Louise de Marillac

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Louise de Marillac
birth_date=August 12, 1591
death_date=death date and age|1660|03|15|1591|8|12
feast_day=March 15
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church

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imagesize=300px
caption=Saint Louise de Marillac
birth_place=Paris, France
death_place=Paris, France
titles=
beatified_date=May 9, 1920
beatified_place=Rome
beatified_by=Pope Benedict XV
canonized_date=March 11, 1934
canonized_place=Rome
canonized_by=Pope Pius XI
attributes=widows' clothing
patronage=disappointing children, loss of parents, people rejected by religious orders, sick people, social workers, Vincentian Service Corps, widows
major_shrine=Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Rue du Bac, Paris, France
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=

Saint Louise de Marillac (August 12, 1591 - March 15, 1660) was the co-founder, with St. Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

Early life

St. Louise was born out of wedlock in 1591 to Louis de Marillac, a member of the prominent Marillac family. His brother was a major figure in the court of Queen Marie de Medici, and though he was not a member of the Queen's court, he lived and worked among the French aristocracy. Louise grew up amidst this affluent society of Paris but without a stable home life. She did not know her mother - who died with her father - at the age of fifteen. Nevertheless, she was well looked after and received her education at the royal monastery of Poissy near Paris, where her aunt was a Dominican nun. Louise was educated among the country's elite and introduced to the arts and humanities as well as the spiritual life. She felt drawn to the cloistered life and made application to the Daughters of Passion in Paris, but was refused admission. It is not clear if her refusal was due to her continual poor health or other reasons, but her spiritual director's prophetic response to her application was that God had "other designs" for her.

Devastated by this refusal, Louise was at a loss as to the next step in her spiritual development. Her family convinced her that marriage was the best alternative and an uncle arranged for her marriage to Antony Le Gras, an ambitious young man who seemed destined for great accomplishments. Louise took the marriage in her stride and in 1613 the couple had their only child in their first year of marriage. Though devoted to her family, Louise still longed for a life of service to God. Soon after the birth of their child, Antony contracted a chronic illness and eventually became bedridden. Louise lovingly cared for her husband and child but always wondered if being a wife and mother was her true vocation.

St. Louise suffered for years with this internal doubt and prayed for resolution, which she finally received during an inner experience of divine communication with God. In 1623 she wrote, "On the feast of the Pentecost during Holy Mass or while I was praying in the church, my mind was completely freed of all doubt. I was advised that I should remain with my husband and that the time would come when I would be in the position to make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and that I would be in a small community where others would do the same." She also received insight that she would be guided to a new spiritual director (St. Vincent de Paul) and that this grace was coming to her from her recently deceased confessor, St. Francis de Sales.

Two years after this experience, Antony died and left Louise to fulfill her next great mission in life. She now took on the task of her own spiritual development. Being a woman of great energy, intelligence, determination and devotion, Louise wrote her own "Rules of Life in the World" which detailed a structure for her life. Times were set aside for reciting the Offices of the Blessed Virgin, attending Mass, receiving Holy Communion, meditation, spiritual reading, fasting, penance, reciting the rosary, and special prayer. Still, Louise managed to find time to maintain her household, entertain guests and nourish her son, now thirteen years old. This great enthusiasm was a boon for Louise, but she also needed guidance and a tempering of her energy. This came from her relationship with Monsieur Vincent de Paul.

Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul

The two met around the time of Antony's passing in 1625. St. Vincent quickly recognized Louise's power and intelligence, and understood her need for spiritual direction. Over the next eight years, Vincent and Louise communicated often through letters and personal meetings, with Vincent guiding Louise to reach a more balanced life of moderation, peace and calm. In 1632, Louise made a retreat to seek inner guidance regarding her next step. Her deep intuition led her to understand that it was time to go into the world to help the poor and needy while still maintaining an inner spiritual life. Louise felt ready for this mission and communicated these aspirations to Monsieur Vincent. By the end of 1633, he too received the guidance for them to begin a work together, thus bringing the Daughters of Charity into existence.

In seventeenth century France the charitable care of the poor was completely disorganised. Many under-privileged people were victims of non-existent care or poor hospital conditions. The Ladies of Charity (a precursor of the Daughters of Charity), founded by Vincent de Paul many years earlier, provided some care and monetary resources, but it wasn’t enough. Starting in 1633, Louise took on the task of bringing order to the chaos. Though the wealthy Ladies of Charity had the funds to aid the poor, they did not have the time or temperament to live a life of service and insertion among the poor. Louise found the help she needed in young humble country women who had the energy and the proper attitude to deal with people weighed down by destitution and suffering. With a group of four young women living in her home, Louise began to train them to care for those in need and also taught them how to develop a deep spiritual life. "Love the poor and honor them as you would honor Christ Himself." This was the foundation of the Daughters of Charity, which was approved by Rome in 1655.

St. Louise's work with these young women developed into a system of care at the Hotel-Dieu, the oldest and largest hospital in Paris. Their work became well known and the Daughters were invited to Angers to take over the organisation of the hospital there. This was the first project outside Paris for the fledgling community, so Louise herself made the arduous journey to Angers in the company of three Sisters. After completing negotiations with the city and the hospital, St. Louise instituted collaboration among the doctors, nurses and others to form a comprehensive team. This model was highly successful and is still in use today by the Daughters of Charity. Under the guidance of Louise de Marillac, the Daughters expanded their scope of service to include hospitals, orphanages, institutions for the elderly and mentally ill, prisons, schools and the battlefield.

In working with her charges, St. Louise emphasized a balanced life, as St. Vincent de Paul had taught her. It was the integration of contemplation and activity that made Louise's work so successful. The Sisters were encouraged to pray and work together, and to live every moment in the imitation of Christ by inwardly asking; "What would Jesus do in this situation?" The key for Louise was letting go of her personal ambitions and surrendering to God's will. She wrote near the end of her life, "Certainly it is the great secret of the spiritual life to abandon to God all that we love by abandoning ourselves to all that He wills."

St. Louise continued her work with the Daughters of Charity until she was almost seventy years old. It is sometimes said that St. Vincent was the heart of the Daughters of Charity, while Louise was the head. This isn’t quite true for Louise had a big heart too but the statement was made to give tribute to Louise’s strong intellect, organisational skills and her ability to get things accomplished. Louise was positive and exuberant in her energy, always urging her Sisters to do more and do it well. But along with the activity, she also preached love. Nearing her death, she wrote to her Sisters: “Take good care of the service of the poor. Above all, live together in great union and cordiality, loving one another in imitation of the union and life of Our Lord. Pray earnestly to the Blessed Virgin, that she might be your only Mother.”

After a time of increasing weakness and ill health, St. Louise de Marillac died on March 15, 1660, six months before the death of her great friend and mentor St. Vincent de Paul. It is said that her body remains incorrupt, and it remains on display in the chapel of the mother house of the Daughters of Charity in Paris to this day.

Veneration

St. Louise's feast day is on March 15. She was beatified by Pope Benedict XV on May 9, 1920 and canonized by Pope Pius XI on March 11, 1934. She is the patron saint of disappointing children, loss of parents, people rejected by religious orders, sick people, social workers (named as such by Pope John XXIII on February 2, 1960), Vincentian Service Corps, and widows.

External links

* [http://www.filles-de-la-charite.org/en/index.html Company of the Daughters of Charity]
* [http://www.vincenter.org/res/word/ldmlife.html The Vincentian Center for Church and Society]
* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=196 Catholic Online Saints]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09133b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. Louise de Marillac"]
* [http://vsi.depaul.edu/ Vincentian Studies Institute]
* [http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Statues/Founders/LouisedeMarillac/Louise%20de%20Marillac.htm Founder Statue in St Peter's Basilica]