Friends of Saint Marie-Leonie
Dear Friends of Saint Marie-Leonie,
We continue to give thanks to God for the great blessing of the canonization of Saint Marie-Leonie Paradis, in the presence of the Virgin Mary, by praying the rosary daily. This prayer activity comes to an end in August. I'll be back in mid-August with another interiorization program to help you grow in your faith.
In this happy Easter season, we have grown together in hope in this jubilee year, when God gives His blessings in abundance. During this beautiful month of Mary, with her help, let us continue to be pilgrims of hope with faith and perseverance.
The vacation months are upon us, allowing us to admire nature's beauty and see how much we can do to preserve it. To care for God's creation is to respect it.
On May 4, 2025, Saint Marie-Leonie's liturgical feast went unnoticed because it was the third Sunday of Easter. I'm sure we all prayed to her on that day, and I'm sure she was very attentive and active to all our requests.
For your information, the mail continues to abound, testifying that Saint Marie-Leonie is still active and intercedes with God for all the intentions entrusted to her. Let's continue to have faith in her, because when she was alive, she couldn't tolerate the suffering around her, and to know how to be happy only through the happiness of others. So let's keep it active.
Happy summer,
Rachel Lemieux, p.s.s.f. May 2025
IMPORTANT: Bill 25 on personal information is in effect, and we want to inform you that we use your information only to communicate with you and issue the annual tax receipt. The favors bulletin respects anonymity.
If you receive our correspondence and it is not useful to you, please let us know so that we can write it off and update our database.
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 MARIE-LEONIE (Joyful Mysteries 4) Monday and Saturday
For the months of June, July and August 2025
HOW TO PRAY THE 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
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Lk 1:37-38
Filled with love for God, Mother Marie-Leonie also tried to do His will in all things, down to the smallest, even if this sometimes went against her nature. To please God was really the goal of her existence.
Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 127
2nd decade: The Visitation
“But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Lk 1:44-45
“I love to see your good spirit and your charity in excusing the faults of your companions, especially their faults of character which are so difficult to control when the body is aching; keep on being compassionate for your dear companions who suffer, and pray for patience for them. They are always to be pitied, both because of what makes them suffer and because of what they may cause others to suffer." Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 313
3rd decade: The Nativity
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So, they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Lk 2:1-20
Mother Leonie had a great devotion to the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. In it she saw evidence of the Father's extraordinary love for us. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 142
4th decade: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. Lk 2:22-40
This meant that one only needed to look at how she lived in order to know what to do to “please the Heart of Jesus.”
Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 334
5th decade: Jesus' recovery in the Temple
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Lk 2:41-52
“Be humble,” unceasingly repeated Mother Leonie, “love the hidden life... Do your work well in the sight of God... Keep your souls in peace in spite of the reproaches that might be addressed to you; in that case, answer simply that you will do your best to do better another time, and don't move heaven and earth to find excuses and to justify yourselves...”
Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 370
Maxims of Mother Marie-Leonie (continued)
- It doesn't matter what the world thinks of us, let's remain serene; without vain glory, we'll find peace better than esteem!
- God, who sees all, will bless us if we remain humble and small; if we live without pretension, as true servants that we are.
- God alone is enough, God alone remains for us, for here below things pass away. Why torment ourselves in vain and worry in vain?
- Long live Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love these Names more than my life! Let's focus our eyes on Nazareth; servant is a title of nobility!
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Rosary with Mother Marie-Leonie (Sorrowful Mysteries 4) Tuesday and Friday
For the months of June, July, August 2025
1st decade: The Agony of Jesus
So, he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then, he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Mt 26:36-46
“The days that followed,” related Father Goyette, “were all at once filled with inexpressible anguish and ineffable hope for Mother Leonie. Her soul was shattered, broken, and as though annihilated under the crushing weight of her sorrow. The death of Father Lefebvre left her without a guide, without a counsellor, without support, at the decisive moment that would see the solution of the difficult problem that had concerned both of them for more than twenty years; on the other hand, she felt that he was praying in heaven for her and her Little Sisters, and this thought restored her courage, doubled her energy and reaffirmed her confidence in the future. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 74
2nd decade: The Scourging
Therefore, I will punish him and then release him. Lk 23:13-16
“Good Brother Aldéric who wrote a few articles for Le Moniteur Acadien... simply made a big mistake... If the good Brother had submitted these various articles to me, I would have had him make the appropriate corrections concerning these alleged Tertiaries of Holy Cross, who have never existed except in his imagination.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 61
3rd decade: The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns
Then they led him outto crucify him. Mk 15:16-20
“The priests of the Seminary reproached her with this many times; they treated her harshly and the Superior of the institution went as far as saying to her: ‘I don't know how God can accept your communions..., how God will receive you in the next life!’
“Our Mother's Councillors added, the day after the scene, that our Mother had joined her hands together and answered: ‘I have always acted out of obedience and I have nothing to reproach myself with.’”
Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 353
4th decade: The Carrying of the Cross
For the time will come when you will say, “Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed! Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Lk 23:26-31
Other trials were still to befall Sister Leonie, and one of them was the intolerance of Bishop Sweeney of Saint John, N.B. He never accepted to give the young community canonical recognition: he was afraid to have to support the sisters once they became sick or elderly. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 70
5th decade: The Crucifixion
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” Lk 23:32-47
“If, in his inscrutable designs, he seems hard on us at times, we must not forget that God is a good and merciful God who wants to prepare for us a better place in Heaven. The one he tried the most on earth was his divine Mother, and she is also the one he glorified the most in Heaven.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 133-134
O most desolate of all mothers, what a terrible sword penetrated your soul!
All the blows that attacked Jesus fell on you; all his pains brought you down; all his wounds tore you apart; but above all, the last farewell he addressed to you reopened all your wounds; and when you saw him breathe his last, what supernatural strength came to sustain your soul?
O Mother of love and pain, make me love and suffer like you!
Queen of martyrs, give me a share in your martyrdom. Love gave you the cross, let the cross give me love; and if to love, it is necessary to suffer and die, obtain for me this grace that I love everything that comes to me from God, even suffering and death. Amen
Rosary with Mother Marie-Leonie (glorious mysteries 4) Wednesday and Sunday
For the months of June, July, August 2025
1st decade: The Resurrection
At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said: “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. Jn 20, 1-18
Mother Marie-Leonie considered the Church as the great sheepfold which could only be accessed through Christ. Her communion with the life of the Church made her share in all the interests of this Church and discover the Mission it was entrusted with by its divine Founder. Her interest embraced the universal Church."
Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 162
2nd decade: The Ascension
“I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Lk 24:49-52
When we have faith, we understand that we come from God, live with God and are on our way to God, who waits for us in his heaven to make us live eternally in his presence. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. XI
3rd decade: The Pentecost
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Acts 2:5-6
Her confidence was constant in the midst of difficulties. She kept repeating to her sisters these words of encouragement: “We are so few, so incapable of doing anything worthwhile... however, far from losing courage, let us constantly renew our confidence and often repeat during the day: ‘Jesus, you know that I love you. All for you, my God... all out of love for you.’”
Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 138
4th decade: The Assumption
May the offering we fervently present to you ascend to you, Lord; and as the Blessed Virgin Mary, taken up into heaven, intercedes for us, may our hearts, burning with charity, always aspire to ascend to you. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for the Mass of the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
“Yes, if you are truly humble, deeply imbued with the sense of your own nothingness, seeking only God's good pleasure in all you do, the help of his grace will never fail you to bring whatever you undertake to successful completion. You will appreciate your vocation all the more since, leaving you unknown to men, it will more easily keep you in the sight of God. As you perform your hard and obscure work in the sight of God and of the Most Holy Family, that work will seem sweet and lovable to you. Thus shared between prayer and work, which is made holy and deserving by prayer, your life will be totally fulfilled for heaven, the sole object of your desires.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 369
5th decade: The Coronation of Mary
She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah.” Rev 12:1-6a.10ab
If the Little Flower is spending her eternity in Heaven doing good on earth, as she promised, all those who confidently call on Mother Leonie can make the same statement to her credit. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 395
Mary, show us Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true light, Jesus, your Son, the Son of God.
You abandoned yourself completely to God's call and thus became a wellspring of the goodness which flows forth from him. Show us Jesus. Lead us to him.
Teach us to know and love him, so that we too can become capable of true love and be fountains of living water in the midst of a thirsting world. Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, December 2005
Rosary with Mother Marie-Leonie (luminous mysteries 4) Thursday
For the months of June, July, August 2025
1st decade: The Baptism of Jesus
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Mt 3:13-17
This is profoundly true for each one of us; it is equally true for Mother Leonie. She was “blessed in the heavens”, “chosen before the world began” and “predestined” to be the beloved daughter of the Father as well as his instrument in giving the Church a new religious family, that of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. XII
2nd decade: The Wedding at Cana
Then the master of the banquet called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. Jn 2, 1-11
Thus, one day, a whole family was brought to her. The father had gone to try his luck in the United States, thinking he would find employment there to support his loved ones. But unfortunately, he didn't find any and had to return home. On his way to Trois-Rivières, he stopped over in Sherbrooke, in search of food for his children. He was led to Mother Marie‑Leonie. She immediately had a good meal served to them and was even thoughtful enough to prepare a lunch for them and defray the train fare to their destination. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 243
3rd decade: The Proclamation of the Kingdom
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. Jn 3, 11-21
They only needed to look at her to know what they had to do. Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 403
4th decade: The Transfiguration
Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. Mk 8-10
Mother Leonie would soon be able to say: “Our Father Lefebvre has more power in the next life than he did in life here below...” Indeed, “Father Lefebvre was about to complete, immediately after his death, what he had been unable to achieve in his lifetime. The first clod of earth had not yet fallen on his coffin,” wrote Father Nadeau, “and already a solid hope emerged in Quebec for an episcopal approbation.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 73
5th decade: The Institution of the Eucharist
Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 1Cor 11:23-29
Why was Mother Marie-Leonie so attached to the Eucharist? Simply because she had come to understand that the Eucharist “is nothing other than the renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary,” that sacrifice which had brought salvation to the world. She used to say: “The Mass is the Passion of Our Lord and it is everything.” Book: A Mother who was “All Heart”, p. 148
Nearer, My God, to Thee
1.Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer,
my God, to Thee!
2.Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
There let the way appear steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me nearer,
my God, to Thee!
3.Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Then with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So, by my woes to be nearer,
my God, to Thee!
4.Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer,
my God, to Thee!
4.Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer,
my God, to Thee!
“Friends of Mother Marie-Leonie”?