June 27
Saint Marguerite Bays
Laywoman, Stigmatist
(1815 – 1879)
“What priests say, what they do at church, they say it and do it only with the intention of doing us good. Therefore, it is absolutely not up to us to criticize them or to complain about their acts.”
Saint Marguerite Bays
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or on the Book Cover Image above to buy it!
Saint’s Life Story
Her Early Life
Marguerite was born on September 8, 1815, in La Pierraz, Siviriez, near Fribourg, in western Switzerland. She was the second of seven children born to Pierre-Antoine Bays and Josephine Morel. Her six siblings were Jean, Marie-Marguerite (known as “Mariette”), Joseph, Blaise (who died aged 12), Seraphine (the youngest daughter), and Claude. Marguerite grew up in a devoutly religious farming family. She was educated locally and showed great intelligence as a student while studying at school in Chavannes-les-Forts.
Seamstress
After her receiving her First Communion and Confirmation, Marguerite took an apprenticeship as a seamstress in 1830, before offering her services as a seamstress and dressmaker to different households. The only time she left her village in all her life was to make pilgrimages on foot to various Swiss shrines of Marian devotion. In the last years of her life, Marguerite worked mainly in her room, where people brought her sewing work.
After working all day, Marguerite would walk back in haste to the farm in La Pierraz saying her Rosary in silence. Arriving at home each night, she would put on a kitchen apron and took part in the domestic chores.
Family Problems
Marguerite stays in her father’s home, where she does the housework. Josette, her sister-in-law, makes her life more difficult. She is a strict and ruthless woman who humiliates Marguerite and does not go easy on her. Marguerite is not angry with her, however. And, when Josette is struck early by illness and her life draws to a close, Marguerite takes care of her and prepares her for death.
Her sister Marie-Marguerite, called “Mariette”, suffers from her divorce and comes back to the family home. Her unmarried brother Joseph, with a violent character and occasionally careless manners, eventually serves a small prison sentence. And Claude, the eldest, has an illegitimate child, little François. Marguerite asks Claude to officially recognize his son, while she takes care of his upbringing.
Marguerite would never have condemned her brothers and sisters in any way, given their difficult life situations. On the contrary, through her testimony of a life filled with love and mercy, each of her brothers and sisters felt drawn to Christ to begin a journey of conversion in love.
Simple Devout Catholic
Marguerite was best known in her village for being a simple, devout, and cheerful woman who didn’t draw attention to herself. She felt she was the lowliest of creatures and a great sinner, and fought the self-love that dampened her ardor. Marguerite’s spiritual life was deep. After getting up early every day to pray in front of a statue of the Blessed Virgin, she would help her family to milk the cows. Then, Marguerite headed out to daily Mass and could hardly ever be dissuaded from making the 20-minute walk to church in the neighboring village of Siviriez, despite inclement weather or illness. Following Mass every day, she would join in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Marguerite deplored human indifference to him and insistently demanded: “What can we do to love God more?”. She strove to maintain a simple and austere life dedicated with tireless love and intensity to better serve the sick and poor around her. People who were often farmers displaced by the ever-increasing mechanization of agricultural labor.
Co-Founder
At her home, on the La Pierraz farm, Father Joseph Schorderet went to ask for her advice and to pray. He carried in his heart an immense project: should we create a Catholic Swiss newspaper to defeat evil with good? Should the Work of St. Paul be founded?
Marguerite’s response to him was “Do not be afraid go forward. This work will do us great good and will be particularly blessed by God since this is his will.”
With this encouragement, Father Joseph Schorderet founded the Work of St. Paul on December 8, 1873. Marguerite Bays was considered to be a co-founder of the Work during a time of conflict between Prussia and the Catholic Church. .
Through the catechism classes Marguerite gave the children of her village, she endeavored to teach them the Gospel in such a way that even the youngest could understand it. She was a true friend to the poor whom she called “God’s favorites”. In her local parish, Marguerite introduced missionary activities.
Laywoman in Secular Third Franciscan Order
It was her love of service that led to a strong identification with the charism of Saint Francis of Assisi. She felt freer to serve God if she was not a member of a religious congregation and instead joined the lay branch of the Franciscan family, the Secular Franciscan Order.
Cancer Cured
At the age of 35, Marguerite developed intestinal cancer. She asked Our Lady to intercede with her Son and to exchange her suffering for the kind of pain that would enable her to share more directly in the Passion of Our Lord.
At the moment Blessed Pope Pius IX pronounced the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1853, Marguerite was miraculously cured.
Stigmatist
Instead of the cancer, Marguerite bore a “mysterious affliction” which immobilized her every Friday when, physically and spiritually. The stigmata was first noticed when Marguerite felt intense burning and noticed red blotches appear on her hands as well as on her feet and at her chest. She fled attention and always sought to hide her great marks of favor she had been granted.
In addition, Marguerite began to fall into ecstatic raptures when she would feel the pain of Christ once a week, reliving the phases of Jesus’ Passion from Gethesmane to Calvary.
Her Death
With her increased weekly suffering, on Friday, June 27, 1879, Marguerite died at 3:00 pm (the same hour as Jesus) in her birthplace, Siviriez, Fribourg, Switzerland. Her bodily remains are located in the Church of Siviriez, near Fribourg, Switzerland and her lifelong home is now a pilgrimage site.
Alongside Saint Maria Caridad Brader, Saint Marguerite Bays is the only modern-day (post-1500) canonized person from the country of Switzerland.
Born: September 8, 1815 in Siviriez, Fribourg, Switzerland
Died: June 27, 1879 in Siviriez, Fribourg, Switzerland
Beatified: October 29, 1995 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: October 13 2019 by Pope Francis
Feast Day: June 27
Patron Saint: Catechists; Dressmakers; People Suffering from Intestinal Cancer; Seamstresses; Third Order Franciscans
Reflection
What makes Saint Marguerite Bays’ life remarkable is not grand achievements, but her faithful embrace of ordinary duties and hidden crosses. She never left her hometown working as a seamstress and dressmaker. She did not start a new order but worked locally with the poor and sick and taught catechism to young village children. Though she faced suffering—including a serious illness and the wounds of the stigmata Saint Marguerite Bays offered everything to Christ in silence and prayer. In the stillness of her home and heart, Marguerite allowed God to transform her daily life into a path of sanctity. Her life reminds us that holiness is not reserved for the famous or powerful, it is cultivated in everyday moments when we choose love, sacrifice, and prayer. She is a witness to the power of interior grace and shows us that even in obscurity, a soul can radiate Christ to the world.
Are you open to letting God sanctify the small, hidden moments of your life—trusting that even in simplicity and suffering, you can grow in holiness like Saint Marguerite Bays?
Prayers
Saint Marguerite Bays,
You lived a life of quiet service, embracing your daily tasks with love and devotion.
In your hidden suffering and patient endurance, you became a reflection of Christ’s peace and mercy.
You who bore the wounds of Christ in silence, teach us to find meaning in our trials and to unite our sufferings with His.
Help us to seek holiness not in greatness, but in the small acts of kindness, faithfulness to duty, and love for those around us.
Pray for us, that we may walk the path of simplicity and trust, always open to God’s will and faithful to His presence in the ordinary moments of life.
Saint Marguerite Bays, pray for us. Amen.
Saint Links
A Closer Acquaintance with the Blessed Marguerite Bays By Claude Morel
All Saints & Martyrs – Blessed Marguerite Bays – Laywoman; Mystic
Catholic Online – St. Marguerite Bays
Mystics of the Church – Blessed Marguerite Bays, Lay Mystic and Stigmatic
Real Heroes – Saint Marguerite Bays
Saint Marguerite Bays – Biography
Video Link
Discover the life of St. Marguerite Bays – YouTube (EWTN)