History of the Congregation
Jeanne Haze was born in Liege, Belgium on 28th February 1782. Jeanne had a happy childhood and her family united and well off but the peace was shattered by the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1794
The family was scattered and they lost everything. Jeanne Haze came through all these trials with a newfound inner freedom. She became more aware of others and responsive to their needs.
After the years of trial and sorrow, it was the Cross, which attracted her as the outstanding Sign of the everlasting love of God for each of His children. Jeanne recognized in this a call from God. Jeanne was convinced that God wanted the new Congregation to bear the title “Daughters of the Cross” and she took her name as Marie Therese
Besides her sister Ferdinande (Sr. Aloysia), three other companions (Sisters Constance, Clara and Julienne) shared her hopes and desires. At the age of 51 she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross on 8th September 1833.
Jeanne Haze, Blessed Marie Therese - Foundress of the Daughters of the Cross of Liege
She was born in Liege on 28th February 1782. Two things marked her childhood. The first was the happiness and security she experienced as a child in a loving family. This was to give her spiritual strength throughout her life.
The second was the menacing atmosphere of the French revolution its terrible consequences, exile in Germany, the death of her father – the misery and insecurity caused by this. The family lost everything and Jeanne became aware of the transit nature of material belongings. This was her first experience of suffering. Henceforth, the cross was planted at the heart of her life.
Vocation
She became aware of her vocation very early in her life. Along with her Sister Ferdinande, she dreamt of a religious life and refused all offers of marriage. Despite numerous obstacles, their faith was unshakeable: “God wishes it, so it will happen”.
Their experience of the Cross-led Jeane and Ferdinande towards those most in need. They eagerly accepted the request made by Dean Cloes of St. Barthelemy in Liege, to open a school for poor children.
Consecration
Other young women joined Jeanne and her Sister. Father Habets, the curate of the parish of St. Barthelemy, was initially opposed to their desire for a religious life, but he quickly changed his mind and collaborated in the writing of the first Constitutions of the future “Daughters of the Cross”. On September 8th 1833, Jeanne and her sister made their perpetual vows and received the names Mother Marie Therese and Mother Aloysia. Sisters Clara and Constance made their temporary vows for one year and two postulants entered the Novitiate. The Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross-thus came into being.
Poverty-Simplicity – obedience
Her extreme generosity of heart led Mother Marie Therese to choose a way of life that was both simple and poor. For her poverty never meant meanness. Her simplicity, rooted in a deep spiritual life, freed her from any artificiality or sentimentality. Her conception of obedience was inspired by that of St. Ignatius. This is an obedience based on humility and guided by a living faith in God and is a sure guarantee of selflessness and disinterested service.
At the foot of the Cross…
Mother Marie- Therese embraced with the same love Jesus crucified and suffering humanity. This motivated both her selfless charity and her identity with all the have-nots of this world.
She was not given to long speeches. Any idea of propaganda was foreign to her. She never showed
the slightest sign of any personal vanity. She spoke and wrote little, her lie was rather one of prayer and action. Her very discretion was one of her great attractions. Above all she was noted for her deep humility. It was the touchstone of her faith, of her love and of her trust.
Prayer…
Marie Therese’s life was dominated by her perfect trust and her abandonment to Providence. When events required her to make a decision, she immediately prayed to God, asking Him to help her “see clearly” and to find an answer. In this way, she always saw her apostolic life as under the direction of the Lord, “ God started the work and He will finish it” Mary, at the foot of the Cross, bore witness to a life entirely given up to God and to others. “It is with Mary that she drew from this abundant source of love that was both tender and generous”.
Service
“God must be served first”, she would say, because of the absolute priority she gave to God, her responses were spontaneous and often unconventional. The only thing that mattered in her eyes was that her heart should desire only what God desired, and she should refuse Him nothing. Her generous service to all become the outward sign of God’s hold on her life. She was ready to serve all comers in a spirit of love and respect, first in Belgium and later in Germany, India and England. She served children in need, prisoners, cholera suffers, prostitutes and beggars, soldiers wounded on the battlefield
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Love…
Her fraternal charity was inspired by Jesus who so loved her. She knew how to encourage, how to comfort and console. Behind all her actions lay love, a spirit of poverty and a desire to served promptly. Her great sense of priority freed her from any self-centeredness. On January 7th, 1876, Mother Marie Therese died at the age of 94. The Congregation she had found was flourishing.
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She was beatified in Rome, on April 21, 1991
The Body was taken on the restored Chapel on April 21, 1993, 49 rue Hors –Chateau in Liege. and on 29th April 2017, her body was translated to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Liege, in a solemn
Procession.
What enables the Daughters of the Cross to transmit the message of Blessed Marie Therese to the world today?
Confident and assiduous prayer
Humility, the virtue proper to the Congregation
Having for their model the crucified and risen Christ.
The recognition in the sufferings of every person in the sufferings of Christ
Prayer had enriched Mother Marie Therese’s life and activity and thus she has handed over to her Daughters as follows….
Recognising and welcoming the tender love of the Lord…
Offering oneself to Him, giving oneself up to Him in total confidence. Being attentive to God’s Word. Setting forth.
Celebrating and participating in the Eucharist.
Sharing the very mind of Christ and the hopes, suffering and joys of every man, woman and child.
Mary was her teacher in her openness to the Holy Spirit. “Mary is the shining star which lights the way to Salvation (to Jesus)” She would tell her Sisters.
Today, in a world, which is increasingly turned towards technology and automation, prayer represents a vital source of strength and hope in the lives of the Daughters of the Cross.
Their daily bread is the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist and thus the mission of Jesus becomes their mission.
In their personal prayer, the Daughters of the go to meet Jesus, to unite with Him in His prayer to the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Allowing themselves to be transformed by their prayers.
With Mary, at the foot of the Cross-, they will contemplate “him whom they have pierced”, uniting themselves with Jesus in order to enter into his love for the Father and all humanity. This love led him from the crib and by the Cross, to the Resurrection and his entry into Glory.
Each day the community comes together to celebrate the Prayer of the Church. Through the Psalms they join in the very prayer of Christ, and by this common prayer they are linked to the whole Church and the whole world.
We , the consecrated women as Daughters of the Cross abandoning oneself to the love of Christ which still leaves freedom to desire to love and to create; offering Him one’s whole life, right down to the very depths of the one’s being.
Committing oneself in faith and confidence to live life fully with Him and through Him, in the carrying out of the apostolic mission.
Keeping alive, in the reality of each passing day, the certainty that one belongs to only to Him and allowing Him to write one’s personal story.
The contemplation of Jesus” from the Cross” was that which gave inspiration to the whole life of Mother Marie-Therese.
Thus she learnt the secret which had inspired Jesus throughout His life; love of the Father and love of others, especially those who count for nothing in the eyes of this world.
Fired by this love, Mother-Marie Therese was filled with one desire to love as Jesus loved, to love those whom Jesus loved, to love that which Jesus loved.
Today, young women continue to follow in the footsteps of Mother Marie Therese.
Living in a rapidly evolving world there is constantly faced with new challenges. Each Daughter the Cross is thus challenged to deepen her faith, understanding to develop her talents and so to allow herself to become a better instrument of God’s mission.
Sensitive to the signs of the times and in a creative fidelity to their Foundress’s charism, their mission is to proclaim the Good News and to work for social justice.