Adèle Euphrasie Barbier

Adèle Euphrasie Barbier (religious name Mother Mary of the Heart of Jesus) (4 January 1829 – 18 January 1893) was a New Zealand Roman Catholic religious sister, teacher and founder of a congregation of religious sisters.

Servant of God Adèle Euphrasie Barbier RNDM
Born	Adèle Euphrasie Barbier (1829-01-04)4 January 1829 Caen, Calvados, France
Died	18 January 1893(1893-01-18) (aged 64) Sturry, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Adèle was born in Caen, France, on 4 January 1829.[1] Adèle Euphrasie Barbier was the founder of Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions.[2] She worked in a laundry when she was 13 and opened her own laundry at home when she was 17.

Ever since she was a little girl Euphrasie had wanted to be a missionary.[3] At 19 years of age she set off to Paris to join the congregation of the Sisters of Calvary which was just founded in 1840 by Fr Nicolas Chantome. On 6 August 1849 she became Sister Marie of the Heart of Jesus.[4]

In 1851, she travelled to London to learn English, in preparation for her missionary work. In 1860, she took over the Catherine Boys orphanage in Rectory Road, Deal, Kent, founding a convent which later ran St Ethelburga's and St. Mary's schools.[5]

From 1872-1886, she lived and worked in New Zealand, founding convents, schools and orphanages across the country.[1]

She died at St Ann's Convent in Westbere, Kent, England on 18 January 1893.[1]