Blessed Pauline Jaricot
One
Today, January 9 is the Feast of Bl. Pauline Jaricot.
We will get to her in a moment, but first a miracle. On May 29th, 2012, a three-year-old girl named Mayline experienced a life-threatening incident when she choked on her food. Her father, Emmanuel, recalls the harrowing moment when her heart stopped as he held her in his arms, but she was resuscitated by paramedics. However, she fell into a coma, and her health worsened.
The medical team suggested withdrawing life support, but during this critical period, a parent from Mayline's school informed Cardinal Barbarin of Lyon about her situation. The Cardinal then initiated a novena, seeking Pauline Jaricot's intercession for Mayline's recovery.
Remarkably, on the day the novena concluded, as Mayline was being transported to hospice care, she regained consciousness in the ambulance, calling out for her mother. Her neurological functions were restored and by December she left the hospital in excellent health.
A significant encounter occurred on December 22nd, when Emmanuel and Mayline, out for a stroll, met her neurologist. Surprised, the doctor questioned Mayline's identity, and Emmanuel confirmed it was her, leading to the doctor's astonished reaction, “Impossible” he said. However, we know, nothing is impossible to God.
This extraordinary recovery was deemed a miracle attributed to Pauline Jaricot's intercession, paving the way for her beatification in Lyon on May 22nd, 2022.
Two
Pauline Jaricot was born in Lyon, France in 1799.
She grew up in an age, shortly after the French Revolution which sought to rid France of faith in God and establish society on science and reason alone. It was much like our culture today. Many of her family and friends had little interest in religion or prayer and they knew almost nothing about their faith.
In her diary, she writes, “The spiritual ills of my country were increasing before my very eyes; and I was convinced that the interior intuitions that showed them to me so clearly arouse from the very heart of truth. My great desire was that I might be allowed to fill the hearts of believers with the same deep and vivid sense that God had given me of his great indignation against his people, and of the power of prayer to dispel it. I had heard of great results from the use of the Rosary, and I hoped it possible to revive the devotion in France, believing it would calm the anger of Heaven and produce living fruit in the souls of men.”
Though Pauline was not a priest or nun, and she was just 27 years old, she desperately longed for a way to set the hearts of men and women on fire for Jesus. She recognized every time the Church was in a similar crisis, it was the Rosary that renewed it. Pauline knew that Mary and the Rosary could lead the world back to Jesus.
Three
The founding of the living rosary movement.
In 1826, Pauline began to gather people in groups of 15 to pray the Rosary. She also distributed good books for meditation material because she knew the Rosary was meant to be a meditation on the life and teachings of Jesus and not just a mechanical saying of words while our minds wandered.
So, her method was simple: invite people to come together and pray the Rosary and give them something to think or meditate upon while they pray.
They called it “The Living Rosary.”
After just five years, it spread to every country in Europe. And within 8 years there were one million members. With no social media.
Pauline wrote, “The rosary groups should invite anyone, the good, the mediocre, and others who had nothing to offer but their good will. Fifteen pieces of coal, one is well lit, there are four or five that are half lit, and the rest not lit at all. Put the fifteen together and you have a blazing fire.”
Four
The Living Rosary spread to Poland.
In the 1930s, an introverted tailor named Jan Tyranowski joined the Living Rosary Movement in Debiki, near Krakow, Poland. During World War II, St. Stanislaw Kostka parish in Krakow, overseen by the Salesians (a group founded by St. John Bosco focusing on youth development), faced a crisis. On May 23, 1941, the Gestapo arrested the Salesian priests and sent them to the Dachau concentration camp, where many perished.
Before their capture, the Salesians entrusted Jan Tyranowski, a humble layman, with the task of guiding the youth. Tyranowski invited them into the Living Rosary Movement, selecting leaders for each group. He held weekly sessions in his home, teaching these leaders the spiritual basics along with providing personal spiritual guidance.
Among those mentored by Tyranowski was Karol Woytyla, whom he chose to lead a Living Rosary group. Tyranowski influenced Karol's spiritual development, introducing him to the works of St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, and aiding him in comprehending their teachings. Tyranowski played a crucial role as Karol Wojtyla's spiritual director, helping him realize his calling to the priesthood. Karol, initially aspiring to be a playwright, later acknowledged that without Jan's guidance, he might not have pursued the priesthood. This same Karol Woytyla eventually became Pope St. John Paul II.
John Paul went on to bring the Gospel to 129 countries and did more to reinvigorate the Catholic faith than anyone maybe since St. Paul. One introverted layman personally invested in one young personlly, mentored him, and the whole world was changed. And it all started with the Living Rosary Movement.
Five
Our Lady is the Remedy God has sent to the world and she has asked us to pray the Rosary every day.
It is powerful that all over the world people are learning their faith and how to meditate at the school of Mary in the Rosary through this podcast. But I know what a Mother loves most, it’s when her kids come together.
I have always wished, desired, and longed that people would invite family and friends to get together for friendship, good conversation, and the Rosary. Invite them for a meal, dessert, or drinks, pray the Rosary together, and then have a good conversation about whatever struck them during the Rosary. Like Teresa and I do.
My 86-year-old father gets 10-15 people together every Thursday to pray the Rosary together. And there are others out there.
But what if we all lived the Living Rosary Movement in this way? Such a movement would transform many hearts.