Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier de Ages
French saint
Feast: 26 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Jeanne-Élisabeth Bichier was born on 5 July 1773 at the Château des Ages, Le Blanc, in Berry, and learned from her parents a love for the poor and suffering. During the French Revolution she helped St André-Hubert Fournet to carry on his ministry in secret.
When peace returned to the Church she founded the Daughters of the Cross in 1807, to teach the poor and nurse the sick. At her death on 26 August 1838 they had ninety-nine houses in twenty-three dioceses.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A noblewoman who shared the risks of a hunted priest and then gave her life to the poor.
Connected on this site
- Andrew Fournet Saint“Together with Andrew Fournet, she founded the Sisters of the Cross, Sisters of St.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Giovanna Elisabetta Bichier des Ages
- Wikidata Q451365 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Joan Elizabeth Bichier des Âges (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.