EVERYWHERE PEOPLE WAITING The Life Story of Helen de Chappotin Foundress of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.
The spirit which moved Helen de Chappotin to accomplish so much in the space of one short lifetime is perhaps best exemplified in the very title of this heart-warming biography by Sister Agnes Willmann. Helen de Chappotin appeared even as a child, to be a symbol of Christ's love for the poor and needy.
Later, known as Mother Mary of the Passion, Helen was sustained by an unwavering faith in her mission, which she found epitomized in the motto: Truth and Charity.
This book is a penetrating study of one spirited woman's struggle against sometimes insurmountable odds: her struggle to be of help to others.
Helen de Chappotin was born over a century ago, the youngest of five children, in the small town of Nantes in Brittany. Sister Willmann artfully traces the early life of this youthful "messenger of mercy" throughout the blissful days at her childhood home of Chateau du Fort. It was here that Helen established inseverable bonds with the poor and the elderly.
Her mother's influence was of unusual importance in Helen's formative years, since it was she who instructed Helen by setting a worthy example of generosity and love. For example, she relates: "My mother never permitted one of her children to hold resentment. If anything happened during the day for which another might be harboring hurt feelings, someone always had to ask forgiveness before bedtime. And someone always did." Thus, we have one of Helen's earliest lessons in the value of forgiveness, a virtue which she was to have need of frequently throughout her life.