December 8th, one of our own French Little Sisters, Sr. Paul Helene will be recognized by the
Church and will be Beatified along with 18 other Algerian martyrs who were assassinated
between 1994 – 1996. She and Br. Henri Vergès, a Marist, died on May 8th, 1994. They were
the first martyrs of Algeria. The vigil at 8 p.m. on Friday the 7th of December, at the Cathedral
Sainte Marie d’Oran, (Algeria) and the Beatification mass at Notre Dame de Santa Cruz at 1 p.m.
on Saturday the 8th of December will be transmitted in live by KTO (French catholic TV
channel).
Sr. Paul-Hélène Saint-Raymond, Little Sister of the Assumption
A Parisian, Sr. Paul-Hélène, born on January 24, 1927, entered the Little
Sisters of the Assumption after completing her studies in engineering. Her
first assignments had her serving working families in France during which
time she studied nursing as well. Arriving in Algiers just after Independence
in 1964, she worked as a nurse for 30 years in Algeria, but also in Morocco
and for a brief time in Tunisia. She was the head of a medical center in a
suburb of Algiers where she was so involved that her sisters had to urge her to slow down for
fear that she would burn them out together with the rest of the staff. She would provide
nursing care in homes, was responsible for assigning work to the staff, practiced minor surgery,
got involved in trying to resolve social issues of clients like pensions and social security, and
spent much effort in rehabilitating and equipping the physically handicapped.
She was vat the service of all, unfailingly generous, extremely logical, quite intelligent, and
possessing a phenomenal memory. Nevertheless, her frankness itself, her outspokenness, and
frequent lack of tact could cause problems in her relationships and her unbending character
made it difficult at times to live with her in community. But her humility, fraternal spirit, and
capacity for dialogue largely compensated for these shortcomings. Her broad education and
prodigious memory led to her nickname, « Madame Encyclopédie ». The depth of her faith
helped her overcome many an interior struggle.
In 1988, she rejoined the community of Belcourt in Algiers where she worked at the diocesan
library in the Casbah district of Algiers with Br. Henri Vergès, a Marist brother. Reflecting on
the challenge of the violence all around her, she once wrote that « one must begin by
addressing her own violence ». To Bishop Teissier who had warned her of possible dangers
ahead, she responded, « In any case, Father, we have already given over our lives ».
She was killed in the library on May 8, 1994 at the beginning of the afternoon, by a bullet to the
head fired by Muslim terrorists who had entered disguised as policemen.
On January 26, 2018, together with 18 other brother and sister Algerian martyrs, Pope Francis
recognized their death in odium fidei, thus allowing for their beatification.
Our International Council in Paris invites us to participate in the celebration of Paul Helene’s
life: “We are proposing to you for the 8th or 9th of December 2018, that in the parishes you
attend, you ask the Person in Charge of liturgy if you can give a prayer intention at the mass or
a little testimony to Paul-Hélène so that, wherever we are, each one may be in communion
with that event which seeks to express that to give one’s life has meaning so that love may
triumph over all divisions.
Our thanks to all of you for participating in one way or another in this event of the congregation
and of the universal Church.”
Let us welcome this event that is given to us. Let us rejoice in the Congregation, with the family
of Sister Paul Hélène and the whole Church for receiving the testimony of love of our sister and
of all those who have given their life. We honor those whom we know, but we also know very
well that many men and women, unknown, have also given their life in the name of freedom
and kindship.
They had given their life to Christ and to the Algerian people, and they remained faithful to that
commitment right up to the trial of violence that disfigured Algeria during the dark decade. The
whole Catholic Church today recognizes the strength of the testimony (“martyr” means
“witness”), that of a Christian life lived in the midst of the Muslim people.
“These beatifications say that hatred is not the right response to hatred, that there is not an
inescapable spiral of violence. They are meant to be a step towards pardon and towards peace
for all human beings, starting from Algeria but going beyond the borders of Algeria. They are a
prophetic word for our world.”
At her funeral in 1994, Sr. Aliette de Saint-Gilles said:
“A single word characterises the person of Paul-Hélène: dedicated. So, this morning, I can only
share with you my thanksgiving for this life of silence, love and respect that was brought to an
end so brutally on Sunday the 8th of May. Paul-Hélène went to her Lord with her two hands and
arms wide open. She died as she had lived, that is, impetuously, completely given, at her
pace. Thanksgiving for the time of companionship experienced at Ben Cheneb with Henri, Michel
and all the team. Thanksgiving for that time of love, because she loved, unto death, the people
of Algeria and the Maghreb. She loved them with all she was, with what was dark and what was
bright, the youth of the Kasbah and the people of Belcourt, our district. She loved them right to
the end.”
