Marie Leonie Paradis. For those who would like to make the pilgrimage to Rome for this unique occasion, and who would like to do business with our travel agency to take part in our activities, please contact:
Spiritours www.spiritours.com
Telephone Canada: 514-374-7965
Toll-free: 1-866-331-7965 (CAN & USA)
Fax: 514-788-1520
Business hours
Monday to Friday: 9:00 to 17:00
For those who would like to make a donation, Mass offering or lamp, you can now do so in 3 ways.
- Online: with a credit card
- By Interact transfer
- In person: at the reception desk of the Centre Marie-Leonie Paradis in cash, debit or credit card.
ONLINE:
Go to our website on this page:
https://www.centremarie-leonieparadis.com/fr/dons-et-services-en-ligne/index.php
INTERACT TRANSFER:
- For mass fees and lamp offerings:
It is essential to e-mail us the details of your order and your intentions. Send to: centre.marie-leonie@videotron.ca
- For donations with tax receipt:
It is essential to e-mail us your full postal address, as for all donations received during the current year, we issue an annual tax receipt in February of the following year.
Send to: centre.marie-leonie@videotron.ca
Once you've sent us your e-mail with your requests, we'll send you the information you need to make the Interac transfer.
SERVICES OFFERED
(no tax receipt, as the money does not stay at the Centre Marie-Leonie Paradis).
- Masses announced with their intention: $10
- Masses read with intention: $5
- Large lamp offering with intention: $5
- Small lamp offering with intention: $1
*The Centre Marie-Leonie Paradis sends the money for the Masses and the intention to missionary priests. It is impossible to have a mass celebrated on a fixed date.
*The Centre Marie-Leonie Paradis will light your lamp for you, along with your intention, at Saint-Michel’s Cathedral in Sherbrooke. The lamp will burn for 6 days or for one day (depending on the size) with Mother Marie-Leonie.
THE ROSARY WITH MOTHER LEONIE (Joyful Mysteries1) Monday and Saturday
For the months of September, October, November 2024
HOW TO PRAY THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
- on the cross, make the sign of the cross and say “I believe in God”,
- recite an “Our Father”, 3 “Hail Marys” and 1 “Glory be to the Father”,
- meditate on 5 mysteries out of the 5 tens: read the text associated with the mystery, confide an intention
recite over each decade: 1 “Our Father”, 10 “Hail Marys”, 1 “Glory be to the Father”
1st decade: The Annunciation
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. Lk 1:26-38
“Whoever has seen Mother Marie-Leonie pray,” says a sister of the Holy Family, “will never forget her. Yes, it was good to see her in the chapel, recollected in God, but also in her comings and goings in the corridors. With her hand on her large rosary tied to her belt, she recited Ave Maria after Ave Maria! Sometimes, in summer, when an electrical storm would hit the city during the night, the good Mother would quickly get up and go upstairs to reassure her Little Sisters in the dormitory. As long as the storm lasted, she would recite Aves and Salve Reginas with them.”
2nd decade: The Visitation
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Lk 1:39-45
Mother Leonie's spirit of faith showed her the hand of God in all events. A flower, a bird's song or nest, a beautiful landscape, a sunset, even our winter storms, inspired her, as it did Saint Francis of Assisi, to sing a joyful or sad hymn to our heavenly Father. One day, when the snow was falling heavily, she wrote to her daughters in Sherbrooke: “Let us rekindle in ourselves the fire of divine love... Poor Jesus finds in this world only hearts frozen by indifference.”
3rd decade: The Nativity
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem. Lk 2:1-20
“Mother Leonie was not afraid of the various forms of manual labor that are the lot of so many people today, which were honored in the Holy Family and in the very life of Jesus in Nazareth. It was here that Mother Leonie saw God's will for her life. It was in carrying out these tasks that she found God. With the sacrifices inherent in this work, but offered out of love, she experienced profound joy and peace. She knew that in this way she was joining the fundamental attitude of Christ who came not to be served, but to serve.” John Paul II
4th decade: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord: “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” They came to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit, he came into the temple. Lk 2:22-40
Mother Leonie gathered, like a delicious fruit, her devotion to the Mother of Sorrows in the Congregation of the Sisters of Holy Cross, of which she was a member for over 50 years. In addition to this family heritage, she had a missionary kinship with the Sorrowful Virgin, as founder of an institute and superior general, she always had a large share in the cross... Mother Leonie and the Mother of Sorrows so often had to stand together on the same Calvary! There can be no doubt that this is where her fortitude in the face of trial and her serene resignation in all things came from.
5th decade: Jesus' recovery in the Temple
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.
After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. Lk 2:41-52
Mother Leonie's many illnesses over the course of a 58-year religious life bear witness to this woman of God's astonishing reserves of supernatural strength and self-sacrifice... But Mother Leonie, that tireless worker, loved to say to her Little Sisters, wherever she sent them to work in the service of the priest: “My dear daughters, work while we are on earth: that's what the good Lord asks of us. We will have no more beautiful prayer to offer him than our devotion. We shall rest in heaven.”
PRAYER TO MOTHER MARIE LEONIE
Almighty God, You shaped the humble and generous heart of Mother Marie-Leonie, so that she could place it entirely at the service of priests and the Church, by founding the Community of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.
Grant that the spiritual radiance of this blessed woman may grow ever wider, illuminating the daily lives of all those, priests and laity alike, who pray to her assiduously.
Through her intercession with You, God our Father, may she obtain favors, physical and spiritual healings, for those who, meditating and putting into practice the lesson of her consecrated life, will pray to her with confidence and perseverance. And here I ask the following favor...
May Mother Marie Leonie awaken in the hearts of many the devotion to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Mother Marie-Leonie, in these troubled times, inspire the believers of our land with an unfailing faith, and also the firm and active will to free themselves from the constraints of selfishness, to prefer spiritual goods to material ones, to imitate the virtues that were your guides, especially simplicity of life and profound piety. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Rosary with Mother Marie-Leonie (Sorrowful Mysteries 1) Tuesday and Friday
For the months of September, October, November 2024
1st decade: The Agony of Jesus
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Mt 26:36-46
Mother Marie-Leonie wrote: “...when I am bored, I unite myself to the agony of Jesus” (Oct. 13, 1895). It's worth noting, on the one hand, how much she recognized her own very human heart and, on the other, how she united herself to the Heart of Jesus, in which she found a resemblance to her own.
2nd decade: The Scourging of Jesus
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.” Lk 23:13-16
Msgr Chalifoux had great sympathy for our Mother. In his room was a picture of the scourging of Our Lord. One day, he handed it to Sister Marie-de-la-Nativité, telling her: “Take this image to your Mother on my behalf, and Our Lord will help her endure her great sufferings.” Our Mother was very grateful.
3rd decade: The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. Mk 15:16-20
“How I love this poverty; it is especially pleasing to me and, aside from the practice of mortification which it imposes on us by our being deprived of desserts, it trains our sisters in thriftiness, which we would tend to forget if we lived in too great an abundance.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.189
4th decade: The Carrying of the Cross
As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. Lk 23:26-31
“But take courage, my dear children; be assured always that humiliations and crosses make our souls grow and lift them up to God.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.97
5th decade: The Crucifixion
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Lk 23:32-47
“Trials and mockery,” said Mother Marie-Leonie, “detach us from the earth and make us think more about God. If we didn't have any, we would forget Jesus who suffered so much and died on the Cross. Carry those little crosses properly, my dear good children, and at the hour of death, you will be happy you did. The less of our choosing they are, the heavier they weigh on God's scale.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.356
Prayer to Mother Marie-Leonie
God, who made Blessed Marie-Leonie an admirable model of humility, charity and dedication in the service of the ministers of your Church, grant us to imitate her virtues, drawing like her from Jesus, Eternal Priest and Bread of Life, the strength to follow the path of the Gospel. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Rosary with Mother Marie-Leonie (Glorious Mysteries1) Wednesday and Sunday
For the months of September, October and November 2024
1st decade: The Resurrection
Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.” Jn 20: 1-18
Mother Marie-Leonie believed in the resurrection of the body and in everlasting life: “Let us work, let us work,” she kept repeating, “we shall rest in heaven.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.164
2nd decade: The Ascension
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Acts 1: 9-11
For Mother Marie-Leonie, devotions to the mysteries of Jesus: his childhood, his hidden life in Nazareth, his passion, his resurrection, his ascension, his presence in the Eucharist, will therefore be of great importance.
3rd decade: The Pentecost
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Acts 2: 1-4
“We have a great need for light from the ‘big lamp’ of the Holy Spirit, especially when comes the time of the annual retreat... It is very necessary, isn't it? for the Holy Spirit to light his lamp with his huge wick so that we may be enlightened concerning what we must do.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.161
4th decade: The Assumption
He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is His name! Lk 1: 48-49
“When you need something, direct your petitions through the hands of the Blessed Virgin, whom Our Lord cannot refuse anything because she is his mother.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.171
5th decade: The Coronation of Mary
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. Rev 12:1
Mother Leonie remained until her death a “Marianite” at heart, and the Blessed Virgin had a special place in her affection. Because she is the Mother of God and ours, Mother Leonie had complete confidence in her, convinced that Mary would never let her down! Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.171
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Mother of the Church and Mother of our faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone. Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path.
And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!
Pope Francis, concluding his encyclical Lumen Fidei, June 29, 2013
Rosary with Mother Marie-Leonie (Luminous Mysteries1) Thursday
For the months of September, October and November 2024
1st decade: The Baptism of Jesus
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” Mt 3:13-17
From her tenderest years, therefore, God was already at work in her life. She loved to pray, loved the Eucharist, loved to practice charity toward others, especially the poorest. The sacraments she had received, Baptism, Confirmation and first Eucharistic Communion, were already active in her soul. God was fashioning her heart and beginning to call her to his service and to that of others. She was aware of this. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p.16
2nd decade: The Wedding at Cana
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there.
Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” Jn 2: 1-11
Filled with love for God, she also tried to do His will in all things, down to the smallest, even if this sometimes went against her nature. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 127
3rd decade: The Proclamation of the Kingdom
Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. Jn 3: 11-21
If Mother Leonie had faith in God as “Father,” “Love” and “Mercy,” she also had faith in God as “Providence.” “God knows what we need better than we do; the important thing is to serve him well…” She listened and accepted in faith what God expected of her in those events. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, pp. 134-135, 210
4th decade: The Transfiguration
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Lk 9:28-35
The goal was “to assimilate the life and message of Jesus... to the point of being transformed into another Christ... You must: enter into the feelings that moved Jesus, fill your minds with his examples, penetrate and nourish your hearts with his doctrine, meditate on his mysteries in recollection and silence, ask God for those insights of the mind and heart that make us comprehend and savor him.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 120
5th decade: The Institution of the Eucharist
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
1Co 11:23-29
Holy Mass was the treasure of Mother Marie-Leonie’s devotions. Therefore, she insisted on attending it every day and on receiving communion. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 147
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The works of your hands
Great is our God, great is his power,
his wisdom is infinite.
Praise him, heavens! Praise him, sun, moon and planets,
in the language given to you to praise your Creator.
Praise him, celestial choirs, praise him, you who reign,
and you too, my soul, sing;
sing as long as you can, the honor of the Lord.
From him, through him and for him are all things,
those as yet unknown, and those we know.
To him be praise, honor and glory from everlasting to everlasting.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
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“Friends of Mother Marie-Leonie”?