St. Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus
Feast day: July 9
“Be humble. Trust always and a great deal in divine Providence; never, never must you let yourselves be discouraged, despite contrary winds. I say it again: Trust in God and Mary Immaculate; be faithful and forge ahead!”
This is the advice of St. Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, an Italian-born nun who founded a religious community devoted to helping the poorest of the poor in Brazil despite her own humiliating setbacks. Baptized as Amabile Visintainer in 1865, she emigrated to southern Brazil with her poor Catholic parents when she was 10. From a young age, St. Pauline was so devoted to God that she regularly performed acts of charity and piety such as visiting the sick and teaching the catechism. With little education, she gave God what she had by imparting her love of the Catholic faith and serving those around her.
In 1890, her work with several companions, particularly in helping cancer patients and the abandoned, inspired her to live in a spiritual community with them at the advice of a priest. Several years later, with the approval of the bishop, they formed a religious order named the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, which was devoted to helping the sick and the poor in the greatest situations of injustice and to teaching the Catholic faith to children. A small house was purchased for the spiritual instruction of this newly formed congregation dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. Ignatian spirituality became their focal point.
Many vocations followed, as people were attracted to the zeal of these disciples of Christ. In 1903, St. Pauline was elected the superior general of this new order, and she focused on caring for orphans, children of former slaves, and old and abandoned slaves in the district of Ipiranga of Saõ Paulo, Brazil. From this location, she was able to direct the establishment of five provinces in Brazil. St. Pauline traveled personally to the different houses of her congregation and was loved for having this personal touch.
In 1909, a spiritual trial began for St. Pauline when she was removed as superior general by the archbishop of Saõ Paulo. Upon hearing that she was being removed from the congregation’s general government, she humbly knelt down and agreed to serve as a subordinate. She was sent to work with the sick and elderly in a different location with no active role in her congregation. St. Pauline nevertheless continued to pray and work, accepting her cross and offering up her suffering so that the congregation she had founded could continue its mission. She never lost sight of her congregation’s goal to love and serve the Lord and to help others to follow Jesus.
In 1918, at the request of the superior general and with the permission of the archbishop, St. Pauline returned to the congregation’s mother house in Ipiranga, where she remained until her death, living a life of prayer and helping any infirm sisters. Her indomitable faith was strengthened by her devotion in receiving the Eucharist and by praying to the Blessed Mother for support. She also regularly asked St. Joseph for prayers.
However, in 1933, St. Pauline was acknowledged as the congregation’s “Venerable Mother Foundress” per “A Decree of Praise” granted by the Holy See to the Congregation of the Little Sisters.
From 1938 onwards, she lived with health complications as a diabetic, but she never let the disease stop her from helping other people. Diabetes affected her limbs, and first her middle finger and then her right arm were amputated. Eventually, she became totally blind.
In 1942, St. Pauline died, and her last words were, “God’s will be done.” The people whom she served described her as a person “being-for-others” and her Little Sisters described her as one “all for God and for her brethren.” She was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002.
The St. Pauline Visintainer Spiritual Center opened in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, in 2003 and was declared a diocesan shrine in 2022. It has more than 50 first-class relics on display for veneration, including one from St. Pauline.
Reflection
Jesus in the Eucharist, keep me near and by you every day as I seek to serve your people living in seemingly impossible situations. Give me the courage of your Mother and St. Joseph to love and serve you in all circumstances.
Prayer
O God, by whose gift blessed Pauline
persevered in imitating Christ, poor and lowly,
grant us through her intercession
that, faithfully walking in our own vocation,
we may reach the perfection
you have set before us in your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
