Marie-Rose, Stigmatisée de Woonsocket' : The Construction of a Franco-American Saint Cult, 1930-1955

Kaell, Hillary

From a publication of the Canadian Catholic Historical Association. Essay that situates the early-twentieth-century "mystic stigmatic" figure of Marie-Rose Ferron in a Franco American religious history. Using Ferron's biography as measure, Kaell sees the fringe cult around her, as well as her failed canonization, in contrast with the popular saintly tradition of the Canadian Thérièse of Lisieux. Kaell teases out this and other comparisons between Franco and Québécois religiosity and nationalism using Ferron's life and history. From the author: "First, this paper is an examination of how a hagiographer, Onésime Boyer, worked to create a saint cult that ultimately ended in failure. Second, and more importantly, this paper uses Boyer's construction of Rose's cult to provide a window into Franco-American Catholic culture that was incorporating wider trends, like 'victimhood,' and anchoring itself firmly in an American milieu. Finally, this paper raises a number of questions for further study, urging more comprehensive analyses of Franco-American history and religion."

2007

en

Journal Article

1930-1955; Woonsocket, Rhode Island

Historical Studies

;

0827-1704

73