Galand, Agnès of Jesus, Bl.
GALAND, AGNÈS OF JESUS, BL.
Also known as Agnès de Langeac; Dominican nun; mystic; b. Nov. 17, 1602, Puy-en-Velay (near Langeac), France; d. Oct. 19, 1634, Langeac. Agnès, a vivacious and generous child, was educated by the Sisters of the Holy Virgin. She entered the Dominican convent at Langeac (1623) and, displaying the enthusiam that characterized her early life, was elected prioress in 1627. In accordance with her understanding of God's will revealed through a vision of the Virgin Mary (1631), Sister Agnès used her gift of prayer and her hidden penances for the good of Jean Jacques olier, abbot of Prébrac, who was then a young priest living irresponsibly and whom she had never met. She is said to have bilocated (1634) to the Church where Father Olier was praying during a retreat under the direction of Saint vincent de paul. She met Olier just before her death. Twenty years later he founded the sulpicians. She was beatified by John Paul II on Nov. 20, 1994.
Feast: Oct. 19 (Dominicans).
Bibliography: Mère Agnès de Langeac et son temps: une mystique dominicaine au grand siècle des âmes: actes du colloque du Puy (Le Puy, France 1986). j. bouflet, Petite vie de Agnès de Langeac (Paris 1994). m. j. dorcy, Saint Dominic's Family (Dubuque, Iowa 1964) 386–87. e. panassiÈre, Mémoires sur la vie d'Agnès de Langeac (Paris 1994). r. de tryon–montalembert, Agnès de Langeac: "Qui a Dieu a tout" (Paris 1994).
[k. i. rabenstein]