Emilia de Vialar was a French nun who founded the missionary community of the sisters of St. Joseph. She opened a new form of religious life dedicated to serving the poor and the sick, as well as teaching and raising children. The Catholic Church honors her as a saint.
Origin
Emilia de Vialar was born on September 12, 1797 in Gaillac in the south of France, a small town about 45 km northeast of Toulouse. Her family was well known in the region and beyond. The grandfather of St. Emilia, Baron Portal, was brought up at the court of Louis XVI. He was the royal physician of Louis XVIII and Charles X. The mother of Emilia, Antoinette Portal, was a very pious Christian. She married Baron Jacques de Vialar. He served in the municipal administration and worked in a local hospital. The brother of St. Emilia, Augustine de Vialar, was one of the first settlers of the newly conquered Algeria.
early years
Emilia’s childhood passed in Gaillac, where she lived with her parents and two younger brothers. At the age of seven, she entered a local school. At an early age, the girl tried to overcome her natural vanity, which she recognized with special frankness. She did not allow herself to look in the mirror when her mother gave her a new dress and refused to wear jewelry.
Youth
When the French saint turned 13, she was sent to a boarding school at the Abbey-au-Bois monastery in Paris. The nuns of the Notre Dame Congregation became the mentors of the girl. In 1810, Emilia lost her mother. Two years later, the girl left school and returned home to take care of the family.
The pursuit of faith
According to the admission of Saint Emilia herself, the death of her mother became a “gracious blow” for her. The girl began to realize her religious vocation. She began to attract foreign missions. Wanting to restore the ruins left by the French Revolution, Saint Emilia pledged to instruct local children and return souls who had lost faith. She refused the bridegroom and made a personal vow to devote her life to God in a state of virginity.
The beginning of the holy way
In 1832, Emilia and her brothers inherited the great fortune of her grandfather. The saint decided to leave her father's house. She was free, as her brother Maximin brought his new wife to the house. Separation from the widowed father was difficult for Emilia. She knew what misfortune would bring to him and her heart. But faith was stronger.
Birth of the Sisters Society
After leaving the house, the Catholic saint settled in a large building, which she bought with money from the inheritance. She was joined by three young women who shared her concern for children and the poor. Over time, the community numbered eight people. With the help of the assistant parish priest of St. Peter's Church, she gained religious significance. This happened on March 19, 1833. In June of that year, the sisters were already twenty-six. Two years later they made religious vows. Thus was born the community of the sisters of St. Joseph, whose founder was ready to take on all the charitable works of the city, in particular raising children and caring for the sick in homes, hospitals and prisons.
Algeria
In August 1935, Emilia’s brother asked the Sisters Society for help. Three nuns led by a saint arrived in Algeria. A terrible cholera epidemic has occurred in this city. The sisters spent days and nights in the hospital, where there were European, Israeli and Muslim patients. Since the region’s funds were insufficient to cope with all the necessary expenses, Emilia herself financed the work of the sisters. Patients, regardless of race, were conquered by the radiant mercy of the nuns. At the end of 1835, Saint Emilia visited Paris, where she met Queen Marie-Amelie, who promised her her patronage for her dedicated work in Algeria.
Continuation of the mission
Returning to Algeria, Emilia of Caesarea opened a hospital and school, which was attended by many Christian and Jewish students. The sisters were then asked for help by the missionaries from Bonn. Six nuns arrived in the city to educate children at a local school. They also worked in a civil hospice. Meanwhile, the Governor-General insisted that Emilia de Vialar head the asylum in Algeria. She agreed. In 1838, four nuns took responsibility for raising and educating one hundred and fifty children. In the same year, the saint founded a desktop in Algeria designed to teach needlework to young women. Then, at the invitation and with the help of the bishop, she opened a shelter.
After Algeria
Returning from Algeria, Emilia worked diligently on the Constitution of the Institute, which was later approved by Bishop Albi. Then, at the request of the rector of Suchet, Father Constantine, she created a new foundation of faith in the city of Oran. The sisters immediately began to serve in the hospital and won the sympathy of the entire population.
Conflict of Jurisdictions
At the time that Saint Emilia was preparing to establish a shelter in Oran, she was faced with the opposition of Bishop Dupuch. He considered himself the main lord, having all the rights to the congregation of sisters. Mother Vialar went to Rome with a complaint to the Holy See. But the government ordered the expulsion of the sisters of St. Joseph from the city. Emilia had to come to terms with this. But before, she wrote a report that the shelters of Bonn, Oran and Algeria are the absolute property of the Congregation of St. Joseph, and this expulsion must be accompanied by compensation. Shortly before his death, Vladyka Dupuch wrote a letter in which he apologized to Saint Emilia for the evil that he had done to her.
After exile
What Algeria lost with the departure of the sisters, acquired Tunisia. Mother Vialar, with the permission of the apostolic prefect, established a foundation in Tunisia, where her sisters began to carry out cleaning work. The aim of the Constitution of Saint Emilia was the creation of schools and hospitals. The biggest achievement was St. Louis College. Over the next years, Vialar’s mother founded 14 new shelters, traveled a lot, and helped other communities.
Courageous way
After the expulsion from Algeria, the sisters had to live in extreme poverty. Sometimes they had to eat in canteens run by other communities. But the tireless mother Vialar continued to work on several fronts at once. Despite numerous failures, she had no doubt that she would eventually overcome all the obstacles that confronted her. Conflicts, travels, sometimes inevitable returns to Gaillac, a visit to Rome, a shipwreck in Malta, where she created a shelter - nothing drove her from the intended path. The sisters of St. Joseph helped people in Tunisia, Greece, Palestine, Turkey, Jaffa, Australia and Burma. Emilia de Vialar spent all her inheritance on missionary work. In 1851, she went bankrupt. With the help of Bishop Eugene de Mazenode, the saint managed to establish the House of Mother Sisters in Marseille, in which she gathered all her nuns. To this day, the sisters of St. Joseph continue their good work around the world.
Prayer
"Oh, Holy Emilia, you, who in the church wanted to show the love of the Father, as it was realized through the incarnation of the Son, give us your obedience to the Spirit, your courage and your Apostolic courage. Amen."
Leaving life
The saint died away from a hernia, which bothered her throughout her life. This happened in Marseille on August 24, 1856. In 1951, Pope Pius 12 ranked her among the saints. Thus, the church recognized the outstanding services of the nun. The body of Emilia de Vialar was transferred to Gaillac. The memory of the saint cannot be celebrated on her birthday on the feast of St. Bartholomew. She was beatified on June 18, 1939 on the feast of St. Ephraim.