Catherine Daniélou: a mystical bride of Christ in Brittany

Great French mystic Catherine Daniélou, born in Quimper (France, Finistère) was often abused as a child by her stepfather and her mother. She sought refuge with a statue of Mary near the family home. Married to a violent man, she was blessed by God with extraordinary charisms such as visions and ecstasies. She also received the stigmata on Good Friday in 1640. In a sense, Catherine was very modern for her era: she was one of the first lay people to experience such charisms, which were usually reserved for consecrated persons. Over and above her physical manifestations, Catherine's whole life pointed to Jesus: in her life, filled with pain and suffering, one could feel the loving presence of Jesus.

Unsplash / Motoki Tonn

Reasons to believe:

Catherine Daniélou's biographies tell of the visions and ecstasies she experienced. These phenomena were authenticated by several people during her lifetime.

The periodicity of the stigmata afflicting Catherine in 1640, and their clinical course, leave no doubt as to their extra-natural origin. The opening of the wounds followed the Church's liturgical calendar and there was no suppuration or infection.

Blessed Julien Maunoir, who spent several years at Catherine's side, attested to the absolute authenticity of all the phenomena as follows: "I certify as an eyewitness most of the things that are in this Life [which he wrote]; I learned the rest, partly from Father Bernard, partly from those who lived with Catherine, and from those who knew her from an early age."

Catherine never came out of her ecstasies disturbed, saddened, agitated or terrified; on the contrary, her moral and spiritual life always benefited immensely from them. This suggests that these phenomena had indeed a divine origin.

Catherine benefited in particular from remarkable and continuous spiritual accompaniment, which guided her in the discernment of her charisms. Two priests accompanied her, including Blessed Julien Maunoir, as well as the Bishop of Quimper.

During one of her visions, on May 5, 1662, she saw the Virgin accompanied by an unknown priest. She soon realised that it was Father Michel Le Nobletz, who had died the day before that apparition.

Witnesses to Catherine Daniélou's death on November 4, 1667, swore that her face became radiant and luminous, as it had never been before, and remained so until her funeral five days later.

Summary:

Around 1627, Catherine Daniélou, an eight-year-old girl from Quimper girl, was suffering. Fatherless , abandoned and frequently beaten by her mother and stepfather, a master tailor, she was deeply unhappy and did not know what her future would hold.

The little girl loved to go for walks in the countryside, where God's creation resonated with her inner heart. Prayer was the breath of her soul. She loved the religious ceremonies her mother sometimes took her to, although she was never allowed to confide in her mother her plan to serve God by becoming a nun. This plan remained a secret. Only the Virgin Mary knew about it, because the little girl prayed to her so much. In the meantime, Catherine had to help her family with the household chores, silently, without complaining or rebelling.

One day, she passed near the gateway to Quimper, known as the Tourbihan (or Tourbie), built in the 14th century and surmounted by a stone statue of Our Lady. There, Catherine, carrying food for her parents, suddenly looked up at the Marian statue: the statue completely disappeared and was replaced by a beautiful young woman, bathed in a magnificent light, whose feet rested on nothing material.

The apparition said to her: "Take courage, Catherine, put your trust in me and God will help you." The little girl dropped her load, rubbed her eyes and said: "Who are you?" "I am Mary, the Mother of God, whom you greet every day." Was this a dream? An illusion? No, for the beautiful lady was still there! Catherine replied by pointing out the total dissimilarity between the apparition and the stone statue of Our Lady. Mary replied: "I am gentle and kind to good souls, but I am also a hard stone to those who do not want to leave their sins behind." The next moment, the Lady had vanished, leaving the materiality of the statue at the top of the tower to take her place once again.

Catherine's difficult life continued, however. She endured humiliation and physical violence. She sometimes felt that God seemed to be abandoning her in her valley of tears. But deep down, she knew that this was not true. The first extraordinary thing is that she grew in age and wisdom, despite the poverty of her condition. Anyone who had endured her mistreatment would have been plunged into terrible emotional turmoil without God's help. She rose to her feet and stood her ground, showing superhuman strength of will.

From the age of twenty onwards, she sometimes fell into ecstasy at various times of the day and night. These were not fainting spells or blackouts, but mystical raptures, as the successive priests who met her would testify. In these states, she saw Jesus, Mary and sometimes saints. She received messages advising her to continue in prayer, to hear the scritptures being read, to receive the sacraments and, above all, to actively practise charity and forgiveness towards those who harmed her.

In 1640, during Holy Week, she experienced extreme pain in her hands, feet, head and side. It was neither a mental disturbance nor a hallucination: she was stigmatised (her body bore the wounds of Christ's Passion). Those around her were frightened. Was it a miracle or a diabolical phenomenon? Providentially, Blessed Jesuit Father Julien Maunoir, who had preached 439 missions throughout Brittany and converted 3,000 people, arrived in Quimper. Having learned of the alleged events surrounding Catherine, the Bishop of Quimper René du Louët de Coetjunval, asked him and another priest, Abbé Bernard, also a Jesuit, to meet with her and find out the source of the mystical phenomena. This was the beginning of a spiritual accompaniment that was to last until her death, on the occasion of a local pilgrimage to Guerlédan (Côtes-d'Armor).

In the meantime, more and more apparitions of the Virgin Mary took place, sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus and saints (Corentin, Anthony of Egypt, etc.). In December 1642, in Quimper cathedral, Catherine saw the Virgin Mary wearing a beautiful rosary on her belt, dressed in a white dress and a black crepe veil covering her hair. Other Mariophanies followed, all experienced in a profound peace of heart: in October 1644, in the shrine church of Sainte-Anne-d'Auray (Morbihan); on October 14, 1651; on May 5, 1652 - a phenomenon about which we must say a word: on this day, a priest stood by Our Lady's side. Catherine was unable to identify him, but she would later learn that he was Father Michel Le Nobletz, who had died the day before the apparition, on May 4. Then again on April 4, 1660 - this time, the Virgin was surrounded by "souls from Purgatory" for whom Catherine had been in the habit of praying since her youth.

Catherine Daniélou died on November 4, 1667 in the odour of sanctity, according to the formula that had been used for centuries - proof that the clergy had discerned in her the loving presence of Jesus, in her suffering life. All those who witnessed her death testified to an incredible change in her face: "An extraordinary ruddy tinge appeared on her face and persisted until her burial, which took place only five days later. During this time, her face was more beautiful than during her life." (Julien Maunoir).

Before she died, the parish priest of Mur (Côtes-d'Armor) wanted to tell Father Maunoir, who was on a mission in another town. Catherine told him Father Maunoir would come, but too late. The Blessed priest did indeed arrive in Mur after her body had been buried.

Patrick Sbalchiero

Beyond reasons to believe:

Catherine's life, so hard and commonplace on the surface, was punctuated by long periods of spiritual joy that escape all psychological determinism.

Going further:

Article "Missionnaires et mystiques en Basse-Bretagne au XVIIe siècle. Les mystiques : Catherine Daniélou et Marie-Amice Picard", by Louis Kerbiriou, Études, vol. 188, Paris, 1926.

More information:

The Miracle Hunter, 1625
Chanoine Peyron, Catherine Daniélou au pays de Vannes: d'après un manuscrit du père Maunoir, Vannes, 1906.
Histoire de Catherine Daniélou, morte en odeur de sainteté et inhumée dans l'église de Saint-Guen, au diocèse de Saint-Brieuc: d'après le R.P. Julien Maunoir, adapté et édité par l'abbé Perrot, R. Prud'homme, 1913.
Louis Kerbiriou, Les Missions bretonnes, Paris, 1933.
Patrick Sbalchiero, "Quimper (France, Bretagne, Finistère)", in Dictionnaire des "apparitions" de la Vierge Marie, Paris, Fayard, 2007, p. 787.