Marie-Madeleine Postel
French saint
Feast: 16 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Julie-Françoise-Catherine Postel was born in Normandy on 28 November 1756 to a modest family of fishermen, and from youth taught children the catechism.
In the Revolution, when priests were expelled around Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, she hid persecuted priests and helped them escape to England, and spent everything she had on the sick and the faithful. When peace returned she founded, and governed in extreme poverty, the Daughters of Mercy.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A fisherman's daughter who kept the faith alive in the Revolution and then founded a teaching order.
Connected on this site
- Placide Viel Saint“Viel joined the Sisters of the Christian Schools in 1833 with the order's founder and mother general Saint Marie-Madeleine Postel being her aunt and served alongside her in various capacities.” — Wikipedia
- Marta Le Bouteiller Blessed“Aimée-Adèle Le Bouteiller (2 December 1816 - 18 March 1883) was a French religious sister of the Sisters of Marie-Madeleine Postel.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Maria Maddalena Postel
- Wikidata Q456249 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Marie-Madeleine Postel (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.