Students learn about Venerable Henriette Delille focusing on her deep holiness

The Friends of Delille\New Jersey Chapter has returned this school year to host its “Friend of a Friend” Mentoring Project in the Archdiocese of Newark bringing to life the history of the Venerable Henriette Delille, who was born in 1812 as a free woman of color and was very devout, living a holy life while serving the poor and the sick in the face of racism and slavery.

The program began with visits to St. Joseph School in East Orange on Nov. 8, and Oct. 14 at St. Michael’s School in Newark. November is Black Catholic History Month.

*Venerable Henriette Delille, who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842, is depicted in a stained-glass window.*

Dr. Susan Rich founded the Friends of Delille\New Jersey Chapter in 2016. Known by her loving actions and mirroring words, “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God,” Venerable Delille founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1836.

The “Friend of a Friend” Mentoring Project’s six-month curriculum is populated with historical lessons about Venerable Delille’s life, but also uses various activities to focus on her deep holiness. The chapter started visiting schools in 2017, with Sacred Heart School in Jersey City being the first. After starting with just one school per year, added funding in subsequent years enabled the chapter to add St. Joseph School, as well as St. Thomas School in Bloomfield.

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Rich, who for many years has had a connection to the Sisters of the Holy Family, knew that there were Delille chapters in the United States, but none on the East Coast nor in the North. When asked by The Sisters of the Holy Family to start a Garden State chapter, she did not think twice. Needing a chaplain, she was encouraged to speak with Father Stephen Fichter, currently the Episcopal Vicar of Education for the Archdiocese, but who at that time was Pastor at Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Wyckoff. Coincidentally, Father Fichter’s great uncle, Jesuit Father Joseph Fichter, was instrumental in some of the beginning works of investigating the Venerable Delille’s cause.

Father Fichter wrote a letter to then-Archbishop John Myers on the pending chapter’s behalf, which was approved – if the group could secure its own funding, which they have. After initially receiving grants from The Daniel Rudd Fund, which provides grants to organizations involved in ministry to Black Catholics, for the 2023 – 24 school year the chapter received grant funds from Black and Indian Missions.

“Venerable Delille is the first first native-born African American whose cause was presented to the Vatican,” Rich said. “It is my mission now to share her story.”

*This is a painting of Mother Henriette Delille, a free Black woman born in New Orleans around 1810. Her sainthood cause is currently before the Vatican. (CNS photo/courtesy Clarion Herald)*

And sharing that story will be ongoing again this year in Archdiocese of Newark schools. The “Friend of a Friend” Mentoring Project will make visits once a month through May to St. Joseph and St. Michaels’ schools. Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair will be a part of a monthly program during Black History Month in February, involving two theology classes. There will also be a visit to Seton Hall University in February when Venerable Delille’s sainthood causes will be presented and combined with a prayer service. Prayer cards will be available for the students, who will also receive a book on the African American sainthood causes. Also in February, there are potential return trips to St. Thomas the Apostle and Sacred Heart schools.

As for the classroom curriculum and sessions, the theme is holiness, and Rich wants students to feel and know that it is possible to reach if they lead holy lives and experience goodness.

“I tell students all the time that it was not easy for Delille. There were many difficult times for her; there were struggles,” Rich said. “But we can all live lives of holiness and no matter what, I tell them that everyone has the capability of achieving sainthood. That is what I want them to learn through Delille. As long as we believe in God, hope in God, and love God like she did, we can live a life of holiness, a life of goodness, and we can all aspire to that same thing.”

Classroom sessions are one hour or less, beginning with recitation of the Delille prayer. Venerable Delille pictures are on display during the sessions, and discussions take place on Corporal Works of Mercy and holiness, and their relationship to how God wants us to live as communities of faith. Team building and working together during the activities are emphasized.

*Karen Cavaness , Principal of St Joseph’s School with Junior Friends of Delille displaying their crafts. It is the fourth year of partnership with Friends of Delille New Jersey Chapter.*

Throughout the school year, there are many projects the school children take part in:

• In November, during Black Catholic History Month, an “Introduction to Causes/Sainthood” presentation will have students using Japanese origami art to create a Venerable Delille figure, and they will also receive storytelling materials and prayer cards in English or Spanish. In December, a short Delille video will be shown followed by students constructing Delille Christmas ornaments.

•As the calendar turns to the new year, January is preparation for Mardi Gras as found in Delille’s birthplace of New Orleans, Louisiana, and it includes a Sisters of the Holy Family presentation and their role in Mardi Gras. Students will research and explore mask-making ideas and their religious meanings before Lent, and in February, the mask-making will take place. Treats will be served and jazz music played as Venerable Delille’s birthplace is celebrated. Rich in February will also share the photos of Delille and have her artifacts on display.

• In March, students will create crosses and decorate for Easter, and the theme of Women’s History Month will relate to Venerable Delille’s “Women who advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” Relating social justice to Delille’s Corporal Works of Mercy, students will create a collage on their crosses displaying pictures of contemporary Corporal Works of Mercy in society today.

• Finally, in April, students will take part in a letter-writing campaign to Pope Francis, sharing what they learned about the sainthood cause of Venerable Delille, including in those letters that they pray for both Pope Francis and movement of her cause.

In May, all students in the participating elementary schools receive a certificate recognizing them as Junior Friends of Delille upon completion of the “Friend of a Friend” Mentoring Project.

Rich, who does not work alone in this endeavor, added, “I recognize the diligence of all the Friends of Delille\New Jersey Chapter members who make our “Friend of a Friend” Mentoring Project so successful in the schools.”

For more information. visit www.friendsofdelillenewjersey.com.