Art by Clara Kuhlman, DePaul Class of 2024 

These are the last words that Louise de Marillac spoke to her community before she died: 

 

“My dear Sisters, I continue to ask God for His blessing for you and pray that He will grant you the grace to persevere in your vocation in order to serve Him in the manner He asks of you.  

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.”  

Louise had the deep intuition from the start that living together in community was the way forward to sustaining a life of service to others. Even in her last will and spiritual testament she reminds the Daughters of Charity to “live together in great union and cordiality.”  

Reflection Questions:  

• What does it look like today in our context to “take good care of the service of the poor?”  

• If you were to offer your last words of wisdom to the VIA community, what would you share?  

• Share a moment from your VIA experience where you felt like you were working together in great union towards a common mission.