to her belief in Jesus Christ and to the living-out of that faith; when there was no priest available to celebrate the Eucharist she would hold special services and she continued to teach about the Bible and other matters of faith. She had a particular devotion to Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Francis Regis. In 1794 the authorities confiscated the building in which the school was run and Rivier and her companions moved to the town of Thueyts where Father Luigi Pontanier provided them support (he was a member of the Society of Saint-Sulpice). It was in the attic of the new school that - on 21 November 1796 - the five women dedicated themselves to God which was the formal foundation of her new religious order. The group pledged themselves to teaching and began working with orphans and visiting people in their homes. In 1797 the group had increased to twelve and the women made their religious professions on 21 November 1797. The Concordat of 1801 allowed for religion to be practiced once more in France and the fledgling congregation grew as a result of this. Due to the rapid increase in membership the motherhouse was moved to larger premises in Bourg-Saint-Andéol in 1815. In 1805 the order received a blessing and encouragement from Pope Pius VII who was crossing France to go back to Rome. She and several others were vested in the habit for the first time on 21 November 1807. Rivier died in 1838 and she had suffered from dropsy towards the end of her life. In 2005 her order had 1352 religious in 189 houses in nations such as Ireland and the Philippines. The order received the decree of praise (before her death) on 6 May 1836 from Pope Gregory XVI while Pope Pius X issued full pontifical approval for her congregation on 23 May 1909. But it also received the approval needed from the government of King Charles X on 29 May 1830. Beatification The beatification process started under Pope Pius IX (who once called her "The Woman Apostle") and she became titled as a Servant of God on 12 May 1853; the confirmation of her heroic virtue led Pope Leo XIII to name Rivier as Venerable while the confirmation of a miracle attributed to her allowed for Pope John Paul II to preside over her beatification on 23 May 1982. Rivier was canonized