nd du laus 1

It was in a hamlet in the Alps...

at Saint-Étienne-d'Avançon, where barely a few families lived in the 17th century... 

that Benoîte Rencurel was born on September 29, 1647. 

She was baptized the next day in the parish church.

The poverty of the Rencurels becomes a deep misery when the father of the family dies. Benoîte, then seven years old, was driven out, with her family, from the house where she had spent her early years. 

She must soon earn her bread as herdsman. At the age of 12 she became a shepherd on the farm of her godmother Catherine Allard, niece of the parish priest Jean Fraisse. 

From 1660 to 1663 she was shepherdess for the rich farmer Jean Rolland in Remollon, a brutal farmer whom Benoîte converted with her gentleness, and Louis Astier, a good man. Alternately she worked for the notary's widow, Espérite Allard. 

From an early age she had a penchant for prayer, especially the rosary. 

Father Fraisse, in a unjansenistic manner, preached the Mercy of Our Lady

At the age of 17, she still could not read or write.

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