Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher

We celebrate the memorial of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, a North American blessed. Her next step would be canonization so we pray that one day Blessed Marie-Rose will be raised to the altar of sainthood. Blessed Marie-Rose was born in Canada in
1811. She served as a housekeeper to her brother who was a parish priest. She nursed ill priests and seminarians, and promoted devotion to Our Lady. When she was 33, Eulalie Durocher took religious vows and was given the name Marie-Rose. She founded the teaching Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and died in 1849 (Magnificat, 96). Blessed Marie-Rose was beatified during the pontificate of our late Holy Father, Blessed John Paul II. This is an appropriate memorial to celebrate during the month of October because it is dedicated to the Holy Rosary and the intercession of our Blessed Mother, Mary. The gospel for today is very appropriate, Luke 11:5-13, because it speaks about our persistence in prayer and I am sure that is a gift that Blessed Marie-Rose used very well. She took our Lord's words to heart when he said, "And I tell you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." As one meditation says, "The purpose of prayer is not to change the order established by God, but to obtain what God has decided to accomplish by means of our prayer" (Magnificat, 99). God wants to hear the prayers from us and we need to be persistent in that great gift. May we follow the example of Blessed Marie-Rose as she strived to teach the faith to others and be renewed in her mission by the gift of prayer. Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, pray for us!!!