Faces of Holiness: SSVP Blog Part 2
We have covered the first 3 chapters of this book - reflecting on #1. Jesus #2. Mary, #3. St. Vincent de Paul. This reflection will focus on the five faces of Louise de Marillac.
Louise de Marillac’s spiritual director was St. Vincent de Paul, and through her letters she confessed her fears, anxieties, and weaknesses. Her inner struggles, frustrated St. Vincent at times, and perhaps distorted our picture of her. The first Daughters of Charity saw the “whole person” - a person who confided her weaknesses, but remained calm and serene in the face of much adversity. St. Vincent expressed this with the words “ …her humility, faith, prudence, sound judgement, and constant concern…. imitate her in all things.
1. Formator - Sisters of Charity - St. Vincent was overall formator, but Louis was their day-in-day-out formator. Her role was being the rock, the foundation for the sisters, who were largely uneducated, simple, rural background. Her focus was God was first - welfare of people not simply “getting the task done” but developing relationships with them. Louise was deeply committed to the poor young people - she developed “petite ecoles” (little schools) and made that one of her first principal works. She insisted on instruction to be simple and practical - to read and write.
2. Contemplative - Louise de Marillac was a contemplative, with a very strong attraction toward holy humanity of Our Lord - deeply immersed in Christ crucified; a strong emphasis on the Holy Spirit - her Pentecost experience a turning point in her life.
3. Organizer - master of details; writer of rules. Louise was tenacious, had a firm grasp of the concrete, a gift for detail, could see the whole picture and yet every detail was important. Rules - constitution - would translate to future generations the essential truths that lives should be based on.
4. An Accomplished Woman - Louise was married to a loving husband who died after 12 years of marriage, a mother, painter, widow, educator, servant of the poor, founder, and a warm friend. Came from a wealthy family, was well educated. She read many influential books (a rarity for women in those days) the Bible, Imitation of Christ, St. Francis de Sales, She wrote a catechism which is we still have today. Through her paintings, writings, letters to her Spiritual Director - Louise’s virtues of gentleness, humility, total surrender to God, she, as she lay on her deathbed, encouraged her sisters “ 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.”
Written by Mona Patterson, from St. Mary’s Brooks – Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP)
