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PDF versionExiled in life, Jeanne Jugan soon to gain full recognition
Foundress of Little Sisters of the Poor died unrecognized, even within her order
Oct. 01, 2009
Jeanne Jugan bust
The once banished and forgotten foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Jeanne Jugan, will be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI Oct. 11, receiving the fullness of recognition she was denied in life.
Instead of carrying the pain that could fittingly be associated with the isolation she suffered for the last quarter century of her life, the Little Sisters see it as an example of humility and hiddenness, which they now embrace as the charisms of their order.
Meanwhile, more than 2,700 Little Sisters, who care for some 13,000 needy elderly in 202 residences worldwide, 31 in the United States, are ecstatic.
A delegation of some 4,000 patrons, admirers, staffers and others touched by the work of these women are expected in St. Peter’s Square in Rome for the celebration. They will be standing shoulder-to-veil with over 200 sisters, chosen to be on hand for the festivities by chance, one from each of the Little Sisters’ homes for the needy elderly.
While undeniably pleased, they will be harboring quiet hope that Benedict will name their foundress a patron of the elderly.
Asked how she will feel that day, Little Sister Constance Veit, the order’s publication director who lives at the Baltimore home, said: “I will feel an immense pride that Jeanne Jugan is our mother and she will be finally be universally recognized. I will also feel the poor and elderly are getting the champion they need.”
Sister Laetitia works a puzzle with resident Margarita Garcia at Jeanne Jugan Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Veit said the canonization is coming at an auspicious time as the United States is focused on finding ways to revamp a hurting health care system. “Nine out of 10 of our residents are on Medicaid, which covers only half of the care costs. The rest we have to raise.”
She added, “We feel there is a need for major health care reform in our country.”
As the Little Sisters tell the story, Jugan was born in a small town in France in 1792 and grew up poor. As a young girl she earned money knitting and working as a kitchen maid and later as a servant.
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Later in life, at the age of 47, Jugan took a blind and infirm elderly woman, Anne Chauvin, into the modest apartment she shared with another woman. Jugan gave up her bed, moving into the attic. That act of kindness led to others and soon other women were sharing similar kindnesses, helping the elderly poor.
“Generous young women came to help. Like Jeanne, they wanted to make a difference. Like her, they believed that ‘the poor are our Lord.’ A religious community was born!” a short Little Sisters’ Jugan sketch reads.
Sister Monique helps with dinner at Jeanne Jugan Center in Kansas City, Mo.It was in 1841 Jugan was first elected superior of the small congregation. By December 1843, the women were providing care for some 40 people and the sisters for the second time re-elected Jugan as their mother general.
But here the story takes an unfortunate twist.
A priest, Fr. Auguste le Pailleur, had been a spiritual advisor for two of the sisters, and through them gained a foothold in the community. Then, on Dec. 23, 1843, just weeks after the women had re-elected Jugan, Pailleur on his own authority declared the election void, designating a 23-year-old sister, Marie Jamet, as the new mother general. Still not satisfied with his authority in the order he declared himself father general and took total control. Pailleur assigned Jugan to begging for aid.
Additionally, Pailleur began falsifying documents to state that he had founded the Little Sisters.
Paul Milcent, author of the biography Jeanne Jugan: Humble So As to Love More, wrote: “The Abbé le Pailleur’s behavior has something odd about it, pointing to some kind of psychological disturbance. He was determined, even at the cost of falsifying the truth, to concentrate power and fame in his own person.”
So relegated did Jugan eventually become, said Veit, that younger sisters entering the order had no idea the woman living in the shadows of the motherhouse for the last 27 years of her life was their foundress.
“She died in oblivion,” Veit said. “She had been thoroughly set aside.” Referring to the canonization, Veit added, “There is definitely a sense that she is finally gaining her rightful place. And the elderly are getting the honor they deserve.”
Decades later, the mother general Pailleur appointed told an aid on her deathbed that Jugan had, indeed, been the original foundress. When Pailleur’s ruse became known he was eventually sent to live out his life in a monastery.
Sister Laurentia cares for a dying resident at the Jeanne Jugan Center in Kansas City, Mo.But the misrepresentations did not get quickly cleared up. The first edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, published in 1913, reads: “Little Sisters of the Poor, an active, unenclosed religious congregation founded at St. Servant, Brittany, 1839, through the instrumentality of Abbé Augustin Marie le Pailleur.”
It was only in the year 2000 that the Little Sisters offered the following clarification to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “Jeanne Jugan is truly our foundress, not the priest mentioned in the article. Father le Pailleur was in fact involved in the early phases of the work, but he was not the founder. In fact, as time went on, he removed Jeanne Jugan from the office of superior, forced her into oblivion, and then manufactured and propagated a false story about the origins of our congregation.”
Jugan died at age 86.
“I never thought Jeanne Jugan would be canonized,” said Little Sister Gonzague, who works at the Jeanne Jugan Center in Kansas City, Mo. “She was so humble and didn’t toot her horn. But we feel this grounded our congregation in the spirit of humility and hiddenness of Christ. She lived that. God worked through those years of hiddenness.”
Thomas Fox is NCR editor and can be reached at tfox@ncronline.org.
What a story! I can
What a story! I can understand the ecstasy of these women with her canonization. Bravo!
So typical, a priest pushing
So typical, a priest pushing aside the real founder of an order to take control and credit for himself. The same story may be found in many histories of many orders.
(Thanks to the Little Sisters of the Poor at the Jeanne Jugan Center in Kansas City for taking care of my mother in the last years of her life.)
No it's not "typical,"
No it's not "typical," Gerelyn. Name us just one other order where such a situation existed or is even suspected of having occurred. This story is truly tragic, and certainly points to the abuses of a male-only clergy when it comes to the subjigation of women (as is now being done with the "visitations" by Rome), but lets deal with facts and not generalizations. If you do have other reliable instances to cite, then we would all, I am sure, be eager to learn of them. By the way, I will remember your mother and the Little Sisters of the Poor in my prayers tonight.
Yes, dear OHthor, it IS
Yes, dear OHthor, it IS absolutely typical.
(You say "us" and "we", as if you speak for all, but I don't think it's fair to assume other posters are as unfamiliar with the histories of women's religious congregations as you are.)
As to naming "just one other order"? There are so many, that I hesitate to select one, but I'll make a few suggestions at the end of this post.
If you're really interested in learning about the abuse heaped on women's congregations by bishops and priests, I suggest you visit a Catholic university library. Go to the section with histories of women's communities. Pick any one at random.
(One thing that has interested me since I first began doing research in this area, over forty years ago, was how often the same names of abusive bishops and priests turn up in the convent histories. Some were serial persecutors of women's orders.)
If you don't live near a Catholic university, a good source of information about (recently written) convent histories is History of Women Religious News and Notes.
Some older histories that would demonstrate to you that the treatment of the Little Sisters of the Poor was far from unique:
Sisters, Servants of the I.H.M., by Sister Maria Alma, 1934.
Congregation of the Sisters Adorers of the Most Precious Blood, by A Member of the Province, 1938.
Loretto, Annals of the Century, by Anna Catherine Minogue, 1912.
Life of John David, by Columbia Fox, 1925.
Make the Way Known, by Katherine Burton, 1959.
The Meaning of the Mountain, by Sr. M. Faith Schuster, O.S.B., 1963.
The Price of Our Heritage, by Sr. M. Jane Coogan, B.V.M., 1975.
Achievement of a Century, By Sr. M. Rosalita, I.H.M., 1948.
We Came North, by Sr. Julia Gilmore, S.C.L., 1958.
(And sooooo many more. I hope you enjoy learning about the numerous priests and bishops who abused nuns and their superiors: Bishop Peter Lefevere, St. John Neumann, Bishop Richard Miles, Fr. Charles Nerinckx, Fr. John David, Fr. Samuel Wilson, Fr. Rafello Munos, Abbot Boniface Wimmer, Fr. Terence J. Donaghoe, Bishop Baltes, Monsignor Henry Muehlsiepen, Fr. B. H. Westerman, Bishop Fink, Cardinal McIntyre, etc., etc., etc.)
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http://GerelynHollingsworth.com/
Correction: Sorry for
Correction: Sorry for misspelling the name of Sr. M. Columba Fox, S.C.N.
Her book on Fr. John David may be found here.
An article by Fr. James
An article by Fr. James Martin, S.J., in the July 9th issue of America tells about a foundress who was treated even WORSE than Jeanne Jugan.
From the article:
"In April of this year, in an extraordinary gesture, Bishop's Sheil's successor, the current archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, made a public apology to the Sisters for their foundress's excommunication. Standing before her statue, said that he was "profoundly ashamed of the Bishop's actions in driving the Sisters out onto the streets." McKillop was beatified (the next-to-last step for canonization) by Pope John Paul II in 1995."
Please click the link to see Mother McKillop's picture. (And notice in the comments below the article, another abused founder, Mother Theresa Maxis, is mentioned.)
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?id=51639454-3048-741E-3028...
For more about Mother Theresa Maxis:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS257&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=t...
Another foundress brutally
Another foundress brutally abused by a bishop was canonized in 2006. Mother Theodore Guerin's feastday was Saturday.
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Indiana Nun to be proclaimed a saint
Yahoo!News ^ | October, 13, 2006 | KEN KUSMER
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - An Indiana nun once banished from her congregation by a bishop will be proclaimed a saint on Sunday, providing a model of virtuous life to America's Roman Catholics — even if they find themselves at odds with church leaders.
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"The bishop here in Vincennes was impossible to work with, yet she always kept her faith. She held on to it," said Sister Marcia Speth, one of the order's leaders. "In that way, she witnesses to us how to be today in an imperfect, flawed, sinful church."
Guerin led a group of six French nuns who arrived in Indiana on Oct. 22, 1840, to establish a community in the woods outside Terre Haute. She and Vincennes Bishop Celestin de la Hailandiere struggled over control of the fledgling order, and he dismissed Guerin from her vows, threatened her with excommunication and banished her for a time from St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She did not return until after his resignation in 1847.
In that way, she is like many saints who found themselves bucking church authorities while alive, only to be acclaimed as saints after their deaths, said the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame and the author of the 2001 book "Lives of the Saints."
"So many leading figures who had tussles with their bishop or other high-ranking ecclesiastical officials were later rehabilitated. History remembers them, but not the officials who gave them a difficult time," McBrien said. "I dare say that Mother Guerin, as a soon-to-be-canonized saint, will achieve an elevated status that will forever elude the bishop who dismissed her."
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For more on Mother Theodore Guerin and her oh-so-typical treatment by a bishop:
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS257&q=mothe...
Gerelyn, You mention that you
Gerelyn, You mention that you have been researching these issues for forty years. Have you thought about publishing an article on your research?
I included some information
I included some information about the priests and bishops whose abuse of nuns was a mark of so many congregations' histories in a 1985 book, Ex-Nuns.
I'll quote one paragraph to give an example of the sort of information available in the early histories:
"The priest who ruled the Sisters of Charity of Dubuque, Iowa, Terence J. Donaghoe, became too sick to say Mass, but refused to allow the nuns to call in another priest; he feared 'meddling,' and the sisters 'did not like to bother him.' They expelled two of their sisters for complaining about not receiving the sacraments even on Sunday. Donaghoe held all the community's goods in his own name, including the nuns' patrimonies, but refused to make a will. Finally, the nuns called in the bishop who forced the dying priest to sign a will. Donaghoe then turned to one of the nuns and said, 'This is your work. It is just like you.'"
(The quotations were from Sr. M. Jane Coogan's 1975 history of her congregation.)
Many new histories of women's orders have been published in the last twenty years by scholars who had access to the original documents, archives, etc. Many are noted and/or reviewed in HWR News and Notes.
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Correction: The link to the James Martin article on Mother McKillop didn't work. This one might: http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?id=51639454-3048-741E-3028...
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http://GerelynHollingsworth.com/
Gerelyn, I get so lost on the
Gerelyn, I get so lost on the website sometimes I just now am re-discovering this exchange. I can see that I'm way out of touch with your history of publishing! Sorry. Can't keep up with this world. In any case, I'm glad that you are because it seemed as though you could/should be. Thank you for your contributions here.
Thanks "OHthor" for your
Thanks "OHthor" for your post! Wow am I glad the other posters here answered your opinonated post...They sure know of what they speak and took on your need to be so enlightened...makes you wonder!Keep educating us folks. Thanks
True Humility! Glory be to
True Humility! Glory be to God!
And ONLY two hundred years
And ONLY two hundred years for the men of the Church to "get it." Glory be to God!
CLERICAL SEXISM has a long
CLERICAL SEXISM has a long and sordid history in the Roman Catholic Church.
"A priest, Fr. Auguste le Pailleur, had been a spiritual advisor for two of the sisters, and through them gained a foothold in the community. Then, on Dec. 23, 1843, just weeks after the women had re-elected Jugan, Pailleur on his own authority declared the election void, designating a 23-year-old sister, Marie Jamet, as the new mother general. Still not satisfied with his authority in the order he declared himself father general and took total control. Pailleur assigned Jugan to begging for aid.
Additionally, Pailleur began falsifying documents to state that he had founded the Little Sisters."
Let's hope that this time around, American women religious take on the bullies in Rome and elsewhere....
Yes, let's take on the
Yes, let's take on the bullies in Rome and elsewhere---called clerics! Our Church is in such a total mess once again because of the actions of Bishops and other clerics. When will the laity begin to insist on its place, take control of all the temporal ministries in the Church without the clerics having any authority in these areas? If it happens, I'll probably be watching from heaven!
If this is what you truly
If this is what you truly desire, why continue to be Catholic? Without the authority of Mother Church and the successors of the apostles we are just another of the many nameless churches lost in the hands of the laity. Imperfect as some of her servants may be, Mother Church will prevail. My prayer is that you will continue to be with her, submitting to her authority and that of the Successor of Peter. God Bless.
And those in her order
And those in her order continue to live their lives of service. They even wear habits!
And your point being...?
And your point being...?
Yes, but there is no mention
Yes, but there is no mention as to how this order is doing with attracting new novices. From the photos, it looks as if it is the same as how the communites who don't wear habits are doing. None-the-less, let's just be willing to join together and be honored that these women are doing the work that they are doing, with or without the habit. It is their work that they are doing that inspires me, not their atire.
or at least these few in the
or at least these few in the photos attached from one center
and your point being?
Let's not forget that Christ
Let's not forget that Christ always knows who the Saints among us really are. This said, I am very happy for the Little Sisters! and for Jeanne Jugan! She and they are inspirations! Would that American Bishops were as caring and as pastoral in all their dealings with the Children of God under their care.
From their website: "Prayer
From their website: "Prayer is the hidden source from which our vocation of love and service springs. It is the force which unifies the various elements of our life, leading us to have one heart and one will with Jesus.
Moments of communal and personal prayer each day include:
• Mass;
• communal celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours;
• a period of meditation at the beginning of each day and another half-hour of personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament;
• Rosary;
• lectio divina and spiritual reading
Community life is built around the permanent presence of the Eucharist – for Christ is the center and source of our unity."
That's aphascinating story.
That's aphascinating story. Frankly I didn't know anything about Sister Jeanne Jugan and the order she founded. A book about Damien de Veuster my uncle gave me for Christmas nearly 50 years ago impressed me enough to scan everything published about him since. Guess what I give grandsons for Christmas. However googling the Blessed, soon to be Saint, Jeanne wasn't productive. The Catholic elementary school our granddaughter
is attending in California might inform us in due time. But I appreciate suggestions the sooner the better. Thanks you.
Here is a list of books about
Here is a list of books about Jeanne Jugan:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-ke...
If the link doesn't work, go to www.amazon.com and search "Books" using the keyword "Jugan".
Good luck!!
However googling the Blessed,
However googling the Blessed, soon to be Saint, Jeanne wasn't productive.
http://www.catholicfounders.org/jeanne.htm
Some wonderful, but out of
Some wonderful, but out of print books are by Boniface Hanley. One called "Women who changed the world with Minds of their Own".... Jeanne is in that one. Damien is in Hanley's, "Ten Christians." Easy reads but not sparse accounts. Hanley does a masterful job giving the postive facts with much reverence and the negative facts without a judgmental tone. Used copies of these can be purchased on amazon for pennies. Finally two of my favorite Blesseds are recoginzed! Alleluia.
Jeanne Jugan is a gift to the
Jeanne Jugan is a gift to the life and holiness of the Church.I am grsateful to the Lord that He raises up heroes to help us keep authentic Christian life in perspective. Jeanne Jugan in one of my heroes ( has been for many years!).
May her light show us another wonderful path to God!
Majella Larivee Marchand BGS
maybe Cardinal Rode is the
maybe Cardinal Rode is the new Fr. Le Pailleur?
He is! And there are so many
He is! And there are so many Bishops and priests like him!!!
Thank you for publishing this
Thank you for publishing this article. I had no idea of the role of the patriarchal church in her life. I had two aunts who were LIttle Sisters of the Poor and always admired the work with the elderly. Congratulations to them and our supportive prayers.
A noble and glorious way to
A noble and glorious way to serve our Lord. May more follow in the footsteps of these women.
1792 is how many years after
1792 is how many years after the fact? Why does this admittedly beautiful story surface now and not then? Would it have empowered women too much back then to reveal how this great woman was oppressed? Is that why it remained untold?
Now however, does it teach a new generation of women that true Christ-like behavior for them comes with veiled habit, and sainted subjugation?
200 plus years later does it serve the motives of the Patriarchal Church more today to promote a traditionally habited order's story of unrelenting faith? No doubt the story stands on its own as a testament to Christ-like faith.
The question is in terms of timing and public relations: who are the beneficiaries and for what reason might they benefit and to what degree?
Yes, with or without the
Yes, with or without the habit.
This story is one among
This story is one among thousands — over the centuries and even today — saints and prophets, are often overlooked or outright dismissed as being of little consequence, or spoken of with disdain and calumny during their human lives. Some have been finally acknowledged decades or even centuries later, but there will no doubt be a multitude of them in heaven who never received their proper due in this world.
.
It is good to remember this when we are tempted to have disregard for our brothers and sisters in Christ, for some perceived failing. That is one reason why we are called to seek and find the face of Christ in everyone — even those who annoy us or perhaps seem unimportant within our limited vision. We never know when we might actually be "entertaining angels" and saints without our awareness.
That spiteful horrid priest I
That spiteful horrid priest I hope is looking up from his place in Purgatory or Hell, realizing how he wronged the wonderful Mother Jeanne Jugan, and mother she was indeed.
She is a fine example of a nurturing woman carrying out Christ's command to feed the hunger, house the homeless and clothe the naked.
Pride is a terrible sin that inflicts most of us, but not Mother Jeanne.
What a horrible comment. I
What a horrible comment. I pray that he is looking down from heaven to see this wonderful sight along with Mother Jeanne. We as christians should NEVER hope that someone is in either hell or purgatory but hope they are sharing in the joys of heaven and pray for the souls of the departed that it occurs.
Not to sound like a stick in
Not to sound like a stick in the mud, but I read this differently. The supporters of Jugan keep stressing her humility. She, as a product of her time, didn't scream to high heaven when the cleric turned her into roadkill and took all the glory. Is she being canonized because she was humble and "obeyed", or because she founded a wonderful order of women who to this day help a lot of people? Hmmm....
I don't see anyone in Rome moving to canonize Dorothy Day, and she had similar accomplishments. Too brash and outspoken, I guess. More like JC.
Thank you nancy in ft worth.
Thank you nancy in ft worth. I read these srticles and I'm going to say something then along comes someone that has already said it very well. It's so great to know people are seeing these things in the same light and speaking up. Maybe we really will make a difference. God bless you.
Nancy, that is a very
Nancy, that is a very interesting question you put forth. All too often the process for cannonization is muddled, stalled or advanced for political reasons. I think you may be onto something in stating that one reason Jugan is advancing now is because she is an example of women defering to men and obeying. Seeing her willingness ot obey as an example for others to follow may, indeed, be a reason. None-the-less, I cannot help but be pleased that the work these women are doing will come to light all the more because she will be cannonized.
My admiration for Dorothy Day is large and, like you, I would like to see her cannonized. But, franklly, she is a bit of a conumdrum. Yes, she was outspoken in so many areas She certainally rattled the cage of Capitalism throughout her life. That alone may keep her from being cannonized. But she also was an obedient daughter of the Catholic hierarchy in ways that would surprise anyone who simply wants to present her by showing her, otherwise, radical views. She was a women whose faith was simple, but whose application to how to live it was quite radical to those of us who try to live a faith and at the same time support the status quo. In many, many ways she is a very challanging example for us to follow. May my prayers, coupled with yours and many others, help to move her cause along.
I'm not Catholic so my
I'm not Catholic so my knowledge of your church is sketchy. That being said, I am thrilled that someone so deserving, who didn't toot her own horn, finally received the proper recognition for her works and humility about them.
And I'd like to wonder aloud why it is that women can be saints but not priests. Are priests higher in God's eyes than saints?
"I'd like to wonder aloud why
"I'd like to wonder aloud why it is that women can be saints but not priests." Dear St. Anonymous, that is a quantum leap beyond your claim to "sketchy" knowledge of our church. Thank you for thinking aloud! You must be listening to the voice of the Spirit . What a truly comforting and supportive message! Gratefully, Sister,T.
Many, many saints were
Many, many saints were priests, bishops, and even monks and religious brothers.
Everything is possible with
Everything is possible with God.
I think that a number of our
I think that a number of our Roman Catholic clergy might like to think so!!!
Rather like the Cure
Rather like the Cure D'Ars.....
"When Fr Pailleur’s ruse became known he was eventually sent to live out his life in a monastery."
I am pleased to see that the Church is raising Bl. Jeanne to the altars by Canonisation.
But no-one has yet mentioned in the comments that the priest who took over Bl. Jeanne's place and relegated her to obscurity was punished. Being sent to a monastery was a punishment for him. Therefore he did not "get away with it".
Bl. Jeanne's experience is remarkably similar to that of the Cure D'Ars.
I recall reading in the "Hidden Life of the Cure d'Ars" by Henri Gheon that a Curate who came to assist the Cure d'Ars not only insisted on turning Bl. Jean-Marie Vianney out of his own bedroom but also effectively took over his role and acted as if he were Parish Priest and gave Bl. Jean-Marie orders and generally made his life a misery. The reaction of the Cure d'Ars was similar to the reaction of Bl Jeanne. He humbly put up with the humiliation and accepted it as a trial and chastisement for his sins. It is hard for me to imagine the depths of humility necessary to accept such ill-treatment and injustice.
Here we have such contrasting examples of the Priesthood.
Perhaps in this Year of Priests we need to think hard on the very Catholic distinction between the sacred of office of Priest and the office-holder. Fr X or Y may fall far short of their sacred priesthood. I try to think of this when I hear and read of clerical abuse cases. Priests are sinful humans as well. We will be discouraged when we read of the scandals but we must never allow this to diminish our view of the Sacred office that individual priests hold.
"Being sent to a monastery
"Being sent to a monastery was a punishment for him."
Why is being sent to a monastery a punishment?
Let us pray that Jeaanne
Let us pray that Jeaanne Jugan will be named Patron of the elderly.
The elderly poor are the most numerous among us.
Oh how history repeats
Oh how history repeats itself! Once again, dedicated and self-sacrificing women religious are being forced into oblivion by self-agrandizing clerics who are "determined, even at the cost of falsifying the truth, to concentrate power and fame in [their] own person.”
Is there a public apology to the Sisters in the plan? I doubt it!
And I think it is just such
And I think it is just such priests and Bishops to which Dante refers in his Inferno----"the roads of hell are paved with priests and Bishops," at least this is the paraphrased version.
The Little Sisters are
The Little Sisters are incredible! People love them. Their homes for the elderly are spotless; they are shining examples to their employees of how to care for the elderly. They work right along with their employees in tending to their residents. They are to be admired. I have never seen a more dedicated and humble group of women - kind to a fault! And they are loved by their residents, by the families of their residents, and by those who work with them. Everyone should pray that they can spend their later years with the Little Sisters of the Poor. Each one of them is a saint! And Jeanne Jugan is truly a gift to the church. The world now knows what many of us have always known - that she is a Saint.
http://www.google.com/search?
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS257&q=jeann...
Google offers 44,000+ leads to information about Jeanne Jugan, including 7000+ images.
Also, 1,380,000+ leads to Little Sisters of the Poor.
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS257&q=littl...
Patron of the elderly, the
Patron of the elderly, the poor - and oppressed religious women under male invasive power.
Userpers of the central
Userpers of the central person in a cause (power struggles) are well documented. Praise is given to the leader who can hold on to his or her power (St. Benedict's stories come to mind, on how he was able to foil plots against him for somebody to put themselves in the control position.) The founder role is or is not equated as the head honcho. The prior/ess is the servant of all. So she fullfilled her role as that. All founders are given after the fact elevation of status. The founders during their active time aren't worried about founding.
If ever there were a women's
If ever there were a women's religious order that needed a special visitation and examination, it would be this one! They must be doing something wrong and have something to hide!
Praise to Little Sisters of
Praise to Little Sisters of the Poor founder, Mother Jeanne Jugan! What an inspiring story! It is wonderful that she is finally receiving some recognition!
Perhaps our midwestern bishops who are so enamored of our "private" health care system in the U.S. ought to read the comments of Little Sister Constance Viet from the Baltimore home for the elderly. She tells of how needy these poor elderly are; how they are all on Medicaid; and how their care is only half covered by Medicaid. And the bishops want us to believe that this is what Jesus wants us to do for our poor elderly? As long as they continue to teach us this, I refuse to listen to them. They are doing exactly what Fr. Auguste de Pailleur did to Mother Jeanne Jugan. The Church indeed remains a "man's world."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if our hierarchy would take an example from these holy women? But then, they are "only women," so why should the male hierarchy look to them for examples? I suppose that is just too much to ask for!
I'm not surprised that this
I'm not surprised that this woman died almost in oblivion. Most poor people live and die that way. That she truly followed Jesus is obvious when she gave her bed to a poor old person and moved to the attic as a young woman. Jeanne Jugan was living her life following the way of Jesus whether she started an order of like minded women or whether she lived in oblivion. I see her following our Lord very closely. She had the heart of Jesus guiding what she did Jesus went and prayed in secret. He did not toot his own horn. People were attracted to him.....mostly the poor because he loved them and healed them and taught them. It was what he did for the poor that attracted others, mostly the poor, to himself. So it was for Jeanne Jugan.
What an inspiration!!!
What an inspiration!!! However, we must be on guard --- Rome may be laying the foundation to take over existing orders.
Userpers of the central
Userpers of the central person in a cause (power struggles) are well documented. Praise is given to the leader who can hold on to his or her power (St. Benedict's stories come to mind, on how he was able to foil plots against him for somebody to put themselves in the control position.) The founder role is or is not equated as the head honcho. The prior/ess is the servant of all. So she fullfilled her role as that. All founders are given after the fact elevation of status. The founders during their active time aren't worried about founding.
Congratulations dear Sisters
Congratulations dear Sisters of the Poor. Your time has come to be rightly recognized for the good that your Foundress started!
What a bad example for the
What a bad example for the LCWR sisters she must be! Imagine that--honoring someone whose followers are physically working to provide for the needs of the poor and elderly. They are doing work that is demeaning women and setting back womyn's rights decades. Rather than serve the poor they should be getting "ministry degrees" and working to fight the penis-having oppression of the bishops. Their wearing of the habit of their religious profession is setting back the spirit of vatican II! When the higher-archy sees this order they will want all of us to live together and pray the Divine Office in Common. Next thing you know we will have to have male-led Masses and follow the evil GIRM!
"... setting back womyn's
"... setting back womyn's rights decades. Rather than serve the poor they should be getting "ministry degrees" and working to fight the penis-having oppression of the bishops."
The above referenced reply is a good example of the conservative supported vile, intimidation, and derision many Vatican II women and men in the church have experienced for years. The institutional church is full of this kind of wounded spirit responding (in a manner that makes one imagine hissing) as if some woman, perhaps the Mother of God, stepped on it.
The Little Sisters of the
The Little Sisters of the Poor are living saints! I am sure that Our Lord will say to each one of them as he did to their founder "Well done good and faithful servant" May God bless them in their ministry and let us all congratulate them. I am sad to say however, that the Little Sisters of the Poor are held in contempt by the ladies of the LCWR. May God forgive them (the LCWR) and bring them to repentance.
Three cheers and a tiger for
Three cheers and a tiger for "the ladies of the LCWR".
(Odd claim about their "contempt" for the Little Sisters. Got any evidence to support it?)
I hardly think that the
I hardly think that the Little Sisters of the Poor are "held in contempt by the ladies of the LCWR", as you state. This may support your dislike for the women of the LCWR, but, in truth, it is bearing false witness against the women of the LCWR.
What an unfortunate reply.
What an unfortunate reply.
Women are a blessing in the church. Women of the LCWR are a marvelous blessing because they recognize that the one Spirit has endowed this little world of ours with people -- women and men -- who possess a variety of gifts to be used in a variety of ways.
I would not expect the Little Sisters of the Poor to found a university, to lobby Congress on behalf of the poor, or to deliver lectures on theology, philosphy, or science -- not because they can't, but because that's not their community's charism. I would not expect the numerous communities that have founded colleges and universities (originally for the education of women and girls) to minister as the Little Sisters -- that's not their communities' charisms.
We can all "see" the Sisters in habits in church at the same time, all praying at the same time. If that is part of the concept of community put forward by their founders, then that is a valid way to continue their communal life. This is often the more publicized way of identifying Women Religious, so it is often seen as the norm.
But St. Vincent and St. Louise had different charisms, and their "communities of women" had different ways of living out those charisms -- working, not necessarily in institutions, but on the streets, in the areas where the poor and marginalized are found. They ministered and taught -- expressly without any identifying habits because they were to identify with the people they served.
The Sisters in communities that work outside an institution have an equally demanding but much less publicized spiritual life. We don't tend to recognize the Sisters in a parish church -- the look like us. But those Sisters, whether they live in convents, apartments, or homes, nurture a deep spiritual life and do so in a more challenging way -- the way that we ALL must do: finding time in a hectic world and busy ministry to search out the quiet place and time to attend to the Spirit within. We won't "see" these Sisters in row upon row in church -- like Christ, they blend in.
The point that the LCWR makes is that all have different gifts. It would be as wrong to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to change their charism as it is to force the other religious communities to change theirs. Too often in the past the individual gifts of the Spirit were suppressed in religious communities. Now that those communities have undergone an aggiornamento in keeping with Perfectae Caritatis, and have kept the Vatican offices informed of the changes at every step of the way, the Vatican is suddenly once again taking on the role of bully -- like Pailleur.
The heart of religious life is not in what is worn, where one lives, or even in the "saying of prayers." The heart of religious life is exactly as the LCWR perceives it: what have we done today to mirror Christ? What have we done to alleviate suffering? What have we done to nurture an ever-deepening spirituality? How have we welcomed the orphan, widow, and stranger? The LCWR understands the corporal and spiritual works of mercy far better than many of those in the royal palaces of the Vatican.
Three Cheers! Excellent post.
Three Cheers! Excellent post. We are with our Sister whatever their charism or work. We owe them much for building and sustaining the church in the United States. Lets support them in whatever why we can.
No, we are all Sisters. Those
No, we are all Sisters. Those of us whose congregations are in the LCWR are thrilled and excited for the Little Sisters at the great honor Jeanne Jugan is finally getting. We have our own foundresses who waited a long time for this honor, so we understand what this means for the "petite soeurs." We love and are happy for the "Petite Soeurs." Though I am not in a traditonal habit, I hope it is all right if I mention your name (Anonymous) at the intercessions when we Sisters pray the Liturgy of the Hours in common, or pray before the Blessed Sacrament each day or recite the rosary. I also will think of you when I do as the charism and mission of my congregation asks of me: to use my ministry degree to prepare children for the sacraments, help families plan their mom's funeral, bring new Catholics into the Church through RCIA and try my best to make the catechists of the weekly Religion lessons the best they can be...
Please do not turn Jeanne
Please do not turn Jeanne Jugan's beautiful story/event into some self-serving agenda! Reading some of the comments left by people about how "typical" this was of male priests, sexism, and the like, it appears to me that some readers are completely missing the point. I honestly do not think Jugan would have approved of the way some people are using her experience to reap hate and division. Here is a story of how a woman responded courageously to God...It is not a story of how ONE priest abused his authority.
As I see it: Jugan's life mirrored the people she worked with and for. In our (North American, oh so sophisticated) society, how often is it that we walk pass an elderly person and think: how sad and even perhaps how pathetic it is to grow old? What we do not realized is that the elderly person standing in front of us has her own history, story, experiences, contributions, etc... that may be beyound belief! That she had (and perhaps currently) lived a courageous and holy life!
In the same way, Jugan became the needy elderly that she sought to served: she became the non-person that everyone ignored...that the younger sisters in her order did not even know that they were in the presence of their founder. But their blindness is not much different from out blindness to our elderly citizens...
I think Jugan's experience is truly beautiful and we can learn so much from her. Therefore, we should do her honour by focusing on her experience, holiness and courage...not on the priest who caused it.
So why did the other sister's
So why did the other sister's not come to their founder's assistance? Were they so cowed by the "holiness" of a priest that they did not dare? I'm sorry but I don't find this all holy stuff. I think of abused women who stay with their abuser husbands and we all know that isn't holy! I think of the recent case of a girl kidnapped at age 11 and kept in a backyard bearing children to the kidnapper yet she didn't show signs of having tried to escape. This is NOT holy, it's sick! The service these sister's give to the poor is wonderful and holy but putting up with an abuser is NOT HOLY. Why oh why do we not recognize this and say let's stop it NOW. No more abuse especially in the name of being humble and obedient. Didn't Jesus stop the stone throwers? Why do you think he did that?
Histories of women's
Histories of women's congregations make clear what religious had to fear from priests and bishops.
Today's sisters are fearful, too, and with good reason. Read the touching article by Sister X in the current Commonweal to understand why.
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2658
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http://GerelynHollingsworth.com/
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