To Be Born and to Live: Eulalie Durocher (Simone Perras s.n.j.m. - translated)

To be born October 6, 1811
To take her place in history.
To receive the name Eulalie Mélanie Durocher.
To be the 10th child in the family.

To take root in a land:
Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, in Québec.
To have as parents: Olivier et Geneviève Durocher.
To live on a large property near Chemin du Roi.

To learn about God from a young age.
To love to pray at Church, under the tender gaze of her mother.
To contemplate God in the pleasures of nature, in meadows and rivers.
To visit her friends, the sick, the less fortunate.

To become friends with her sister Séraphine.
To allow herself to be pampered by her big brothers
Who easily adapted to her boisterous games.
To also do little favors for friends and relatives.

To listen to history lessons from her paternal grandfather,
a veteran of the Battle of Carillon,
a farmer, a doctor and a deputy of Verchères.
And then to cry over the loss of her beloved grandfather.

At ten years old, to take the ferry which led to Saint-Denis
To the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame.
To become a boarder, to make friends,
To receive instruction and religious formation.

To combine fragile health and a lively temperment.
To attempt to continue her studies at the Montreal convent.
To dream of becoming a religious like her sister Séraphine.
To fall sick. To return home. To seek her way.

At the age of eighteen, to suddenly lose her mother
To find herself as mistress of the home.
To forget her sorrow. To console her grieving father.
To put her talents to work.

At 20 years old, to leave her family home accompanied by her father
To assist her brother Théophile in the rectory of Beloeil.
For twelve years, to respond to the needs of the milieu
With the help of her friend Mélodie Dufresne.

At the age of thirty-two, to discover her mission as foundress
of a Congregation dedicated to the education of youth
under the patronage of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

Woman of fire and profound influence,
Who lived only six years in Longueuil
Under the beautiful name of Marie-Rose
And who, however, left a heritage still fully alive.