Though it is not well-known, there has always been a sizable black Catholic population in this country. Many slaves were already Catholics when they were captured. Others took the religion of their Catholic masters, who owned slaves despite the Church's constant teaching against unjust servitude. Finally, many converted to Catholicism because of the missionary work nuns and priests did among the slaves and free black men and women. In turn, some of these decided that they had a vocation to the religious life, and ended up converting many more.

    One such Catholic was a free, beautiful, and educated woman named Henriette Delille. Born in 1813 as the youngest of three children conceived out of wedlock by her mother Marie Diaz, Henriette lived in a comfortable home. As a young girl, she was taught to converse intelligently about French literature, to have refined taste in music, and to dance gracefully. She learned all of the social graces, the tenets of the Catholic faith, and various nursing skills.

    Though her mother wanted Henriette to marry (or at least to contract a liaison with a wealthy man such as she had done), God had different plans for her.

    In 1824, Delille met Sister St. Martha Fontier, a French nun whose Christian faith and acts of charity to Sister's black neighbors greatly impressed Henriette and introduced to her a truly heroic form of love - vowed celibacy.

    Fontier taught Delille to not only know but to cherish her religion. she also showed her the value of missionary work among her race. The lessons must have taken. By the time she was 14, Henriette was a lay catechist, teaching salves on plantations about Christianity. While her sister Cecilia was dancing at balls, Henriette was visiting and aiding the sick and the aged, as well as catechizing poor freed blacks and slaves. Because it was against the law to educate slaves, Delille would act out stories from the Bible and history as a means of teaching them about salvation through Jesus Christ. She and others would also walk up and down the levees of the Mississippi River to conduct roving catechism classes.

    While many free blacks who were of mixed race would try to pass themselves off as white, Henriette was proud of the fact that she was black. Because of this and the fact that she refused to attend balls or seek the love and support of a wealthy white man, her mother feared that she would end up in poverty. Her mother was prophetic.

    In 1836, after her mother died, Henriette sold all of her property, and attempted to form a religious community with a small group of friends. Unfortunately, this failed. Some members left for France to be nuns, and others chose different vocations. Henriette and her friend, Juliette Gaudine, another free black woman, retained their dream to live a life devoted to poverty, chastity, obedience, and service of the poor and enslaved. Delille wrote at this time, "I believe in God. I hope in God. I love and I want to live and die for God."

    Finally, in 1842, her attempts at forming a religious order were successful, but only just so. Calling themselves the Sisters of the Holy Family, the nuns were subject to ridicule, hard work, and extreme poverty. At times, the sisters had so little food that they drank sweetened water at night to dull their hunger. They were happy, however, because they were making these sacrifices for God and were sharing in the Passion of Jesus Christ, to whom they had consecrated their lives.

    Within a few years, Henriette had opened a home for the aged, the sick, and the poor who had nowhere else to go. She was later able to purchase a home, which she used as a community center where slaves and free black people came to socialize and learn the Christian faith. The religious community found creative ways to keep money coming in, holding lotteries and fairs. Her sister Cecilia, by this time the mistress of a rich Austrian businessman, introduced her to many wealthy people who gave generously to her cause. That the Sisters of the Holy Family accomplished so much in a time of tremendous obstacles is even more impressive when one considers that for the first seven years there were only three of them.

    Although Delille had always suffered from poor health, she refused to slow down so long as there were souls who needed her ministry. Finally, worn out by her work, Henriette died on November 17, 1862. In her obituary it was written, "The crowd gathered for her funeral testified by its sorrow how keenly felt was the loss of her who for the love of Christ had made herself the humble servant of slaves."

    Last fall, the American bishops voted unanimously to endorse "the appropriateness and timeliness" of Mother Henriette's cause for sainthood. After a formal biography is submitted, the Vatican will appoint historians and theologians to review it for thoroughness and accuracy. If everything is in order, then a study must be written on the virtues Delille possessed. If the Vatican's Congregation for the Cause of Saints and the pope approve, then she could be called "Venerable."

    At this point, the Church would place the material aside and wait for a sign from God that its decision was correct: At least two miracles - such as a cure for a disease for which no medical explanation is possible - are required. If canonized, Henriette Delille will be the first native-born Black American saint.

    Today, the Sisters of the Holy Family continue to operate in the United States and several South American countries. What Mother Henriette Delille started with little more than faith and her love of Jesus Christ has become a lasting tribute to what such faith can produce.

(Source: Modern Saints, Tan Books, Rockford, Illinois, 1983)

Franciscan University of Steubenville