By St. Louise De Marillac
“Do not be upset if things are not as you would want them to be for a long time to come. Do the little you can very peacefully and calmly so as to allow room for the guidance of God in your lives. Do not worry about the rest.”
Reflection questions with Louise quotes:
“Encourage one another and may your mutual good example speak louder than any words can.” – St. Louise de Marillac
In her letters, Louise often tells her sisters to “encourage one another.” The word encourage comes from the Old French encoragier—“make strong, hearten.” It means “to inspire with courage, spirit, hope.” Louise knew what she was asking her community to do was not easy and that they would need each other and courage in their hearts. Time and time again you see in her letters to the Daughters of Charity Louise helping them navigate the joys and struggles of living in community with others and serving the needs of the world.
Reflection Questions:
By Vincent DePaul
“Go forth, then. Go forth in the name of the Lord. We pray the Divine Goodness to accompany you, to be your consolation on the way, your shelter against the heat of the sun, your protection from the rain and cold, your soft couch in weariness, your strength in labor, and that in the end, it may bring you back in perfect health, laden with good deeds and precious remembrances.”
And may we send you forth in the spirit of St. Vincent DePaul and Louise de Marillac! Go lead with love!
If you go back and look at the schedule of the Daughters of Charity, the community founded by Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul, you will see they were very intentional about their time. Their day started at 4:00am and was scheduled to the minute until 8:15 at night when they prepared for bed.
Something that is striking, aside from their ability to function at a seemingly superhuman capacity, was that there were designated times in their schedule dedicated to recreation and to learning how to read. Even in the midst of curing the ills and woes of the day and tending to the broken society around them, they prioritized time every day for leisure, respite, and personal development.
Louise understood that these daily routines, which created space to care for the whole person, were essential for sustaining the communities’ long-term effectiveness as an agents of change.
Reflection questions:
When Vincent founded the Vincentian priests, he called them the Congregation of the Mission: a community gathered for the sake of mission. Louise de Marillac took this vision even further when she co-founded the Daughters of Charity.
She formed a community out of the poorest of the poor, creating home for them. She actually invited young peasant women into her personal space. She saw their potential, taught them to read and write and equipped them to make change in their communities. This kind of hospitality for a noble woman was unprecedented during her time, breaking social class barriers and opening new opportunities for women.
This new vision included Daughters of Charity going out beyond the cloister to serve the community and meet people where they were at — in their homes or in the streets.
“The Daughters of Charity have… for a convent, the houses of the sick; for cell, a rented room; for chapel, the parish church; for cloister, the streets of the city; for enclosure, obedience; for grille, the fear of God; and for veil, holy modesty.” CCD:X:530
Reflection Questions:
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:
A common Vincentian story told at DePaul is often referred to as the story of the white tablecloth. This story serves as an example of Vincentian hospitality and holistic care. Vincent de Paul believed in creating spaces of connection and serving both the physical and spiritual needs.
In the foundational documents and rules established for the Confraternity in Châtillon-les-Dombes in 1617, Vincent de Paul explained the careful attention necessary when seeking to serve those in need. He recommended that missioners lay out a white cloth before serving food to a person in need, and that they engage in kind and cheerful conversation to better understand the context of that person’s story. (1)
The attentive care communicated through laying down a tablecloth and engaging in conversation reflect a recognition of the sacred dignity of those being served, as well as the essential relational dimension of human interaction, breaking down the distinction between “us” and “them.”
The VIA Way of Dialogue cannot be accomplished unless we create space in our hearts to listen to the stories of those we encounter. In our interactions, we are invited to practice hospitality and holistic care knowing that sometimes the smallest things can make a very big difference.
Questions for reflection:
1) See Document 126, Charity of Women, (Châtillon-Les-Dombes), 1617, CCD, 13b:13; and Document 130, Charity of Women, (Montmirail – II), CCD, 13b:40. At: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/38/.
Vincentian historian, Fr. John Rybolt, C.M., tells the full story in this video, describing the spirit with which Vincent wanted his followers to care for the poor:
For this icebreaker, print out the following document: Vincentian Pairs Icebreaker. Cut out each word/phrase and tape one onto each person’s back. Ask participants to go around and find their “Vincentian pair,” the word/phrase that matches their own. This includes people, place, and moments that are significant in our Vincentian story.
Guillermo Campuzano, CM. Winter Quarter 2009
We all know that the main element of Vincentian spirituality is shaped by the direct encounter with the poor. Essentially, what should happen for this encounter to be transformative for people who are engaged in direct-service? The answer is simple: a conversation, a dialogue. Continue reading