Rev. Jacques-François Dujarié was a key figure in the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross. His heroic determination to serve the material and spiritual needs of the poor in France helped to lay the groundwork for the mission of Holy Cross throughout the world.

Dujarié was born in Rennes-en-Grenouilles, France, on December 9, 1767. He grew up wanting to be a priest and was a seminarian in Angers when the French Revolution broke out in 1789. Two years later, in 1791, when the Revolutionary government required all clergy to take an oath of fidelity to the state, the seminary disbanded and Dujarié returned home.