Bl. Delphine

A member of the Third Order of St. Francis, born in Provence, France, in 1284; died 26 November, 1358. Left an orphan in her infancy, she was placed under the guardianship of her uncles, and under the direction of her aunt, the Abbess of St. Catherine of Sorbo. She grew up in the practice of every virtue, and took a vow of virginity which she kept faithfully to the end of her life. In her twentieth year she was married to Elzéar, Count of Sarban, and the couple, having received the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, lived together in the edifying practice of prayer, penance, and charity towards the poor until the death of St. Elzéar in 1323. After the death of her husband, Blessed Delphine sold all her vast possessions for the benefit of the poor and retired first to Naples and then to Cabrières. She finally returned to Apt where her husband had been buried. During the last years of her life she endured the greatest sufferings without the slightest complaint or sign of impatience. The cult that had long been paid to Blessed Delphine was confirmed by Pope Urban V, godson of St. Elzéar. Her feast is kept in the Franciscan Order on the twenty-seventh of November.

STEPHEN M. DONOVAN