artyrdom of
blood itself. The memory of these still lives, enshrined in hearts that
love them for their tireless zeal and their dauntless courage. Of such
pioneers was the Venerable Philippine Duchesne, a truly valiant woman,
to whom the American Church owes a debt of gratitude too great for
payment.

The following pages are too few to give more than a glimpse of her
heroic labors, but they have caught inspiration from their subject, and
something, too, of her fragrant piety. No one will read them without
admiration for one who was so weak and yet so strong, so humble, and yet
so daring in work for God.

Mother Duchesne has a lesson for this age of softness and indolence. She
has shown us the way to heroism and offers us motives for entering
thereon. For this gratitude is due. This sketch is conceived in a spirit
of thankfulness, a tribute of appreciation that will speak a clear,
forceful message to sad hearts and selfish hearts and timorous souls,
inspiring all with great ideals and holy ambitions to do a mite for the
leader, Christ.

R. H. T.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I Volunteers for American Missions
II First Schools in New World
III Trials at Florissant
IV St. Michael's Established
V Serious Crosses
VI Mission to the Pottowatomie Indians
VII Affection for Mother Barat
VIII Last Days
IX Some Fruits of Mother Duchesne's Work

CHAPTER I

VOLUNTEERS FOR THE AMERICAN MISSIONS

In the early annals of the Catholic Church in this country, no name
stands more preeminent than that of the Venerable Philippine Duchesne.
She was one of the first, and altogether the greatest, among the
spiritual daughters of the Blessed Madeleine Sophie Barat, so well known
as the Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart. The pioneer of that
Institute in the New World, it was in the midst of sorrow, and penury,
and strenuous toil, that she cast the seed of the harvest whose
plentiful sheaves are carried with joy by those who have come after her.
She was a valiant cooperator in the work of the Catholic missionaries
during the early part of the last century, and American Catholics can
scarcely fail to be interested in her story.

She was born in Grenoble, France, August 29, 1769, the same year as
Napoleon Bonaparte. Her father, Pierre Francois Duchesne, was a
prosperous lawyer, practising in the Parliament, or law court of
Grenoble, the capital of the Province of Dauphiny, while her mother