Marie-Rose “Rose Pauline” Charpentier

“Pray that the Holy Spirit may guide and direct me in all my actions, that all may be done for the greater glory of God.”
– St. Julie

The oldest of three children, Sister Marie-Rose Charpentier learned to be responsible at an early age, due to her mother’s serious health issues. The children faced being taken to an orphanage until an aunt and uncle stepped in, and they went to live with them.

She met the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in high school at St. Theresa’s in Providence. “It was Sister Thomas Julie’s kindness and joyfulness that attracted me to Notre Dame,” she says.

She was worried when her first mission was to teach first grade at Sacred Heart School in Springfield, Massachusetts. “I was told to teach phonics and I knew nothing about phonics! So I observed a wonderful, elderly Sister, who was a great teacher, and returned to my classroom and imitated her.”

She served in ministries in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. “There in Appalachia I had the privilege of working with the very poor. I saw the reflection of God in individuals who were unchurched but so very close to God,” she recalls.

At her 2020 Jubilee, she stated, “I am most grateful to God for my vocation and for the love and support of my Sisters. I so appreciate the varied ministries I’ve had and the opportunity to meet and work with people of different cultures.”

updated 2025