Placide Viel (26 September 1815 — 4 March 1877), born Eulalie-Victoire Jacqueline Viel, was a
French Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
professed religious
In the Catholic Church, a religious profession is the solemn admission of men or women into consecrated life by means of the pronouncement of religious vows, typically the evangelical counsels.
Usage
The 1983 Code of Canon Law defines the ...
and
mother general
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while th ...
who was active in organizing relief during the
Franco-Prussian War.
Viel joined the Sisters of the Christian Schools in 1833 with the order's founder and mother general
Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel being her aunt and served alongside her in various capacities.
[ Viel made extensive travels setting up branches of the order and made several trips to ]Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
to collect funds for the order's expansion while later travelling across Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
as her aunt's successor for the order's continued growth.[
Her beatification was celebrated in 1951.][
]
Life
Eulalie Victoire Jacqueline Viel was born in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
on 26 September 1815 as one of eight children to farmers (she was baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
just moments after her birth with her godparents being Jeanne Viel and Jacques Tournaille).[ Her aunt was Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel. One sister was Victoire who died in her childhood. Viel was known for being timid but also pleasant and cheerful; she made her ]First Communion
First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...
before the mandated age because the parish priest of Quettehou
Quettehou is a Communes of France, commune in the Manche Departments of France, department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Morsalines was merged into Quettehou.
Geography
The town of Quettehou is located at the Nort ...
believed she was mature enough.[ Her parents sent her to learn sewing when she was old enough from the village ]seamstress
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician.
Not ...
Madame Gilles and she taught catechism and the psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
to the local children.[
Her heart was set on the religious life and she joined her aunt in her new religious congregation on 1 May 1835 while being given the new religious name "Placide" and served at some stage as the novice mistress after having first worked in the kitchens.][ Her solemn profession of perpetual vows was made on 21 September 1838. Viel studied at ]Argentan
Argentan () is a Communes of France, commune and the seat of two Canton in France, cantons and of an arrondissement in France, arrondissement in the Orne Departments of France, department in northwestern France.
Argentan is located NE of Rennes ...
as she entered the order and worked in school administration while founding new convents at her aunt's request.[ Her aunt also instructed her to go to ]Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
to collect funds so the order could continue to grow and function. Viel made three such visits with the first being from January to June 1844. The second was from October 1844 to 1845 and the last visit before her appointment as superior-general was from October 1845 to June 1846 when she had to return to see her ailing aunt.[ It was on one of those visits that she met with Queen Marie-Amelie. In the late spring of 1845 she toured ]Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...
and Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...
before moving on to Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.
History
Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6t ...
.
On 1 January 1842 she was appointed as assistant-general of the sisters in an appointment that caused great resentment among her sisters since some believed it granted her too much power. After her aunt died in 1846 she became the mother-general of the order at the age of 31 on 5 September (two months after her aunt's death) in what was a unanimous election. But she wanted to be able to continue going to Paris to collect funds rather than be elected though still rising to the position. Viel directed the institute for three decades and received papal approval for the order in 1859 from Pope Pius IX.[ Her tenure as superior-general saw membership in the order increase from 150 to more than 1,000 as well as seeing an increase in the number of convents. The superior-general was noted for her charm as well as for her humble and retiring disposition.][ On 14 September 1849 she arrived in ]Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
where she met with its archbishop before setting off for Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. Viel made successive visits after Brussels to Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
and Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
as well as Breslau.[ Viel met with Count Henri on 19 September at the Frohsdorf castle and later met with ]Frederick William The name Frederick William usually refers to several monarchs and princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty:
* Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620–1688)
* Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713)
* Frederick William I of ...
at Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
en route back home.
Viel died at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte
Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. It is situated in the Cotentin Peninsula near Valognes. Its population was 2,099 in 2018.
History
The Château de Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, an ...
on 4 March 1877 after having been organizing relief during the Franco-Prussian War that had broken out around that time.[
]
Beatification
Her cause for canonization was introduced on 22 July 1935 titling her as a Servant of God while confirmation of her heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...
allowed for her to be named as Venerable
The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism.
Christianity
Cat ...
on 9 February 1941. Pope Pius XII beatified her on 6 May 1951.
References
External links
Catholic Online
Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viel, Placide
1815 births
1877 deaths
19th-century French nuns
19th-century venerated Christians
Beatifications by Pope Pius XII
French beatified people
French people of the Franco-Prussian War
French Roman Catholic saints
People from Manche
Venerated Catholics