The Life of St. Philippine Duchesne
1769: Duchesne born in Grenoble, France
1788: Duchesne entered convent to be trained and educated for a religious life
1792: Returned home due to the conflict during the French Revolution/The Reign of Terror when all religious life and community was banned
1802: Joined the Society of the Sacred Heart, founded by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
1815: Founded first Sacred Heart convent in Paris
1817: Bishop DuBourg (Bishop over the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas) visited Duchesne’s convent and Paris and Duchesne begged Barat to let her go
1818: Left France for the US with 4 other nuns, arrived in US, and opened first free school west of the first free school established west of the Mississippi River in St. Charles, MO
1819: After a hard winter Bishop DuBourg found land closer to St. Louis in Florissant, MO. Duchesne was directed to open a new school in Florissant. A convent was built and Duchesne and the nuns moved in December. The convent also served as a day school on the first floor and boarding school on the second floor
1820: Opened Novitiate for girls to study to become nuns on the 3rd floor of the convent
1821: Opened Convent school Grand Coteau, LA
1825: Opened convent school, St. Michael’s (LA) and the Native American girl’s school was opened in Florissant. The Native American school closed after Native Americans in Missouri ceded their land to the federal government in exchange for territory farther west and lack of funding for Native girls’ education by the US government
1825: Duchesne writes Barat and says that the policy of the US government is to drive all the Indians out of the settled states. Agents buy their land and push them to uninhabited regions. With this the Indian school closes, but enrollment in the boarding school at FLorissant continued to grow
1827: Opened academy and orphanage in St. Louis, Missouri funded by John Mullanphy
Photo courtesy of Mo Historical society
1828: Convent and school in St. Charles reopened
1841: Went to Potawatomi in Sugar Creek (present day KS) who were forcibly removed from Indiana in 1838 and settled in KS
1842: Returned to convent in St. Charles
1846: Society of Sacred Heart nuns leave St. Ferdinand, much to Duchesne dismay to keep it open
1852: Duchesne died
1988: Duchesne canonized a saint, 4th saint from North America
St. Philippine Duchesne's feast day is November 18th
Mosaic of Duchesne in
Basilica Cathedral St. Louis
Photo courtesy of
St. Louis Magazine
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