By Luz Maria Alcantar Lemus, Senior, Mount de Sales Academy, Macon, Georgia
Venerable Henriette DeLille was born on March 11, 1813, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the great, great-granddaughter of a slave from West Africa. However, she was born a free woman of color.
Her family was large but tight knit. Henriette grew up with a promising and well-established childhood. Her mother, Marie-Josèphe “Pouponne” Díaz, trained Henriette in music, French literature, and dancing. She hoped that her daughter would find a wealthy white suitor and enter into a common-law marriage.
To the displeasure of her mother, Henriette fell in love with and grew in her Catholic faith. Henriette began teaching at a Catholic school at the young age of 14 years old. She was confirmed in 1834 and immediately after she began to pursue religious life.
Giving her all to her religious calling, she sold her belongings and used the money to establish the Sisters of the Presentation in 1836; in 1842, she renamed the religious congregation the Sisters of the Holy Family. This order would become the second Black religious order established in the United States.
Henriette served as the order’s first mother superior. The founding of the order would not have been possible without the help and assistance of her friends, Josephine Charles and Juliette Gaudin. These women served enslaved and free people, children and adults.
They made the mission of the Sisters of the Holy Family to be the apostolic intentions of caring for the sick, helping the poor, and educating the ignorant.
The Sisters of the Holy Family established the Lafon Nursing Facility, which is the first and oldest Catholic nursing home in the United States. The sisters also educated enslaved people, which was illegal at that time. They did everything in their power to make sure that they could help others, even though they didn’t receive much support from the communities around them.
Venerable Henriette DeLille was well known for her prayer: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.” She lived her life to the fulfilment of these words.
About 20 years after establishing the order, Venerable Henriette DeLille passed away on November 17, 1862, in New Orleans, Louisiana, from tuberculosis. Her legacy would be an enduring inspiration to those all around her.
In 2010, she was declared venerable by Pope Benedict XVI. When Venerable Henriette DeLille is canonized, she will join Servants of God Julia Greeley and Sister Thea Bowman as the first United States-born African American saints.
Venerable Henriette DeLille has inspired many with her hard work and dedication. She dedicated her life to improving the welfare of her community, specifically the Black community, whether they were enslaved or free.
Henriette’s courage, kindness and humility should be emulated in our daily lives. Because of Venerable Henriette DeLille’s legacy, she will continue to inspire many people all over the world to always strive to do good and serve others.