Emily was the only daughter of a French baron. At 15 she left school in Paris to become her widowed father’s companion in Gaillac. Despite his wishes, Emily would not marry, and for 15 years tended neglected children and the poor. In 1832, when her maternal grandfather left her a fortune, she bought a large house in Gaillac, which became the first home of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. In 1835, the order won approval and Emily and 17 other sisters professed vows. Their charisms were care of the needy and education. Emily oversaw the formation of 40 houses, before dying from complications of a hernia she’d gotten in her youth while doing a good deed.
