Little Sisters of the Poor

Jeanne Jugan began with very little. She is born during the French Revolution and reduced to poverty when her father is lost at sea. As a teenager she goes to work as a kitchen maid for a wealthy family. In 1817 she leaves home to work in the hospital in Saint Servan. Twenty-two years later, she is still working for other people, living in a small apartment and leading a quiet life of piety and good works.

Everything changes one night in the winter of 1839—we don’t know the exact date—when she cannot resist the sight of a blind, paralyzed old woman out in the cold with no one to care for her. Jeanne carries the old woman home and places her in her own bed. From that night on, Jeanne Jugan belongs to God and to the elderly of the whole world.

The work develops quickly. More old women are brought to her doorstep. Jeanne and her companions—one older woman and several pious young girls—offer them hospitality and care for them as if they were their own grandmothers. Giving the best place to the old women, they sleep on the attic floor.

By 1841 the “family” of old women and their caregivers outgrow the small apartment and move into larger accommodations. With the advice and support of the Hospitaller Brothers of Saint John of God, Jeanne begins collecting in the local community on behalf of her poor. This spares the old women the indignity of begging for themselves on the streets of Saint Servan.

In 1842 the group moves into an even larger building—a nearby convent that had been vacated during the Revolution. The small nucleus of pious women begins to take the form of a religious community. They call themselves the Servants of the Poor. Jeanne is elected superior. She and several others make a vow of obedience.

Re-elected as superior the next year, Jeanne is removed from office by a young priest appointed to advise the nascent community on December 23, 1843. She is given the job of collecting for the elderly in Saint Servan and its environs. In early 1844 the group changes their name to Sisters of the Poor to better reflect their desire to truly be sisters to the elderly in the Lord’s name.

Jeanne is awarded the Montyon Prize, a prestigious award given by the French Academy for meritorious work, in 1845. The next year, she founds houses in Rennes and Dinan. Then Tours. Jeanne continues to beg on behalf of the poor.

In 1847 the young Congregation holds its first General Chapter. Jeanne is not invited. In 1849, ten years after the first old woman was welcomed by Jeanne, the popular name Little Sisters of the Poor is definitively adopted.

By 1850 the Congregation numbers over 100 Little Sisters. The motherhouse and novitiate are established in Rennes in 1852. Jeanne is recalled there, told to break all contact with friends and benefactors and placed in retirement, with no specific duties. Four years later she will move to the new motherhouse in Saint Pern, to remain there—hidden in the shadows—for the rest of her life.

The Congregation receives diocesan approval on May 29, 1852. It is recognized as a Pontifical Institute by Pope Pius XI on July 9, 1854. Pope Leo XIII approves the Constitutions of the Little Sisters of the Poor for a period of seven years on March 1, 1879. By then there are 2,400 Little Sisters in 9 countries.

Hidden away in La Tour, Jeanne Jugan dies on August 29, 1879, at age 86. She is no longer recognized as the foundress. But like the grain of wheat that falls into the ground her life bears much fruit …

While continuing to spread all over France, the Congregation takes root in England in 1851 despite great hardships and resistance in some quarters due to anti-Catholic sentiments. Belgium is next, and then Spain, Ireland and North Africa. A young priest named Ernest LeLievre dedicates his life to the Little Sisters, eventually traveling all over the world to establish homes for the elderly.

Father LeLievre sets out for America in 1868, stating, “As we leave the old world for the new, we still have the same responsibilities, the same struggle, the same people, the same God. On the shores of the Mississippi, as on the banks of the Jordan, the world has need of being renewed.” He lands in New York June 10, 1868 and in the next four years he will pave the way for the establishment of 13 homes in the United States.

Before leaving America in the summer of 1872 to establish more homes in France and Spain, LeLievre writes to his cousin back in France, “The work of the Little Sisters here has succeeded far beyond what I ever expected. The thirteen homes founded on this continent are all the owners of the houses they occupy, or of the land on which they will build when necessary … Such a success and all it demands, I admit, is overwhelming.…”

source:  http://www.littlesistersofthepoor.org/

Our comment:  This woman is a Saint.  She was no stranger to dealing with the petty politicians and bureaucrats of her time who would seek to thwart or capitalize on her unselfish commitment.   Nothing has changed.