Sister Eugénie Caps
Her birth
Marie Eugénie Caps was born on June 3rd 1892, in Loudrefing, province of Lorraine in France, near the German border. A few days after her birth, she was baptized on 7th June in the parish of Loudrefing. Her family was poor but very Christian. Her mother is related to Blessed Jean Martin Moye, founder of the Congregations of Divine Providence of Portieux and Saint John of Bassel. Her father was an employee of the railway, more precisely barrier guard.
Childhood and adolescence
Her early childhood is happy, with her parents and two brothers Camille and Abel. The family prayed together, everything was oriented towards God. Eugenie attended the children’s school of the Sisters of Saint John of Bassel and was drawn to anything related to missions at a very young age. The missionary stories have a profound impression on her. From the first awakening of her reason, she is determined to devote herself to God. In her intimate notebook ‘‘My vocation’’ she recounts how one day she was sitting next to the sister, she looked: ‘‘I had a deep desire to one day be a sister too; from this moment, I can bring back my religious vocation’’.
The transfer of her father led the family to settle near Bouzonville where, Eugénie made her first communion on May 29th 1904. Two years later, on 31st May, she received the sacrament of Chrism fervently.
Eugénie’s first commitments
A new transfer of Mr. Caps to Ancy-sur-Moselle, forced the teenager to leave the boarding school in Bouzonville. She was introduced to office work and took sewing and knitting courses. But in 1910, she felt the pain of losing her father. Mrs. Caps then decides to return to Bouzonville and Eugénie becomes a breadwinner by working at the knitting machine and later returning to the bank of Crédit Boulonnais.
In Bouzonville, Eugénie finds her classmates and several of her friends attracted, like her, by the religious consecration for the mission. In 1912, the discovery of a poem signed by Bishop Le Roy, ‘‘I want to be a missionary’’, further strengthens her vocation. But in 1914, war broke out and it was out of question to go further in the realization of her projects of religious life. Meanwhile, Eugénie joined the Red Cross.
The call to found
Over the years, her missionary vocation strengthened and on April 25th 1915, the call became more precise. After communion, during her prayer of thanksgiving, she understands that God is calling her to found a new religious congregation that should be solely missionary. At first she feels great fear, and knows a real inner struggle before accepting this call of God. She finally accepted ‘‘whatever God wanted’’ on the advice of Father Eich, her spiritual director, vicar at the parish.
Eugénie Caps, foundress of the Spiritan Sisters
To be confirmed in this call of foundation, Eugénie asks a sign to God: the return of her brother, mobilized by the Germans. Now the war ended on November 11th 1918, and Camille returned safely. Eugénie declared then: “Now we must act!’’
During a missionary exhibition, Eugénie bought the biography of Father Libermann, founder of the Society of the Holy Heart of Mary, which merged in 1848 with the Congregation of the Holy Spirit: “Here is our spirit found!” she exclaimed. Father Libermann’s thought was similar to her. So she decided to address the Spiritan Fathers to advance in the project.
On October 20th 1920, in Paris, Eugénie and one of her friends met Bishop Le Roy, the Superior General of the Spiritan Fathers at that time. Bishop Le Roy sees Eugénie’s founding project as a providential event, since he was seeking missionary nuns for the territories newly entrusted to the Spiritans after the Treaty of Versailles.
Thus, on 6th January 1921, on the feast of the Epiphany, in Farschwiller (Lorraine region), after many steps and trials, Eugénie and two companions founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Spirit.
Subsequently, the novitiate was organized to form the very first Spiritan Sisters. In October 1924, Eugénie made her first vows in Béthisy-Saint-pierre in the Oise region. Since the Congregation was exclusively missionary, in 1924 the very first sisters were sent to Martinique, Cameroon and Switzerland. On October 5th 1930, Eugénie was admitted to pronounce her perpetual vows.
Eugénie, however, will know the painful fate of the “grain fallen in the ground” which bears much fruit, for she would never go on a distant mission, but would remain a foundress to the end by the sacrifice of her life offered to God and her sisters on mission.
In 1931, at the age of 38, serious health problems led to hospitalization. She was operated on after an intestinal obstruction and finally died on March 16th 1931 at the hospital in Sierre, Switzerland. Her remains were transferred to the cemetery of Nogent-sur-Marne, France, on September 29th 1967.
Although her life was brief, Eugénie Caps left a legacy of personal writings and correspondence that enabling us to discover the path of holiness that God had led her on through the foundation of the Congregation.
The desire to fulfill only the Will of God
What marks a first feature of Sister Eugénie Caps’ Spirituality is her determination to accomplish only the will of God. She abandoned her personal plans to join God’s plan to found a new Missionary Congregation. In April 1915, she wrote in her journal ‘‘My vocation’’: ‘‘For several days I struggled, unable to resign myself to say a generous Fiat, to accept this role of founding the Work, at the behest (demand) of Jesus. What I never hesitated, however, was to do his most Holy Will. I did not hesitate before any pain or sacrifice for the greater glory of God and the salvation of the poor souls”.
On July 13th 1915, Eugénie wrote this beautiful prayer, “Lord, you know what is most advantageous to me, let it happen at your pleasure. Give me what you want, when you want and how you want it. Do with me what will please you for my greatest good and for your greatest glory. Place me wherever you want and in all things dispose of me according to your will. May your will always be mine, may I follow it and conform to it in all things. May I have the same will with you, may it not be in my power to desire anything other than what you want.”
The missionary zeal
From an early age, Eugénie was attracted to the Missions. Over the years, her call for missionary life was confirmed to the point that she founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Spirit for the mission ad-extra only, that is to say abroad. At that time it was mainly the countries of Africa. She bears witness to this missionary zeal in her writings.
On April 2nd 1921 she said: “We belong entirely to this beautiful work of the Missions, we have only one goal: to work for the greater glory of God and the salvation of the abandoned souls of pagan Africa. God has filled my whole heart and I am burning with the desire to live for Him alone. I see how much Jesus loved me to the point of dying for me, to make me live in his love and through Him. How to return love to Him for love? Well, continuing to work in this new Work, I give myself entirely to it and thus I give myself entirely to God. My future is in the hands of my Creator. I walk on the path of sacrifice, but even more on that of love. My soul, go forward for God, with God and in God! Long live the Missions!”.
The pratical union
Very early on, Eugenie was inhabited by the desire and joy of a life very united to Jesus. In 1919, she discovered the writings of Father Libermann. She is amazed to read in his works the deep intuitions that inhabit her interior. This desire to live in everything with the Lord, Father Libermann calls this practical union. “The soul is practically united to God when, renouncing the impressions of natural life, it inspires and animates the acts of its life by the grace that dwells in it. It is thus united to God through pure charity which contains faith and hope”.
Once a novice, Sister Eugénie understood more deeply the practical union and lived it more and more. She writes in her Diary: “In these last days, I feel more and more how my soul unites with God during the course of the day, either in the chapel, or at work, or even in the many temptations, my soul always turns to God. This union with God facilitates the terrible struggle I have with my nature and my character that is not always easy to hold by the bridle… It is by practicing union with God that I become calmer and calmer.”
She adds: “What graces I receive here: graces of resignation to the most holy will of God, graces of recollection and union with God, grace of the spirit of prayer. A sweet peace invades my soul as well as a deep calm, I feel myself living in my God. I am faithful to the exercises of piety and to the duties of my office. I practice to live always in the presence of God, even during my work, because the life of a missionary sister is to live supernaturally. My God, my vocation as an apostle calls me to active life, so I must join the two: active life and contemplative life. It is true that I live in the midst of noise, but I can still live in seclusion and even remain silent and modest… God does not want me to stay in my cell from morning to night, far from the noise, but He wants me to live recollected and united with Him during my outside work.”
The call to holiness
Eugénie Caps, spiritual woman, woman of action and prayer, makes a direct link between the life of the missionary and the holiness of her life, that is, the perfection of charity as Jesus asks. She feels not only called to holiness but also desires this holiness for all her Spiritan Sisters. Here are some quotes from her writings that testify to this call to holiness.
In addressing Jesus, Eugénie expresses this prayer: “Strengthen the great desire of my heart to become a great saint out of love for you. How could I dare to approach you more closely, if I did not seriously strive for Holiness. Journal of Sister Eugénie Caps, 1916.
“To serve you, my God, we must become good and holy religious. We will therefore strive for the highest perfection. “Be holy because I am holy”, says the Lord”. Journal of Sister Eugénie Caps, 1921.
“The Work will follow its intended path! May I desire that this dear, new Congregation be a nest of little and great saints!” Journal of Sister Eugénie Caps, 1922.
“Oh! Jesus so good, gives us so many opportunities to become holy. He gives us the graces, and we would not be of those generous souls who recognize His blessings?” Sister Eugénie Caps’ Letter to Catherine Frentz, 1926.
“All this New Year, Jesus has sprinkled it with immense graces, for the greatest good of our souls; yes, they are crosses of all kinds. And to say that by always saying ‘‘yes’’ to the good God, we can become saints, it is necessary, the good God deserves it for his greatest glory and the salvation of souls’’. Sister Eugénie Caps’ Letter to Catherine Frentz, 1929.
“Above all, we must realize the desire of Our Lord: to be saints, only truly holy souls who follow the example and words of Jesus Christ, take part in his Redemptive work, do good to souls. We are called to continue the work of Jesus, so we must live a deeply supernatural life, a life of total self-denial”. Sister Eugénie Caps’ Letter to Catherine Frentz, 1927.
“Let us be missionaries, let us be saints!! In the love of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I repeat to you my deep and sincere affection and believe that you are understood by your devoted”. Sister Eugénie Caps’ Letter to Catherine Frentz, 1927.
Trust in Mary
From the very beginning of the foundation, Eugénie wanted to entrust the Congregation to the Holy Heart of Mary. We can feel her full trust in Mary as a very sure guide who leads her to Christ Jesus. In her writings, she addresses this prayer to Mary: “My good Mother, protect me, I beg you, it is in your nacelle that I place myself now, because where you hold the anchor, there is nothing to fear, good and faithful Mother. Despite the wind and the storm, you drive with a dexterous pilot’s hand. And I want to take refuge near you, you the surest way that leads to Jesus”.
She also asks Mary for graces for her friends: ‘‘Take also all my sisters that I left in Bouzonville, also give them your mother’s arms and do not abandon them until they belong to Jesus for all eternity’‘.
The intimate union with Christ
Eugénie has the desire to let herself be totally inhabited by Christ. She thus shares the same conviction as Saint Paul: “If I live, it is no longer I who live, it is Christ who lives in me. My present life I live in faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me”. Galatians 2:20. She writes in her diary, “O what a joy it is to know you, to love you. But what greater happiness it is to receive you in the sacrament of your love. There I cease to be me, there is only You, my Savior!’’.
