page_title: Leo Dupont
section_title: Religious focus
hierarchical_section_title: Leo Dupont / Religious focus
caption_attribution_description: voor box uitsnede monstrans
context_page_description: Venerable Leo Dupont, also known as "The Holy Man of Tours," or the "Apostle of the Holy Face", was a Catholic who helped spread various Catholic devotions such as that of the Holy Face of Jesus and nightly Eucharistic Adoration. He was declared Venerable by the Holy See during Pope Pius XII's Pontificate and has been awaiting Beatification since 1939.
context_section_description: In 1837, while gazing at a picture of Saint Teresa of Avila, Leo decided to become more active in spreading the Catholic faith. He wrote a book on Marian shrines, 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 establish 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.
  When Dupont came to Tours, the cult of Saint Martin had almost completely fallen into disuse. Two roads covered the location of St. Martin’s tomb, purposely constructed to obliterate the memory of St. Martin. Martin of Tours was, for Leo Dupont, the model of charity, and he desired to restore devotion to the Bishop of Tours, and begin the process for the eventual rebuilding of his basilica that had been destroyed by the Revolutionaries. Around 1848, following the suggestions of Mr. Dupont, the Cathedral of Tours began to restore the festivities surrounding the Feast of St. Martin on 11 November. He helped build the modern Basilica of St. Martin, Tours (which traces back to 472).
  In 1849, he managed to establish nightly Eucharistic Adoration in Tours, from where it spread within France.  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.
caption: Solar monstrance of the Eucharist
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