Leo Dupont - Religious Focus

Religious Focus

In 1837, while gazing at a picture of Saint Teresa of Avila, Leo decided to become more active in spreading the Roman Catholic faith. He wrote a book on the shrines of the Blessed Virgin Mary, joined the recently formed Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and contributed large sums of money to it. Shortly after his pilgrimage to La Salette in 1847, his daughter Henrietta died and thereafter the main focus of his life became religious activities.

In 1847 Dupont invited Saint Jeanne Jugan to established a house for the Little Sisters of the Poor in Tours. Thereafter he remained a frequent contributor to the Little Sisters' charity for the poor and the elderly.

In 1849, he managed to establish nightly Eucharistic Adoration in Tours, from where it spread within France. He helped rebuild the Basilica of St. Martin, Tours (which dated back to 472). To combat writers who were against the Holy Eucharist, Dupont wrote a book, Faith Revived and Piety Reanimated Through the Eucharist.

His reputation as a Catholic activist and a helper of the poor spread within France and he was in contact with other French Catholic figures such as Saint Jean Vianney and Saint Peter Julian Eymard, who was also an active proponent of spreading devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Dupont’s charitable works and religious stance became so well known in France that he received many letters, often addressed to “The Holy Man of Tours” and the postmen knew how to deliver them. Pope Pius IX personally praised Dupont.

Dupont's mother lived with him most of his life in Tours and she died in 1860. After her death, from 1860 to 1870, he spent most of his time praying before the image of Veil of Veronica, often wearing a hair shirt under his clothes, until his health failed.