Marie Deluil-Martiny

From her youth, Marie Deluil-Martiny was actively involved in the propagation of the faith. In 1864, she collaborated closely with the Visitandine sister Marie du Sacré-Cœur Bernaud to spread the Honor Guard of the Sacred Heart, a prayer association of which she became the first zealot. Her zeal allowed her to obtain the support of numerous religious figures, including Saint Madeleine-Sophie Barat. However, her spiritual intuition led her to found an entirely new work. Due to the political unrest agitating France, she went into exile in Belgium and, on June 20, 1873, in Berchem near Antwerp, founded the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus. This contemplative congregation is dedicated to the perpetual adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament and to spiritual reparation. In 1879, she established the third monastery of her institute in Marseille, at the La Serviane estate, a family property she had inherited. She installed her community there to continue this mission of intercession and spiritual support for priests.

The spiritual journey of Marie Deluil-Martiny is characterized by an absolute desire for annihilation in God and intimate union with the Passion of Christ. Guided by spiritual directors such as Father Sylvain Giraud and the Jesuit Jean Calage, she developed a theology of offering and reparation to compensate for the offenses committed against divine love and the rejection of God in modern society. Her spirituality is also marked by devotion to the "Virgin Priest" or Virgin associated with the divine sacrifice, a concept stemming from the French School of spirituality. Marie of Jesus conceived religious life as an immolation of love, where the sisters offer themselves as living hosts in union with Jesus, Priest and Victim. Her reputation for holiness, already great during her lifetime due to her charity and humility, grew considerably after her tragic death, perceived by her contemporaries as a true martyrdom of love and forgiveness.

The cause for the beatification of Marie Deluil-Martiny was officially introduced in 1921. The decree on the heroic nature of her virtues was promulgated on October 23, 1987. Subsequently, a miracle attributed to her intercession was officially recognized by a decree on September 7, 1989. On October 22, 1989, on the occasion of World Mission Sunday, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her blessed during a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. During his homily, the Sovereign Pontiff highlighted her exceptional spiritual journey, recalling that she was convinced of the need to participate in the redemptive suffering of the Crucified in a spirit of reparation for the sins of the world. Her liturgical feast is set for February 27, the anniversary of her birth into Heaven.

The spiritual legacy of Marie Deluil-Martiny remains alive through the Congregation of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus, which has spread to several European countries, notably France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. Initially buried in the family vault in Marseille, her body was transferred to Berchem in 1899. During her exhumation on March 4, 1989, in view of her beatification, her remains were discovered intact and supple. Her body was long preserved in a glass reliquary within the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Berchem, Belgium, before being transferred on September 28, 2013, to the motherhouse of her congregation in Rome, where it now rests. The Serviane monastery in Marseille also remains a major site of memory and contemplative prayer, bearing witness to the fruitfulness of her sacrifice and her message of reparatory love.