06/17/2026
Today is St. Emily de Vialar’s feast day!
Raised during the French Revolution and brought up Catholic secretly, Emily had to leave school at age 15 to care for her family and home after her mother’s death since her father’s grief had incapacitated him completely. He wanted Emily to marry, but she had other plans.
After years of arguing, Emily used a large inheritance from her grandfather to found a religious order with three other women. She used the money to buy a house that they used to educate and house children who were orphaned or neglected.
Emily joined her brother in Algeria to provide aid during a Cholera Epidemic later in her life, and was horrified by the way that France’s colonization of the country had destroyed it. Moved to do something about this, she and the sisters traveled to set up more schools and hospitals in Beirut, Tripoli, and Cyprus.
After establishing nearly 40 houses, Emily and the sisters went bankrupt due to her financial manager’s mismanagement of her inheritance. The women lost everything and were forced to beg at soup kitchens run by other sisters, which also tarnished their reputation. Near the end of her life, other leaders in religious life who believed in Emily and her message helped her to rebuild the order.
