March 15th - St. Louise de Marillac
Born in Ferrières-en-Brie (near Meaux), Auvergne, France, on August 12,
1591; died in Paris, France, March 15, 1660; beatified in 1920; canonized
by
Pope Pius XI in 1934; declared patroness of social workers by Pope John
XXIII in 1960.
Saint Vincent de Paul, when he held missions conducted by his priests,
made
efforts to create the lay apostolate of the (female) Servants of the Poor
and of the (male) Helpers of the Poor for the services of the poor and
sick
in all his parishes. His manifold occupations made it impossible for the
saint personally to supervise and direct these numerous charitable groups.
Saint Vincent found in the person of Louise de Marillac his best
instrument
for the direction of the women. Louise was a woman of the highest social
status-a paternal uncle was marshal of France, another was garde des
sceaux-and well-educated by the Dominican nuns of Poissy after her
mother's
early death. Her father died when she was 15. On the advice of her
confessor, Louise had decided not to join the Capuchin nuns, and in 1613,
at
the age of 22, married Antoine Le Gras, secretary to Marie de Medici. Her
husband, a pious and high-minded man, allowed her to do all the good to
which her kind heart prompted her in slums and in tenements of want, and
protected her in those circles of society that felt outraged by her
activities. After his death in 1625, she devoted herself to the education
of
their son, who eventually married and had children.
When he had outgrown her guardian****p, she lived entirely for works of
Christian charity. Louise had met St. Vincent prior to her husband's
death,
and he had agreed to become her confessor. He had been trying to organize
devout, wealthy women to help the poor and sick in often appalling
conditions. It soon became clear that many of these ladies, although
well-intentioned, were unfit to face the ugliness and suffering of poverty
and illness. The practical work of nursing the sick in their own homes,
caring for neglected children, and dealing with often rough husbands and
fathers was best accomplished by women of similar social status to the
principal sufferers. Louise, he realized, was made of sterner stuff.
The aristocratic ladies were better suited to the equally necessary task
of
fund raising and dealing with correspondence. Louise was the exception. In
her Vincent saw a woman of a clear mind, great courage, endurance, and
self-effacement. In 1629, in order to test his *****sment, he sent Louise
to
make a visitation of the Charity of Montmirail he had founded. She passed
the test and, despite unstable health, Louise made many more such
missions.
Vincent chose Louise to train and organize girls and widows, mainly of the
peasant and artisan cl*****. In the home Louise rented on the rue des
Fossé-Saint-Victor in Paris, beginning in 1633 with four country girls,
she
trained groups of women for ambulatory care of the sick. Louise wanted to
draw up a rule of life, but St. Vincent convinced her to wait for a sign
from God. Vincent had not intended to start a religious order. The
sisters,
he said, should consider themselves simply as Christians devoted to the
sick
and poor: "your convent will be the house of the sick, your cell a hired
room, your chapel the parish church, your grill the fear of God, your veil
modesty."
Finally assured of Louise's dedication, Vincent permitted her to draft a
rule in 1634; essentially, this rule that was formally approved in 1655 is
the rule still used today. Vows are taken only for one year and renewed.
Louise made her vows in 1634, and in 1642, the first four candidates were
professed as Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in 1638. Vincent
himself preferred the name, Daughters of Charity. Formal approval placed
the
community under Vincent and his Congregation of the Mission with Louise as
their superioress until her death.
This sisterhood, according to the wishes of Saint Vincent, was to realize
the idea that had animated his friend, Saint Francis de Sales, in creating
this foundation-the idea of an uncloistered religious community for all
the
evangelical tasks in the world, especially on behalf of the poor, the
sick,
and the little children.
St. Vincent opened an orphanage, and the sisters taught the children. They
also took charge of the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris. Louise established other
orphanages and hospitals, nursed plague victims herself in Paris, reformed
a
neglected hospital in Angers, and oversaw all the activity of the order
despite her fragile health. She traveled all over France founding more
than
40 daughter houses (including one in Madagascar and another in Poland) and
charities. Just before her death, she exhorted her sisters to be diligent
in
serving the poor "and to honor them like Christ Himself." At the time of
her
death the sick poor were tended in their homes in 26 Parisian parishes,
hundreds of women were given shelter, and other good done. These sisters
of
charity accomplished immeasurable good in every part of the world through
their self-sacrificing love for their fellow men. (Attwater, Benedictines,
Calvet, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Schamoni, White).
In art, Saint Louise is depicted in the original habit of the order-a gray
wool tunic with a large headdress or cornette of white linen, the usual
dress of the peasant women of Brittany in the 17th century. She is the
patron saint of social workers (White).
Saint Quote:
The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross
that
He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. He has blessed it
with His holy name, anointed it with His grace, perfumed it with His
consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage and then sent
it
to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the
all-merciful love of God.
-Saint Francis de Sales
Bible Quote::
The just will ****ne forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. St.
Matthew 13:43
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Prayer to the Sacred Heart
May all the words that I speak be dipped
in the Blood of Thy Sacred Heart,
O Jesus, that they may be so many arrows
to pierce the hearts of all who hear
them with love for Thee. - Amen.
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The second joyful mystery prayer of the Eucharistic Rosary, to be offered
before the Blessed Sacrament:
The Visitation, offered for the virtue of fraternal charity:
Divine Saviour, from the womb of Mary, wherein Thou didst become
incarnate,
Thou breathest forth sanctity into John the Baptist and upon the whole
house
of Elizabeth. From the Host wherein Thou dwellest, Thou spreadest all
over
the world the influence of Thy grace and Thy love throughout the whole
Church.
O Divine Jesus, full of love and kindness, we adore Thee, and we beg of
Thee, through the intercession of Thy holy Mother, perfect charity toward
our neighbors.
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