Canada celebrates the sainthood cause of Blessed Marie-Léonie

Maria Montemayor

Friday, January 26, 2024

Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, is one step closer to sainthood.

On January 24, the Vatican published a list of decrees that Pope Francis approved regarding the sainthood cause of six individuals. Canada’s own Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis was on that list.

The pope recognized the miraculous healing of a newborn baby attributed to the Quebec-born blessed’s intercession. The baby had “prolonged perinatal asphyxia with multiple organ failure and encephalopathy.” Blessed Marie-Léonie was invoked twice: on the second night after the baby girl’s birth and a few days later. Ten days after her birth, the baby was discharged in good health. Today, the woman works as a language teacher.

Élodie Paradis was born in L’Acadie, Quebec in 1840. She became a novice of the Marianite Sisters of the Holy Cross and took the name Sister Marie-de-Sainte-Léonie. She taught for many years in Canada East (now Quebec) as well as in New York, Indiana, and Michigan. In New Brunswick, she heeded a call to assist and support the Holy Cross Fathers in the mission of educating young Acadians.

In 1880, the Holy Cross Fathers accepted the idea of a new foundation. The Little Sisters of the Holy Family was formed, and Mother Marie-Léonie was appointed superior of the new community. She struggled to get approval for her community from the Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick, but in 1895, she met with the Bishop Paul Larocque of Sherbrooke. The bishop received the mother house and the novitiate of sisters into his diocese, and the foundation had his approval.

Mother Marie-Léonie passed away on May 3, 1912. At the time of her death, the foundation had 635 nuns working in Canada and the United States. Today, there are more than 1,600 women who have chosen to become Little Sisters of the Holy Family.

As a beloved Quebecer, many Catholics from Canada are sure to rejoice at having Marie-Léonie officially recognized as a saint through the process of canonization.

There are currently 14 venerated Canadian saints. Once Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis is canonized, she will become the 15th Canadian saint.