WHO WAS CLAUDINE THEVENET?
Claudine Thevenet was a woman called by God to form the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus & Mary. Her work was born in a heart crushed by the pain of personal tragedy during the French Revolution. Her brothers were shot to death before her and the family was distressingly scattered. Claudine was then 19 years of age. This event was a decisive turning point in her life.God works in such wondrous ways to realize His designs. She concluded that there was more ignorance than malice in all the violence she witnessed. The thought of those who live and die without knowing God haunted her and caused her anguish. Far from closing in upon herself in suffering, she opened her heart to the miseries surrounding her. Led by the Spirit, Claudine opened her doors to welcome two orphans - a door that would never close. Many young people would later cross the threshold of the J. M. Houses founded throughout the world. Her response to the Call of God took form in her total commitment of herself to the following Christ. A Religious Family was born in the Church...
HE CONGREGATION OF THE RELIGIOUS OF JESUS AND MARY.
PRAYER TO OBTAIN GRACE THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF ST. CLAUDINE THEVENET
God our Father, you granted Saint Claudine Thevenet an intimate experience of Your merciful goodness and You called her to dedicate her life to the education of the young, giving her the grace, to draw from the Heart of Your Son, an ardent zeal to make Jesus & Mary known and loved.
Help us, like her, to be witnesses to Your love, given over to the action of the Spirit and open to the needs of our brothers and sisters, especially the most deprived.
Grant us, through her intercession, and for the praise of Your glory the grace for which we now pray. (Mention your intention)
St. Claudine Thevenet,
Pray for us.
St. Claudine Thevenet
1774 - 1837
Foundress of the Congregation of
Jesus & Mary…
How Good God Is!
CLAUDINE’S PEDAGOGY
Hers was a Pedagogy of Love- A love that she drew from the heart of Jesus pierced on the cross for the salvation of mankind.
Different social structures and environments require different forms of application and so make new demands on our creativity. Today, as in the times of Claudine Thevenet, the work of EDUCATION IN LOVE remains the best reform we can offer. The finest method of education affects nothing without Love.
CLAUDINE’S IDEAL
Claudine’s Ideal was to make God known and loved by means of CHRISTIAN EDUCATION in all social milieu. This ideal remains the Aim of the Congregation, with the preference, inherited from the Foundress, for the young and among these for the POOR.
What kind of persons did she wish to form in her work with the young?
- Persons of FAITH in God, themselves, and others.
- Persons capable of CREATING happy homes.
- Persons whose very PRESENCE anywhere would exude Goodness and touch the lives of others.
- Persons CAPABLE of EARNING A LIVING by their honest work.
What did she desire of her Religious and their lay Collaborators?
- To be living WITNESSES in their own lives of the values they teach.
- To be completely dedicated to the young and be REAL MOTHERS to them.
- To have FORESIGHT and THOROUGHNESS in preparing and carrying out their duties.
- To be IMPARTIAL.
- To have great SIMPLICITY in doing all things to please GOD.
- To be COURTEOUS but without affectation, in their manner, tone of voice, deportment, and behaviour.
- To be CLEAN and ORDERLY in their work and personal appearance but without pretense.