Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament

{{Infobox saint

|honorific_prefix = Servant of God

|name = Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament

|honorific_suffix = OSB

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1614|12|31|df=yes}}

|death_date = {{death date and age|1698|4|6|1614|12|31|df=yes}}

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|venerated_in = Roman Catholic Church

|image = Catherine de Bar.jpg

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|birth_place = Saint-Die, Vosges, France

|death_place = Paris, France

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Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament, born Catherine de Bar (31 December 1614 – 6 April 1698) was a French nun, the founder of the order of Benedictine Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. She is recognized as the Servant of God in the Catholic Church.

Life

Catherine de Bar was born at Saint-Dié, Lorraine in northeastern France,[https://www.cenacleosb.org/mother-mectilde "Mother Mectilde De Bar", Silverstream Priory] on 31 December 1614, the third child of Jean and Marguerite de Guillon de Bar. They belonged to the lower nobility.

At the age of seventeen, Catherine joined the Annonciade at Bruyères, taking the name Sister Catherine of Saint-John the Evangelist. Two years later, she was made mother-superior there. In May 1635, Mother de Bar, and the nuns of the convent in Bruyères were forced to flee before the Swedish army. Some nuns exhausted by hardships fell ill with the plague. Catherine de Bar and five other nuns found shelter with the Benedictines in Rambervillers. Invited to join that religious community, they did so, Catherine taking the new name of "Mechtilde".[https://www.oudemunt.nl/mother-mectilde/ "Moeder Mechtildis", Priorij Nazareth, Tegelen]

In 1653 in Paris she founded the Order of the Benedictine Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13344b.htm Georges. "Saint-Dié." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 1 Oct. 2015 This was the first society formally organized for the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01152a.htm McMahon, Joseph. "Perpetual Adoration." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 October 2015]Addis, William E., A Catholic Dictionary, Thomas Arnold 2004 {{ISBN|0-7661-9380-2}} p. 656

Works

Mectildiana - collected works of Mechtilde in 13 volumes.{{Cite web |title=M. Mechtylda od Najśw. Sakramentu (Katarzyna de Bar) 1614 – 1698 — Benedyktynki Sakramentki |url=https://www.benedyktynki-sakramentki.org/o-nas/m-mechtylda-od-najsw-sakramentu/ |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=www.benedyktynki-sakramentki.org|date=4 October 2011 }}

Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament

Life

Works

See also

References

Further reading