Jeanne-Germaine Castang

Sister Marie-Céline of the Presentation, née Jeanne Germaine Castang (23 May 1878, Nojals-et-Clotte-30 May 1897, Talence), was a religious Sister of the Poor Clares.^[1]

Life

Castang's father was a small landowner, her mother was from a family of notaries. She was the fifth child of the couple.

At age 4, she was infected with poliomyelitis, which left her paralyzed in the left leg and with a permanent limp. However, she continued her education, firstly from her parents, then later at the Sisters of St. Joseph where she was already notable for her piety and devotion to the Eucharist.

Her father had tried to start a business, but having made bad deals, he had to leave home and seek work at Bordeaux as a baker, where his family subsequently joined him. Of the couple's 11 children, three died at Nojals-et-Clotte and two others in Bordeaux from tuberculosis and malnutrition. The eldest daughter was able to join the convent of the Sisters of St.Joseph at Aubenas.

Castang had been supported by a charity in a hostel in Bordeaux where she prepared for her First Communion and Confirmation. She spent the next five years as a boarder with the Sisters of Nazareth. Upon the death of her mother in December 1892, when she was only 12, she came home to care for her older brother, who was suffering from tuberculosis and died from it in 1893. It was at this stage of her life that she herself probably contracted the disease, too. Castang tried to join her sister in the Order of St Joseph at Aubenas, but she was rejected because of her disability.

As a child, Castang had always wanted to become a religious sister, and hoped to join the Poor Clares. She had the opportunitythrough a friend to visit a Poor Clare in their Ave Maria community-monastery at Talence near Bordeaux. The Mother Superior discerned in Castang a remarkable vocation and she was admitted to the community of Talence, on 12 June 1896 where she took her vows, on November 21, 1896 under the name of Sister Marie Celine of the Presentation. The Community in Talence is today incorporated into the Community of Poor Clares at Perpignan.

Afflicted with tuberculosis, in addition to her other disabilities, she bore with patience the rigor of the life of a contemplative nun, welcoming with humility and discretion the supernatural manifestations which she was privileged to be subjected.

A doctor was called, after the Superior became aware of the deterioration of her health, but to no avail. Sister Marie-Celine was permitted to make her final vows on her deathbed. The diagnosis was tuberculosis of the bone. She died in Talence on May 30, 1897, aged 19.

She wrote just before his death to his sister: " I die without regret, I'll meet you in heaven ... Up there, I won’t forget anyone ...".

Her burial place at the Convent of the Poor Clares of Talence swiftly became a pilgrimage destination. In June 2006, her body was transferred to the parish church of Nojals-et-Clottes.

Beatification

Castang was declared Venerable on 22 January 1957 by Pope Pius XII. In December 2006, Pope Benedict XVI received the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, and issued a decree recognizing eight miracles attributed to her intercession. Castang was beatified on September 16, 2007 at the Cathedral of Bordeaux, in the presence of Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, special envoy of the Pope, Archbishop of Bordeaux and President of the Conference of Bishops of France.

Notes

1. ↑ Bernard Peyrous: La sainte de Bordeaux : Marie-Céline de la Présentation (1878-1897); p. 19; Édition de l'Emmanuel; 2007)

Sources

• Prions en Église - Numéro 249 - septembre 2007 - Éditions Bayard

External links

• Biography at Vatican's website
• Illustrations and biography (French)