Venerable Léon Papin-Dupont

Life

Léon Papin-Dupont was born on 24 January 1797 on the island of Martinique into a wealthy plantation family. Educated in France, he qualified as a lawyer and served as a magistrate in Martinique before returning to Europe. The deaths of his wife Caroline in 1833 and, later, of his only surviving daughter Henriette in 1847 marked the turning of his life entirely toward God. From 1834 he settled in the city of Tours, where he would live until his death — devoting his very considerable fortune, time and energy to works of mercy.

In Tours he became the city's most visible Catholic layman. He helped found and animate the local Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, opened his home to the poor, restored the Basilica of Saint Martin, supported the Carmelite monastery, and in 1849 with companions established nightly Eucharistic adoration in the city. But his most enduring work was the spread of devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. In 1843 he learned from the Carmel of Tours of the locutions received by the young Sister Marie of Saint Peter regarding the Holy Face and the Golden Arrow prayer of reparation. Dupont placed in his parlour an image of the Holy Face based on the Veil of Veronica and kept a lamp burning before it without interruption for nearly thirty years.

Pilgrims came in growing numbers; the oil from the lamp was applied to the sick, and an extraordinary number of physical and spiritual healings were reported and documented. In 1851 he obtained ecclesiastical approval for an Archconfraternity of the Holy Face, which spread the devotion across France and beyond. He died at Tours on 18 March 1876, with a reputation of sanctity so widespread that the city kept vigil at his door. His cause was introduced in Rome on 21 June 1939, and he was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII.