Louise De Marillac and the Spirituality of the Daughters of Charity
Vincentiana, July-September 2012 Louise de Marillac and the Spirituality of the Daughters of Charity Meeting of Provincial Directors Sr. Antoinette Marie Hance, D.C. Introduction Louise de Marillac is an extraordinary woman and a great mystic, and to speak of her and her spirituality is, in a certain sense, to marvel anew at God’s loving plan for humanity, for the Church, for persons living in poverty, and for God’s preference for the lowly and humble of heart. Yes, God always surprises us, and in taking a new look at the life of Louise de Marillac, and dwelling on the spirituality shared with the fi rst Sisters, we see how God constantly borrows from our ways to reveal His love. I’m going to begin by letting St. Vincent speak. On July 24, 1660, two months before his death, he exhorted the fi rst Sisters as follows: “Sisters, after the example of your good mother, take the resolution to work at becoming holy and to detach yourselves from what displeases God in you” 1 . “After the example of your good Mother”. I think that looking at Louise to learn from her how to work at making ourselves holy according to God’s plan for us, and to detach ourselves from what displeases God, is characteristic of a spirituality: proposing a special path of holiness, a particular way of following Christ. The 350th anniversary of the deaths of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac was certainly a special opportunity to discover Louise or to get to know her better.
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