Pius IX

June 30, 1849, Pius IX, exiled in Gaëte at that time, concurs with the suggestion of the General of the Precious Blood Society: extend to the whole world the Feast of the Precious Blood if he were granted to return to Rome.

On that very day, which was the vigil of the first Sunday in July, the Revolutionary forces capitulated and the Forces defending the Holy See took over the city.

In thanksgiving, Pius IX published a decree requesting that the glorious feast of Our Redemption be celebrated throughout the whole world.

Aurelia Caouette

Daughter of Joseph Caouette, blacksmith, and of Marguerite Olivier, Aurelia was born in 1833, on the 11th of July, the month dedicated to the Precious Blood. Was this not a harbinger of her life's great passion ?

In 1849, the year the Feast of the Precious Blood was decreed, young Aurelia was called upon to play the role of Catherine of Alexandria, in a play staged for the Awards Ceremony at the Convent of the Congregation of Notre-Dame where she studied. On that occasion, she was consumed with fervor for the Blood of Christ. That was the beginning of a great endeavour.

She experienced a burning desire: to draw all hearts and give them all to Jesus. Although she
had joined the Third Order of St Dominic on August 30, 1854, and had joined the Precious
Blood Fraternity on March 21,1858, these could not assuage her insatiable need for prayer and penance.

With the help of Mgr Sabin Raymond and Mgr Joseph LaRocque, enlightened by Mgr
Bourget and encouraged by Mr. Nercam, pss, a new religious community could be established in St-Hyacinthe, the first in Canada given to contemplative living.

On September 14,1861, Feast of the Glorious Cross, Aurelia's wish came true: a new religious family was created in the humble home of the Caouette family.

Her first companions: Sophie Raymond, Elizabeth Hamilton, and Euphrasie Caouette.