A great soul has appeared… Bearer of a message of Charity…
222nd Anniversaries
Birth of Emilie Tavernier—February 19, 1800
Baptism of Emilie Tavernier—February 20, 1800
On February 19, 1800, the fifteenth child of Antoine Tavernier and Marie-Josephte Maurice was born. The very next day, the father and his 21-year-old son, Antoine, the godfather-to-be, hitched the horse and buggy and made their way to Notre-Dame Church. The parish priest who performed the baptism was Father Joseph Michel Humbert, Sulpician, a native of Lyon, France. The baby girl received the name of Marie-Emilie-Eugene. Her godmother was her 15-year-old first cousin, Marie-Claire Perrault, daughter of Marie-Anne Tavernier and Joseph Perrault.
Would this child live? As Marie-Josephte rocked the cradle, her face betrayed the agonizing question in her mind. Nine of her fifteen children had died at an early age, and the threat of epidemics was ever present… Childbirth had brought more tears than smiles to Marie-Josephte and Antoine by the time Emilie was born, February 19, 1800. Nine of their fifteen children lay buried in Montreal’s “cimetière des pauvres” (Paupers’ Cemetery).
Family love and security sheltered her from the harsh social realities of the period. By the time she was three years old, she showed signs of remarkable intelligence and sensitivity. Her mother’s weariness and fatigue did not escape her notice. She ventured one day to get hold of the feather duster and proceeded to imitate her mother’s gestures as she waved it across the furniture, saying, with the assurance of her three years:
“You must go and rest now, I will replace you.”
During these hard times, there would often be beggars at the door of the Tavernier home, and Marie-Josephte would seize this opportunity to instill in her daughter a love for the poor and for sharing. The seed fell on “good soil” and when, one year later, the mother left this world, COMPASSIONATE CHARITY was already deeply rooted in young Emilie’s heart.
Let us conclude with this strophe from the song composed for the 200th anniversary of Emily’s birth:
Emilie, you speak to our heart,
you wanted to be closer to the poorest,
your love kindles in us
a great fire of compassion,
we will spread the tenderness of Jesus.
Happy birthday, dear Emilie!
Yvette Demers. SP, Vice-postulator
Source: Emilie Tavernier-Gamelin, by Denise Robillard, pp. 35–40.