French nun a hero for saving hungry war victims

A father, searching for his two missing daughters, needed a miracle. World War II was raging. The Nazi German army had sent the girls’ mother off to the gas chamber. This desperate father had to find his girls quickly. He arrived at Sister Clotilde Regereau’s convent near Paris seeking help.

Sister Regereau had a plan to find the girls. She prayed. She worked her contacts. As reported in the New York Times, one moon-lit night the girls “were slipped inside the convent gate.” Their brothers were already at the convent.

But by no means were the children safe. The Germans were searching for Jewish people. Sister Regereau had to teach the children Catholic prayers so they could stay hidden. It was not until after the war when they were reunited with their father.

You won’t see Sister Regereau’s name in history textbooks but she was a hero saving lives during and after the war. She could not have done it without the support of people in America. With War Relief Services (today known as Catholic Relief Services), Sister Regereau coordinated the feeding of 1,000,000 children in France. Imagine these starving children’s reaction to get milk, peanut butter and meat when such items were in short supply because of the war. She said,

When I recall how the activity of War Relief Services—National Catholic Welfare Conference began, grew and developed in France, I feel as if I were reading a fairy tale, which, like all fairy tales, ends on a note of happiness and hope.”

Sister Regereau was a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul. Along with the Sisters of Charity this group was very active in relief work for the war-devastated countries.

Today, Catholic Relief Services, along with other aid organizations are feeding war victims in the Middle East and Africa. They are helping people overcome disasters and poverty all around the world.

If people work together and stick with it, we can bring some happiness and hope to those suffering around the world. Everyone can do what Sister Regereau accomplished. You just need to try.