| Mother Veronica of the Passion, O.C.D. | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sophie Leeves October 1, 1823 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | November 16, 1906 (aged 83) Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic nun |
Mother Veronica of the Passion, O.C.D. (1 October 1823 - 16 November 1906) founded the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel, a religious congregation of the Discalced Carmelite Third Order for women based in India.
She was born Sophie Leeves in 1823 in Constantinople, to the Reverend Henry Daniel Leeves, an Anglican chaplain to the British Embassy there, and to Marina Haultain, the daughter of a Colonel in British army.
When Sophie was in her teens a change came over her. She spent long hours in prayers. She was like a child crying for the light. Her spirit craved for something that was beyond her reach. She did not know what she wanted. God had his plans for her. "Easter Tuesday ended in a dark night" she writes. "I blew out the last candles. The house was still. Suddenly a clear but soft voice broke the stillness and I heard these words distinctly 'My peace I leave you; My peace I give you'. Then all was still again, the night as well as my heart".
She felt drawn to the Catholic Church, especially the sacraments of confession and Holy Communion. Mrs. Leeves and others were annoyed at this. But Sophie felt that God was leading her to unknown paths. She broke off the engagement she had made with a young and handsome naval officer.
She converted to Roman Catholicism on 2 February 1850 in Malta. The following year, she went to France and joined the Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, which had been founded in 1836 by Saint Emily de Vialar. Entering the novitiate of the congregation on September 14, 1851, she took the name Sister Mary Veronica of the Passion.
In 1863 she was assigned to teach at the congregation's foundation in India, sent at the request of Bishop Marie Antony, O.C.D., who had appealed to France for assistance to hand over the education of youth to religious. As a preliminary step he had bought a house at Calicut in 1860 and fitted it up for a convent and at the request of the people opened a school there on the 1st April 1862, calling it St.Joseph's. Mother Veronica and Sr.Mary Joseph after a long and tiring voyage and a brief halt at Mangalore arrived at Calicut on April 27th 1862, and took charge of St.Joseph's Convent.She served as the first Superior of the convent and was two years teaching at both Mangalore and Kozhikode.
There she met Fr. Marie Ephrem of the Sacred Heart Garrelon, O.C.D. He, along with the other Discalced Carmeltite friars who provided pastoral care for western India, had long envisioned a group of teaching Sisters to provide an education to the women and girls of the region. The friar felt that Sister Veronica was an excellent candidate to lead this effort, which coincided with Sister Veronica's own inner call to join the Carmelite Order.
After much reflection and anguish, Sister Veronica accepted the call to start such a foundation. She left the Sisters of St. Joseph and returned to France, where she entered the Discalced Carmel of Puy as a novice. After her profession, Sister Veronica embarked on the formation of a small group of European women who had joined to start the foundation in India, living in a house in Bayonne. They officially formed Congregation of the Sisters of the Carmelite Third Order Regular, known as the "Apostolic Carmel", on 16 July 1868, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
A small group of these Sisters left for India, under the leadership of Mother Mary of the Angels, A.C., who served as the first Superior General and novice mistress of the congregation. They arrived in India in 1870, about the same time as Father Ephrem was appointed as the local bishop.
In 1873, Mother Veronica rejoined the Carmel of Pau, where she died in 1906, at the age of 83.
Her congregation has grown and now has branches in various parts of India, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Pakistan, Kenya, Rome and Bahrain. The Congregation is governed under six Provinces and centrally administered by the General Team from the General Motherhouse, Bangalore, with Sr. Agatha Mary, A.C. as the present Superior General (2008).
Mother Veronica's cause of canonization was taken up by the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel in 1997.[1]