Ranfaing, Marie Elisabeth De

Ranfaing, Marie Elisabeth De a French lady, celebrated as the foundress of a religious order, and known under the name of Elizabeth of the Cross of Jesus, was born, Nov. 30, 1592, at Remiremont, of a noble Lorraine family, and was noted for her beauty. She was affianced to a man for whom she had not the shadow of affection, and therefore objected to wedlock; and when her parents persisted, she sought the retirement of the monastery. She was, however, brought back to society, and married M. Dubois, by whom she had three children. Her husband's death and other mishaps led her to determine the founding of a religious community made up wholly of women reclaimed from a life of debauchery. The number of these women having increased, the prince bishop of Toul thought proper to form them into a religious order, under the name of "Our Lady of Refuge." Mrs. Dubois and her three daughters tools the dress belonging to the monastery Jan. 1, 1631. In 1634 Urban VIII gave his approval to this order. It extended over several of the cities of the realm, especially Avignon, Toulouse, Montpellier, and Rouen; and it survived the storms of the Revolution. The mother of Ranfaing died the death of a saint, Jan. 14, 1649. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gizerale, s.v.