Marie Rose Ferron

Ferron was born in Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Quebec, as the tenth child of a large and devout Catholic family which moved to Fall River, Massachusetts in 1906. It is said that she was six years old when she had her first vision of Jesus, as a child, carrying a cross. "He was looking at me with sadness in His eyes," she once said.[https://issuu.com/the_anchor/docs/05.13.11 Souza, Kenneth A. "Seventy-five Years, Later Little Roses Devotees Still Pray For Sainthood Cause", The Anchor, Fall River Diocese, May 13, 2011]

At the age of 13, Ferron was stricken with a mysterious paralysis and painful contraction of the muscles, forcing her to walk with crutches for several years until her twisted and clubbed feet confined her to a bed for the rest of her life. Because her muscles would sometimes painfully contract, making it very difficult to straighten once again, a flat board was placed on her narrow bed to which she was rigidly strapped. She also suffered an intestinal problem that made it difficult to digest solid food and contracted tetanus and pyorrhea.

The family relocated to Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 1925, where, the following year, her stigmata first appeared. By Lent 1927 the wounds began to appear regularly every Friday. Ferron lived in constant pain until her death in 1936 at the age of 33. The number of mourners attending her funeral attest to her popularity in the Franco-American community.[http://umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Historical%20Studies%20vol%2073%20Final%20(2).pdf Kaell, Hillary. "“Marie-Rose, Stigmatisée de Woonsocket”:The Construction of a Franco-American Saint Cult, 1930-1955", Historical Studies, Vol.73, The Canadian Catholic Historical Association, (2007)]

Her attempts at appearing to have stigmata (including a crown of thorns) were repeatedly photographed featuring what appears to be a stylized wire thorn pattern made from irritating the skin in the corresponding pattern. There are those that have considered her the first American stigmatist.{{sfn|Freze|1993|pp=251–252}}Religion and American cultures: an encyclopedia of traditions, Volume 1 by Gary Laderman, Luís D. León 2003 {{ISBN|1-57607-238-X}} page 336

An inquiry into the cause of Ferron's canonization was conducted by Bishop Russell McVinney of Providence, Rhode Island and ended in 1964 with the bishop deciding against further proceedings. The Diocese of Providence issued a formal decree stating that "any further action to promote the cause of Rose Ferron is not warranted."{{Cite web |last=Farzan |first=Antonia Noori |author-link=Antonia Noori Farzan |title=Woonsocket mystic "Little Rose" Ferron honored in local sculptor's latest creation |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/08/15/statue-honors-catholic-mystic-little-rose-ferron-woonsocket/8141920002/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}

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• Alexandrina of Balazar
• Anne Catherine Emmerich
• Faustina Kowalska
• Maria Domenica Lazzeri
• Maria Valtorta
• Marthe Robin
• Thérèse of Lisieux

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{{Reflist}}

• Jeanne S. Bonin, A Stigmatist: Marie-Rose Ferron Editions Paulines, 1988 {{ISBN|2-89039-161-2}}
• Rev. O.A. Boyer, She Wears a Crown of Thorns: Marie Rose Ferron, 1958 ASIN B0007I5UMS
• {{cite book |last=Freze |first=Michael |title=They bore the wounds of Christ |publisher=OSV Publishing |year=1993 |isbn=0-87973-422-1 }}
• [http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/03/marie-rose-ferron-american-mystic.html Marie Rose Ferron –American Mystic, Stigmatic and Visionary (1902-1936)]

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Category:Roman Catholic mystics

Category:Stigmatics

Category:1902 births

Category:1936 deaths

Category:20th-century Christian mystics

Category:People from Centre-du-Québec

Category:People from Woonsocket, Rhode Island

Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States

Category:American Christian mystics

Category:Catholics from Rhode Island