A ‘divine mission’ to sanctify the laity: French mystic laywomen and the lay apostolate before Vatican II

ABSTRACTThis article explores the ‘divine origins’ and aims of three associations promoting the apostolate of the laity in nineteenth and early twentieth-century France: the Association de priere et de penitence; the Societe des amis des pauvres; and the Foyers de charite. The founders were three mystic laywomen, Edith Royer, Therese Durnerin and Marthe Robin, respectively, who promoted apostolates of penance, catechesis and retreat. The article situates their associations within the history of the lay apostolate and discusses the two elements that best characterized them: the alleged ‘divine mission’ that inspired the founders and their aim to sanctify the laity. While encouraging the laity to achieve holiness in worldly life, they contributed to current Catholic concerns about lay sanctity and the lay apostolate advanced by Vatican II.