Happy Feast of St. Louise de Marillac!
St. Louise de Marillac
founded the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
(last part added later!)
in 1633 in Paris, France.
St. Louise is the
patroness of social workers. She saw no bounds in the variety of services
needed to serve those living in poverty and she was willing to get her hands
dirty in her service. No work was beneath her and she trained the Sisters
to do likewise.
We
are blessed that many of St. Louise’s letters and her spiritual writings have
been preserved. Here is part of her Meditation
on the Hunger and Thirst
for Justice
(p.733 in Spiritual
Writings of Louise de Marillac):
"Blessed are they who..." Hunger and thirst are two urgent needs of nature, especially in strong bodies...
Thirst for justice, which is a more pressing need, must lead us
to desire greater things. We must long for union with God and the
disposition and means to attain it. We must ardently desire that the
effects of His holy will reign in us; and we must do all in our
power to bring about this reign in others.
It is only just that the owner should dispose as he sees fit of
what is his without encountering any resistance. To attain this goal in my own
life, I shall abandon myself entirely to Divine Providence and no longer seek to be the proprietor of my free will.
Rather, I shall place myself in the hands of God and of my
Superior. To put this resolution into
effect, I shall gladly accept whatever God permits to happen to me, whether it
comes directly from Him or through the instrumentality of His creatures, to whose judgement I shall acquiesce despirt my repugnance to do so.
Louise experienced great
trials in her life—before and after the community began. She learned to
have great trust in Divine Providence
despite the difficulty
involved—she learned to take the leap of faith!
There are other
resources online about St. Louise de Marillac:
Brief life of St.
Louise: http://famvin.org/wiki/Louise_de_Marillac
Spiritual Writings of
Louise de Marillac (complete volume in pdf): http://via.library.depaul.edu/ldm/
Portrayal of the
Friendship of St. Vincent and St. Louise:
Have
a blessed feast of St. Louise!
Sr. Denise
Visit the Daughters of
Charity website:
Visit the Spirit of the
Daughters of Charity blog at: http://srdenisedc.blogspot.com/
Vision & Voice Magazine http://www.doc-ecp.org/index_main.html?pathid=EVT
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