Louise Marillac

Louise de Marillac , also known as Louise Le Gras, (August 12, 1591 – March 15, 1660) was the co-founder, with Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

Early life Louise de Marillac was born out of wedlock on August 12, 1592 now in the department of Oise, in Picardy, France. She never knew her mother. Louis de Marillac, Lord of Ferrires (1556–1604), claimed her as his natural daughter yet not his legal heir. Louis was a member of the prominent de Marillac family and was a widower at the time of Louise's birth. Her uncle, Michel de Marillac, was a major figure in the court of Queen Marie de' Medici and, though Louise was not a member of the Queen's court, she lived and worked among the French aristocracy. When her father married Antoinette Le Camus, she refused to accept Louise as part of their family. Thus Louise grew up amid the affluent society of Paris, but without a stable home life. Nevertheless, she was cared for and received an excellent education at the royal monastery of Poissy near Paris, where her aunt was a Dominican nun.

Louise remained at Poissy until her father's death, when she was twelve years old. She then stayed with a devout spinster, from whom she learned household management skills as well as the secrets of herbal medicine. Around the age of fifteen, Louise felt drawn to the cloistered life. She later made application to the Capuchin nuns in Paris but was refused admission. It is not clear if her refusal was for her continual poor health or other reasons, but her spiritual director assured her that God had "other plans" for her.

Devastated by this refusal, Louise was at a loss as to her next step. When she was 22, her family convinced her that marriage was the best alternative. Her uncle arranged for her to marry Antoine Le Gras, secretary to Queen Marie. Antoine was an ambitious young man who seemed destined for great accomplishments. Louise and Antoine were wed in the fashionable Church of St. Gervaise on February 5, 1613. In October, the couple had their only child, Michel. Louise grew to love Antoine and was an attentive mother to their son. Along with being devoted to her family, Louise was also active in ministry in her parish. She had a leading role in the Ladies of Charity, an organization of wealthy women dedicated to assisting those suffering from poverty and disease.

Decision on life In 1623, at 32, she wrote:

She vowed not to remarry if her husband died before her. She found great success in these endeavors. Then, in 1632, Louise made a spiritual retreat. Her intuition led her to understand that it was time to intensify her ministry with poor and needy persons. Louise, now 42, communicated this objective to Vincent.

Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

In 17th-century France, the charitable care of the poor was completely unorganized. The Ladies of Charity, founded by Vincent years earlier, provided some care and monetary resources, but it was far from enough. Vincent and Louise realized that direct service of the poor was not easy for the nobility or the bourgeoisie because of social class. The women took meals, distributed clothing and gave care and comfort. They visited the slums dressed in beautiful dresses next to people considered to be peasants. The tension, between the ideal of service and social constraints, was real. Besides, the families of the ladies often opposed the works. It soon became clear that many of the ladies were unfit to cope with the actual conditions.

Until 1964, the traditional religious habit included a large, starched cornette. While the aristocratic ladies were better suited to the work of raising money and dealing with correspondence, the practical work of nursing the poor in their own homes, and caring for neglected children was best accomplished by women of a similar social status to those served.

The need convinced Vincent to form a confraternity among the women of his parish in Châtillon-les-Dombes. It was so successful that it spread from the rural districts to Paris, where noble ladies often found it hard to give personal care to the needs of the poor. The majority sent their servants to minister to those in need, but often, the work was considered unimportant. Vincent remedied it by referring young women who inquired about serving persons in need to go to Paris and devote themselves to the ministry under the direction of the Ladies of Charity. These young girls formed the nucleus of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

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. She began working with a group of them and saw a need for common life and formation. Consequently, she invited four country girls to live in her home in the Rue des Fosses‐Saint‐Victor and began training them to care for those in need.

Mobility was a major innovation. "Love the poor and honor them as you would honor Christ Himself," Louise explained. That was the foundation of the Daughters of Charity, which received official approbation from the Vatican in 1655. Their distinctive habit, a grey wool tunic with a large headdress or cornette of white linen, was the usual dress of Breton peasant women of the 17th century and later.

Veneration

Louise de Marillac was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and she was canonized by Pope Pius XI on 11 March 1934. Her feast day is May 9 (March 15 until 2015). Her remains are enshrined in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, the chapel of the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity, at 140 rue du Bac, Paris. She is mistakenly referred to as an incorrupt saint; the body enshrined in the chapel is actually a wax effigy, containing her bones. She was declared patroness of Christian social workers by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, she is honored with a Lesser Feast on 15 March in the church's liturgical calendar.

Namesakes St. Louise de Marillac Parish is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. St. Louise de Marillac Parish is in Bellevue, Washington. St. Louise de Marillac Parish and School are in LaGrange Park, Illinois. St Louise's Comprehensive College is in Falls Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland. St. Louise de Marillac Parish in Covina, California. De Marillac Academy in San Francisco, California. St. Louise de Marillac Parish is in Montreal, Quebec. St. Louise de Marillac Primary School is in Ballyfermot, Dublin. Marillac Medical Clinic for the Poor in Grand Junction, Colorado. Parroquia Santa Luisa de Marillac Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana The Church of St Vincent de Paul and St Louise of Marillac served Potters Bar in Hertfordshire from 1962 until 2005.