Rose Philippine Duchesne was born in Grenoble, France, in 1769. After preparing for her first communion at the Visitation convent, she joined the cloistered order despite her missionary calling, but the French Revolution closed it, leading her to serve Grenoble’s destitute for a decade. In 1804, she met Madeleine Sophie Barat, forming an instant soul friendship; Philippine joined the Society of the Sacred Heart and sailed to the New World in 1818 with four companions. There, she founded the first Catholic schools west of the Mississippi and grew the Society in the U.S., though frontier hardships delayed her dream of living among Native Americans until 23 years later with the Potawatomi. Despite physical and psychological tolls—and her self-doubt as a leader—she died in 1852 feeling a failure, yet history honors her: Native Americans called her “the woman who prays always,” her schools seeded a global network, and the Society thrives internationally. Canonized in 1988, she exemplifies enduring mission.
