Reflection, Day One: The Life and Times of Louise de Marillac

By Gracie Covarrubias Admission Counselor, Office of Undergraduate Admission DePaul Class of 2017 It has been over 400 years since Louise de Marillac last stepped foot on this earth, and we’ve spent each of those years retracing her steps in an effort to better understand and emulate one of the most formative leaders in Vincentian […]

An Invitation to Love and Solidarity

As Louise de Marillac endured a particularly difficult trial in her life, Vincent once told her “Que j’ai peine de votre peine!” [How sorry I am about your suffering!] (CCD, 1:138.) While Vincent may have wished to eradicate the cause of Louise’s suffering, it was beyond his power. Instead, Vincent chose to accompany her, reassuring […]

Learning to Discern Well

“Virtue loves discernment and can never be excessive—neither too little nor too much.” (Document 57, Journal of the Last Days of Saint Vincent, 5 June 1660, CCD, 13a:196.) “…in the final analysis, virtue is not found in extremes, but in prudence.…” Letter 881, To Etienne Blatiron, In Genoa, 26 October 1646, CCD, 3:101-02. As the […]

Meekness, the Charming Virtue

“How good you are, a God, my God, how good you are, since indeed in… (Saint) Francis de Sales, your creature, there is such great gentleness” (29, Deposition at the Process of Beatification of Francis de Sales, 17 April 1628, CCD, 13a:91.) In telling of his own spiritual journey, Saint Vincent de Paul described being […]