Primitive Spirit of the Daughters of Charity

From the minds of our founders...I have had great exposure to St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac's own writings during my time in the Vincentian Integration Experience. There is nothing like hearing about the spirit of the Daughters of Charity straight from the founders!

The Daughters of Charity were originally the "girls" of the parish charity groups. They served as servants to the Ladies of the Charities in caring for those who were poor. Part of our original name was "Servants of the Sick Poor". Throughout history even from the beginning our service focused on those who were poor whether the ministry was education (regular and catechetical), feeding the hungry, caring for orphans, nursing the sick, or social service related. Since we are a Society of Apostolic Life (not religous nuns) our focus is the ministry. Our path to holiness is through serving Christ found in the person of the poor, supported through our common life of prayer and community, and free to do so through our annual vows.

Our virtues are those of humility, simplicity and charity. As the first Daughters were country girls without any pretense or airs, we continue to aim to be straight forward in what we say and do. We continue to seek the attitude of servant. We celebrate the uniqueness of each Sister in the community. It amazes me what a great variety of women we have in the community. I refer to us as full of characters. We have a variety of opinions and views. However, we take our faith in Christ and service to those who are poor seriously and that is the greatest uniting factor possible!