Blessed Jeanne Jugan
(Sister Mary of the Cross)
Foundress of The Little Sisters of the Poor
1792-1879
Foreword
By His Grace the Arch Bishop of Southwark, Dr. Amigo
Bishop's House, St. George's Road, Southwark, S.E.I
10th January, 1939.
In our Diocese of Southwark, the faithful have had experience of the excellent work of the Little Sisters of the Poor, by what they can see for themselves in the Homes at South Lambeth and Hove. Just as the good old people are cared for in these two Homes, so throughout the whole Catholic world for the last hundred years, old men and old women have had the devoted attention of the Little Sisters.
The grain of mustard seed, sown in France by their Foundress in 1839, has become a great tree. The small beginnings have been abundantly blessed by God, and thousands of girls have become Little Sisters of the Poor to look after the infirm and old for the love of Jesus Christ. It would be difficult to tell the numbers who have been sheltered in the Homes in every country. The Centenary, which will be solemnly celebrated next July, will be a very special occasion in which o thank God for the glorious work so devotedly done by the Little Sisters.
Peter Arch-Bishop of Southwark
Author's Forword
While waiting for a detailed life of Blessed Jeanne Jugan to appear, on which a master of modern hagiography is working, we offer to the public, on the eve of the first Centenary of the Little Sisters of the Poor, this unpretentious work, which gives an account of the origin of the Congregation. In it will be found the results of the historical researches, to which we have applied ourselves, in our status as vice-postulator of the Cause of the Beatification of Jeanne Jugan. The chapters composing it, originate mostly from articles we have had to draw up for the use of witnesses in the informative process, and which have formerly appeared in the English edition of the Bulletin of the Little Sisters of the Poor. It is not of our own initiative that we have decided to bring these chapters together in this work of propaganda. Truth to tell, however trifling it may seem, it has far surpassed what we had in view.
But after all is it not desirable, on the occasion of a Centenary, which is going to bring back the memory of one of the most beautiful pages in history of Charity in the Church, that Jeanne Jugan must be made to emerge from the oblivion in which some had thought they had buried her for ever. This admirable woman, who, of her own initiative, had laid the first foundations of this magnificent work of the Little Sisters of the Poor, although persons had spread the legend fabricated during her lifetime, which only her marvellous humility had allowed to arise and to be believed about her during eighty years.
Is it not desirable moreover to reveal to a world, that no longer knows her, this splendid soul in her simplicity, her heroic self-sacrifice, and complete devotedness to the poor, she whose virtues and works show to this world the Gospel in action, at a moment when it has so great a need of such an inspiring lesson. The Process of the Beatification of Jeanne Jugan has afforded us the opportunity of examining a mass of documents, for the most part unpublished. Moreover we cite ourselves hereafter the principal sources from which we have gathered our particulars. Limiting ourselves voluntarily to a simple recital of facts, we do not as a rule stop to discuss these documents, nor to assess their value; nevertheless we can state that all our statements are based on them.
Even in the Study of Jeanne Jugan's striking personality, we are careful, so warm are our sympathies and our admiration for her, to leave nothing to imagination or fancy, otherwise we would be taking the risk of depicting a Jeanne Jugan that differs from the reality, and that would indeed be a pity. All the characteristics we touch on of her soul, her character, of her physical physiognomy itself, these are based, at the risk of overloading our narrative, on the testimony of those who knew and associated with her.
Thanks to all those precautions, without being a professional writer or historian, but simply one for the occasion, we feel that we have produced a veracious and conscientious historical work.
May this work of truth and justice help to increase the glory of God and of His Providence (so apparent from beginning to end in this history), the glorification of His Servant, whose voluntary self-abasement calls for this posthumous rehabilitation, that of the Congregation she has left behind her, and that of our country of Brittany, this land of saints, of which she was a noble daughter. Also may this work inspire chosen souls with the courageous resolve of entering her religious family, and there reproducing her virtues and carrying on her work.
Chapter 1
Birth, Family, Infancy and Youth, Preparation for her Vocation
Jeanne Jugan was born of the happy marriage of Joseph Gauguin and Marie Horel. Her birth-place was Cancale, one of the most important fishing ports of the Breton coast. The Revolution was at its height. She was baptised the same day in the parish church, dedicated to St. Meen, whose memory had clung through the ages to this steep cliff, on which at the end of the 10th century, around a sanctuary already named after the old Breton monk, the present town was beginning to spring up.
Of very lowly rank, in the hamlet of Petites Croix, Jeanne's parents occupied a small one-storied house, thatched like many country cottages which, with little change, exist today. The marriage of Joseph Gauguin and Marie Horel was blessed by God, there being seven children, two boys and three girls. Three of them, one boy and two girls, died young. Jeanne was the fifth child. To bring up their family, it meant ceaseless and strenuous work.
Her father was a fisherman. In the Spring of each year, like most of the men of Cancale, he went to the Banks of Newfoundland, the great fishing expedition of the year, lasting about six months. On his return, he found work on the land with the farmers of the countryside. Her mother also, when she could leave the younger children in the care of the older ones, did daily work in the neighbouring households.
As the storm of the Revolution died down, after the signing of the Concordat, Jeanne with the greatest fervour made her first Communion, in the old church of Cancale, restored again to Catholic worship. Her father was by that time dead - he disappeared during one of his fishing expeditions, probably that of 1798. He was never seen again, but where or how the accident happened no one knew. The memory of this tragic disappearance again cast its dark shadow on that home, on such a joyous day as the coming of God Himself into the heart of one of them - a day when indeed her cup of happiness should have been filled to overflowing. From the day of her first Communion, Jeanne showed how pious and well-disposed she was, very obedient to her widowed mother, eager to help her in the work of the house, and to take her place in looking after her elder brother and her younger sisters.
Meanwhile the vastness of the ocean, which she loved to contemplate as she walked on the cliffs near her home, her frequent visits to the church, the advice and example of her mother, all helped to lift up her naturally religious mind to thoughts of God and His love. Her thoughts dwelt on the hardships and perils of the fishermen of Cancale amongst the fogs and icebergs of the sea, that so often brought sorrow and desolation to her relations and neighbours, and so recently to her own family. Her heart, so touched by the sight of all this suffering, found relief in the prayers that she with her mother poured out for these fishermen amid all their dangers in distant seas. So we find in this humble home of these fisher-folk so many virtues and qualities - love of work - order - mutual affection - real religion - and, at least during the lifetime of the father, a certain modest comfort, the result of strenuous effort and rigorous economy.
As was natural in such a favourable environment, virtue and piety increased with advancing years, in the soul of this young girl. Are we to surmise that Jeanne spent all the years of her girlhood doing the work of the household, and looking after her brother and sister Or, is it possible that, as far as her strength allowed her, she went out to daily work in the neighbours' houses, as her mother did, or perhaps took a situation with one of the local families? Actually we have no information as to these possibilities.
There is, however, a possibly significant tradition, preserved in a family of good local standing, which holds the memory of Jeanne in great veneration. According to this tradition, at a certain period of her life, Jeanne was for several years a kitchen maid, in the service of the Viscountess of la Choue at la Mettrie-aux-Chouettes, en Saint-Coulomb, the parish bordering on Cancale.
This claim would appear to be a very probable one, in as much as the short distance between la Mettrie and Petites Croix would enable Jeanne, if she merely did daily work, or even if she lived in, to see a good deal of her people. What is certain, however, is that Jeanne at the age of 18 was proposed to by a young sailor who had fallen in love with her, on account of those rare qualities that had made such an impression on him.
This young man was not unacceptable to her filmy, nor, one gathers, to Jeanne herself. Hesitating to pledge herself lightly, and realising how young she was, she put off for the time being her decision. Meanwhile the young man had to sail again on a long voyage, and he went without the answer from her whom he loved, but full of hope all the same of making her his companion for life on his return.
About six years later, about 1816, a mission, with about 20 preachers, was given at Cancale. Jeanne followed the religious exercises with edifying earnestness and fervour. It was then it would seem that God, speaking to her soul, inspired her with the desire of a more perfect life and caused her to foresee the vocation that she would follow in the future.
It is a curious coincidence that it was at this moment that her former suitor, always hoping and waiting, eagerly proposed again. This time he received a definite answer from Jeanne that she would never marry.
It was on this occasion that she announced with all gravity, and repeated man times afterwards in the presence of her family, who have recorded the actual words, "God wills me for Himself. He is keeping me for a work that is not yet known, for a work that is not yet founded."
At the age of 25, forced doubtless by the necessity of henceforth earning her own living, Jeanne made the heartbreaking decision to leave her family and her own parish, and to try and find at St. Servan, some miles away, a situation that might suit her.
As she was leaving, she gave her sisters the best of the small things she owned, keeping only such essential things as her love of poverty would permit her. She loved her family dearly and this separation cost her much. After having left, she shed abundant tears.
On arriving at St. Servan, Jeanne became a nurse in the hospital of Rosais. She was especially detailed as a helper in the dispensary, and one of her duties was to look after an old and infirm priest - a boarder at the hospital.
It was at this period that a great zeal for souls appeared in Jeanne. A nurse of the hospital who was religious, has left it on record that Jeanne used her rare moments of leisure in taking aside one of the patients, who was quite ignorant of his religion, and taught him the truths of the Faith, and instructed him in the catechism.
This to her was a pastime, but one that would scarcely commend itself to many employees of today. After her arrival at Rosais, Jeanne made the acquaintance of a pious lady aged about 40, sister of a priest, who, like many others at the time of the Revolution, had many times risked his life in continuing secretly to exercise his priestly ministry in the Chateau-Malo district, in the Commune of St. Servan. Her name was Marie Lecoq, and she occupied the second floor of a house in the Rue du Centre, in St. Servan. Mlle. Lecoq was quick to notice Jeanne's tact, her devotion to the sick, the grace of her character, and her rare virtues. Living alone, and feeling herself growing old, she one day asked Jeanne to enter her service. Jeanne, realising that the laborious task of her nursing was threatening her delicate health, she willingly consented.
She thereupon left the hospital, taking along her poor apparel, and went to live with her new mistress in the Rue du Centre. An affectionate intimacy soon sprang up between the two women. Mlle. Lecoq treated Jeanne more like a friend than a servant. She was most anxious about Jeanne's uncertain health, constantly devising appetising dishes, and in other ways showering on her marks of affection and confidence.
For her part, Jeanne reciprocated these kindly attentions of her mistress, accepting in perfect good humour her sometimes meticulous precautions, and the somewhat fussy dieting imposed on her, bearing her pains uncomplainingly. Their time was occupied with the management of the household, reciting the Rosary together, in spiritual reading, visits to the nearby church, helping in the parish, and thanks to Jeanne's careful economics and secret privations, in relieving the needs of the many poor who existed at that time in St. Servan.
During this long period of unobtrusive self-sacrifice, Jeanne showed she was then, as she would be to the end of her life, painstaking, energetic and economical, guided by rule, a gentle and modest character with an equable temperament, a lover of poverty and humility, hiding under her simple exterior an ardent piety and heroic virtue.
In the years after her arrival at St. Servan, in the opinion of some of her associates in the Congregation of the Children of Mary, to which she had been affiliated, her dress was much too plain, especially for the great processions of Corpus Christi an the Assumption - they even felt ashamed to walk beside her. They said, "Don't let us walk next to poor Jeanne Jugan, her dress is not good enough for these great processions, and we are ashamed of her."
But through this extreme simplicity, loved and cherished by Jeanne, her beautiful soul soon shone on those about her, and her virtues called forth the admiration of all, so much so that, before long, doing her justice, they spontaneously declared, "We found her very pretty - without doubt her modesty was the cause of it, and beautified her in our eyes."
Jeanne's fidelity to her mistress had prevented her from realising her inward desires for the religious life, although her bad health had perhaps been an obstacle. However, in order to live in the world a life approximating that of the religious state, she had applied for and obtained her affiliation to the Third Order of the Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart, founded by St. John Eudes in 1648, and which had many members in the towns and the country parts of Brittany.
Mlle. Lecoq died on the 27th of June 1835, at the age of 63, comforted at the end by her faithful and devoted companion, to whom she left her furniture and a small sum of money.
With the small balance she had managed to save by her efforts and economies, Jeanne's fortune with the addition of this legacy amounted to a little less than 400 francs. Even in those days this was not very much.
Influenced by her racial trait, that leads the Freon heart to attach itself deeply to the people or things it has learnt to know, Jeanne was broken-hearted at the death of her mistress. She made up her mind to leave St. Servan, but not having enough to live on, she had to take a new situation. Whether it was on account of her poor health, or because of her difficulty in settling down in new surroundings, after 18 years of intimate friendship with Mlle. Lecoq, whatever the reason might be, Jeanne's stay there was short, and homesick, she returned to St. Servan, and decided to make a home of her own and cease going out to daily work.
Divine Providence, who unknown to her, was guiding her to the fulfilment of her vocation, made use of her plans in a wonderful way. It so happened that, on her return to St. Servan, Jeanne met one of her friends named Francoise Aubert. Older than Jeanne, she had been a priest's housekeeper, and at his death she was looking for a room where she might spend her last days in peace.
The two women exchanged views, compared notes and arranged to live together in the same house - the rent for two would be less, and life cheaper and brighter. The apartment they rented was on the second floor of a not very presentable house next to the church. It was a wretched building, if we may judge it by what remains today - two small rooms with white-washed walls, the windows opening on the inside yard, the only means of access being a very awkward and narrow spiral staircase and above, an attic still more difficult of approach by way of a trapdoor.
Jeanne brought the furniture she had inherited from Mlle. Lecoq and so commenced for the two friends a life laborious but agreeable and peaceful. Francoise Aubert (Fanchon as she was called), in view of her age, habitually kept to the house, occupying herself spinning hemp and wool, and doing the household work in her spare moments. Jeanne went out to work daily. Nursing and care of the sick was what she preferred most, because she found there more opportunities for the exercise of her charity. Laundering, sewing, household work, all these tasks came easily to Jeanne and they were performed with the skill and care of an expert.
Many families of St. Servan and the neighbourhood claim Jeanne as having been in their service at this period of her life, and even today the descendants of these families, upholders of a jealously-preserved tradition, pay homage to her qualities and virtue, and testify the respect accorded by their ancestors to the humble working woman, whose faithful service so edified them.
Thanks to their work, the two friends were able to live, being easily satisfied, and with the extreme simplicity of their tastes, their well-filled days passed tranquilly and peacefully. In addition to their daily works, such pious and zealous women still found ways and means of doing many little services in connection with the parish. When she commenced to live with Fanchon Aubert, Jeanne was about 47 years old. At the hospital of Rosais and hen with Mlle. Lecoq, she was initiated into the love and service of the poor and the aged. The hour since prepared her for it, was going to employ her in founding that great hospital work for which He had been keeping her.
Chapter 2
Foundation of the Work and of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor
The hospitable work and the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the one inseparable from the other, were founded at the same time by the sole initiative of Jeanne Jugan. At first it was but a tiny grain of mustard seed, the future destinies of which were hidden from its foundress. However, the tiny grain placed so confidently by her in God's care will become in a few years a majestic tree, with wide and spreading branches.
At the time of the foundation, extreme poverty was sweeping through Brittany like an epidemic, particularly severe in the towns. St. Servan itself was particularly affected. The numbers of paupers registered at the Municipal Board of Charity was very high - 3,642 out of a total of 10,000 inhabitants. From these figures one can estimate the numbers reduced to absolute beggary, especially amongst the aged and the sick. To crown all, in the whole town there was not one institution for assisting the aged poor. These were condemned to spend their last days without a roof over their heads.
During her daily coming and going through the town to work, Jeanne was constantly coming across these human derelicts. With her tender compassionate heart and seeing in those poor the suffering brethren of Jesus Christ, Jeanne was deeply distressed. Not content with the temporary relief she could give them from her own small means, and the alms she was able to beg, she decided one day that, poor as she was, but rich in her trust in God, she would bring them more lasting benefit, by devoting herself personally to their service.
The opportunity for carrying out this resolve soon came, and Jeanne seized it eagerly. At the beginning of the winter of 1839, an aged woman, Anne Chauvin, blind and helpless, suddenly lost the pittance that her sister was able to get for her by begging. The sister, sole support of the sick woman, had become seriously ill. Taken to the hospital of Rosais she died there some months later in May, 1840. Hearing of the catastrophe in the life of the poor o;old woman, now alone in the world, Jeanne was moved to tears.
At once her mind was made up - she found out Anne Chauvin, took her and installed her in her own poor dwelling and there gave her all the loving care and attention that she would have given her own mother. Soon after, a former servant, Isabel Queru, weak and ill, found herself without food and shelter. Without wages, she had worked until their death for some much-loved employers, whom a reverse of fortune had reduced to penury. Knowing Jeanne's great charity, she told her of her miserable plight. Jeanne received her eagerly, as a messenger from God, and took her right to her home. Thus her poor habitation becomes the first refuge for the aged poor.
To feed her two dependents, Jeanne had to work doubly hard. During the day she spun hemp, washed clothes, and did housework in private houses. At night, the day's work finished, while her two adopted ones slept peacefully, she started work again, and regardless of fatigue carried it far into the night. Such were the humble beginnings of the magnificent work of the Little Sisters, entirely due to the personal initiative of Jeanne.
But soon God sent her young and devoted helpers, who, urged on by her example, joined her, to share her cares and labours. These were three work girls of St. Servan, Virginie Tredaniel, Marie Jamet (only an occasional helper for the first three years) and Madeleine Bourges. From pious association of these three, at the instigation and under the direction of Jeanne, and in her attic the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Poor was born.
Virginie Tredaniel and Marie Jamet were two good religious souls, understanding each other perfectly - impelled, as they were, by inclination, but still more by grace, to piety and the exercise of charity.
Virginie, born in 1821, was the daughter of a sailor and was an orphan. Her teacher, M. Gouazon, municipal counsellor, had entrusted her to the care of Jeanne, and her companion Fanchon Aubert, with whom she lived. Dressmaker by trade, she sometimes worked at home, sometimes daily in different families. As for Marie Jamet, a year older than Virginie, she lived with her parents, people in humble circumstances, her father being a mason and her mother selling small groceries. She helped her mother in the house, or did daily work in the family of M. Lebedel, a gardener of St. Servan.
The two girls had given their minds to piety under the direction of their confessor, Father Le Pailleur, curate of St. Servan since 1838. Members of the Congregation of the Children of Mary, they had often met at the Confraternity gatherings and a strong friendship had sprung up between them. Virginie went from time to time to the house of Marie's parents, and Marie, when she was free, visited Jeanne's house to see her friend and to improve her efforts at dressmaking. Their director had noticed their pious dispositions; he had, we are told, revised their little rule of life, that hey themselves had drawn up, and encouraged them in their life of self-sacrifice.
Each Sunday after the services, Virginie and Marie would find a lonely spot on the shore at Rosais, and there in a grotto of the cliff which sheltered them they would speak of the things of God.
So it was that quite early, in consequence of this friendship, the two girls were brought into contact with this newly-born work of Jeanne's. At once they interested themselves in it, and as far as they were able, gave her all their assistance.
In associating these good souls, and in gathering them round this humble woman, who the poor already were calling Sister Jeanne (so apparent in its early infancy was the religious character of the work), God had His plans for them all. He placed within reach of the foundress the elements that would enable her to form the desires that she had always cherished from her earliest days of a life entirely consecrated to the service of God and to the relief of suffering humanity.
On the 13th of October, 1840, the feast of St. Theresa of Avila, Jeanne's attic was the setting of an event seemingly trivial, but important for the future of her work, as has been remarked, assumed from that moment a character of greater stability and co-operation.
For almost a year she devoted herself to the poor she had gathered together, supported by Fanchon Aubert, and later by Virginie Tredaniel and Marie Jamet. As often as possible, she took advantage of the presence of these latter to undertake certain pious exercises, prayers, and spiritual reading. So leaving to the good Fanchon the care of the dependents, she retired with her companions into her bedroom, which was actually the attic, just under the roof. One arrived there by means of a ladder, after having raised the trapdoor which closed up the entrance.
There in serenity and solitude they prayed together. These gatherings were the actual beginnings, however modest, of a community life. So it was that, on the 15th of October, 1840, these three pious women were gathered together in order to consolidate their little society. For the first time Father Le Pailleur presided over the meeting. In his presence they decided to establish a spiritually mutual aid society, and in order to achieve this, they drew up a small rule of life, which set forth their devotions and specified acts of the special virtues that they should exercise, in conformity with the charitable end of the work they were undertaking.
First a germ in Jeanne's imagination, then born from her large heart at the bedside of her aged poor, the foundation so modestly commenced took that day another step towards the magnificent religious family that later will be, by God's help and His use of this humble woman's plans, the world-wide Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
A short time after, in December, the newly-born Institute made another new and precious recruit. Another young woman of St. Servan, Madeleine Bourges, having become again a laundress, which she was originally, fell seriously ill and on the point of death, she was received into the house of Jeanne and Fanchon Aubert. They cared for her so well that they restored her to life and health. Deeply grateful towards her benefactresses, Madeleine, who when she thought she was about to die resolved to give her small possessions to those who were even poorer than herself, now decided to consecrate henceforth all her work and the strength restored to her by God to this work of charity that had brought such blessings to her.
However, the day soon came when wishing to care for a greater number of destitute - perhaps unconsciously responding to the grace that was urging her forward - the indefatigable small, and commenced to look about for something larger. Her search was soon rewarded. On the 29th of September, 1841, she rented for 100 francs a year, in the Rue de la Fontaine, extensive premises on the ground floor, in close proximity to the parish church. They consisted of a fairly large hall, a basemen badly lit by a french window that opened on the Rue de la Fontaine, which slopes in the direction of the Rance, with two narrow windows that look on to an alley. At the end of this hall was a small room that was used for rubbish. As for flooring, there was none, only beaten-down earth. These new premises called the "big basement" ("le grand en-bas") were taken over on the 1st of October, 1841.
In spite of its poverty, it was all on one floor. It was larger than the place hey had left and it would give shelter to more of her poor.
The moving was achieved amid great enthusiasm. During the course of the day, four aged women were added to the two already there - a month alter there were twelve of them, and the place was full.
With this increased number of dependents, the question arose for Jeanne to discover how she was to feed such a number. Until the occupation of the big basement, her work and that of her companions had been more or less sufficient for the upkeep of the whole house, but with the number of the old people increased to twelve, as at present, it was necessary immediately to find other means of support. Jeanne did not wrack her brains trying to find the solution of a problem that might have perplexed others - her decision was made at once - she would start collecting funds.
So it was that this noble idea came into her mind of taking the place of her dependents (for the most part formerly beggars) and becoming herself a beggar for their sakes. From that moment we see Jeanne scouring the streets of St. Servan, day by day, basket on arm, modest and smiling, begging alms from charitable people either in money or in kind.
Such was the origin of collecting, which was to constitute down to today its chief source of income. The life of Jeanne and her companions, once they had settled down in the "Big Basement," in no way differed from that which they had led in the attic, except that their task had become much harder. And so divided up amongst them, according to the capabilities of each, work is judiciously organised in the new home, and proceeds smoothly. Jeanne makes the outside collections, Fanchon Aubert devotes herself to the care of the household, and does the work of several amongst the old women.
While she was waiting to go and live with the Sisters of Providence at Montauban de Bretagne, Virginie gave them the wages of her daily work, and with Jeanne laboured far into the night. Madeleine Bourges did the same. Marie Jamet, rigidly held back by her family, who looked with horror on this poverty and begging, at this time had no part in the work except in "spirit and in heart." With this effort at judicious distribution of work, came an attempt more definite than at the attic to organise community exercises. From lack of space in the overcrowded house, the pious women met as often as they could at the house of a neighbour, Mme. Mignot, who sympathised with he work. A these gatherings they study the principals of the Religious life and consider how to introduce the elementary practices of them into their daily life.
From a natural point of view the work of Jeanne Jugan is now doing fairly well, thanks firstly to the collecting, and then o the severe privations that she and her companions impose upon themselves, in order that the old people should not suffer. Is there anything lacking, they ask of Heaven with confidence, and Heaven sends it. For example: - In August, 1842, the Municipal Charity Bureau decided suddenly to cancel all help to the old people at he Home, and, as a consequence of this, they had no linen of any kind. Jeanne was not disconcerted. Man had refused her request, she knows that Heaven will grant it. At once, she and her companions decide to appeal to Our Lady, who had already given them so many marks of her protection.
It was just at the feast of the Assumption. Helped by a kind-hearted gendarme, who was devoted to their work, they erected a simple altar in the centre of the Home, and before the statue of the Madonna enthroned on it they placed the linen that they still had, and on it was pinned this native petition: "Good Mother, we have no linen for our children." The news spread quickly through the town - the result was not long in coming. Drawn, some by curiosity, others by sympathy, a great number of visitors came to the home, both on the feast of the Assumption and during the Octave. Touched by the distress, and edified by the artless confidence of Jeanne, they become the agents of the Madonna so piously invoked, and bring to the Home linen, sheets, clothes and many gifts. In s few days, the linen room of the House was restocked. However, very often in these early days, Jeanne's Foundation went through hard times. Often, when essential things were needed, they had recourse to all sorts of pious devices that their confidence in God suggested to the Sisters. But God heard them always, sometimes in circumstances that made clear his direct intervention, and never ceased, as always with them, to reward their faith and by this means to lavish on their infant organisation the most touching proof of His tender care.
During these first years of the foundation, what charming episodes there are, full of beauty and simplicity, where one sees the action of Divine Providence; what touching scenes, breathing the sweet perfume of trusting faith, and an artless simplicity of mind. These scenes and episodes, repeated, one might almost say, from those of the Fioretti of St. Francis of Assisi, would deserve, for the edification of all men, to be collected into making the Fioretti of Jeanne Jugan, and her first Little Sisters. It is true that the rest of the history of the Little Sisters is like their beginning; each day adds a new page to these Fioretti, each year another chapter, and from beginning to end it is one great hymn of praise of God's providence.
But the fateful moment had come in the designs of God, who had so watched over it, and provided for all its needs, while for two years it occupied the poor attic of the foundress, the first home and mother house of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and afterwards for a year in the "Big Basement."
Now he modest work was going to have a big increase, which would indicate for it a new and important step towards still more wonderful progress. To describe this other transformation will be the object of the following chapter.
Chapter 3
Foundation of the Work and of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor
Hardly had the modest Work been installed in the "Big Basement" when the premises were found to be too small. Very closely packed, it was possible to afford shelter for the twelve aged women, who had stayed there since the first days, but not for one more. Nevertheless the stream of applications for admissions never ceased. What could be done, faced with pressing necessity? Yet again the Good Providence which has appeared continually in this history intervenes to save the foundress from her predicament. Here and now, there is a former convent of the Daughters of the Cross, a few steps from the church, which comes up for sale. For Jeanne, it is a wonderful and tempting opportunity. Generous offers of assistance came at once.
Mlle. Doynel offers to place her name on the contract: likewise, M. l'Abbe Le Pailleur, in order to meet the cost of this new acquisition, sells his chalice and gold watch. Other generous gifts come in large numbers to sell the total. As to poor Jeanne, it is necessary to say that at once, without further worrying about possible hard times, to make this purchase, she gave up with interest and principal the whole of her small savings of 400 or so francs, the modest result of more than thirty years of work, kept hitherto to guard against any unfortunate contingency. Thanks to all this self-sacrifice, the dreamed-of house was acquired for the sum of 20,000 francs and the contract signed on the 2nd of February, 1842. Here are the actual words of the Memorial to the Academy relating to the event. "Many generous persons united together to procure a large house. The house is acquired. It is given to Jeanne, but nothing further can be done. Accordingly she is told that, if the number of destitute increases, she must provide for their food and support. No matter. Jeanne accepts, thinking that Providence, which has hitherto served her so well, will never fail her."
We have no arrived at the 2nd of February, 1842. In the meantime, Jeanne with her poor women takes possession of the house, and on the 1st of October following, many events take place amongst the little Community that deserve special mention, full of interest as they are in the history of its inner life and development. As we have already narrated, when Jeanne and her helpers had settled down in the "Big Basement," they met together in a neighbour's house, for lack of space in the Home, for spiritual reading and conferences. It was there on the feast of Corpus Christi, the 29th of May, 1842, at the conclusion of Vespers, that they had met again to discuss the affairs of the association, and Father Le Pailleur, curate of the parish, presided over the meeting. Three months before he had been put in charge of Jeanne's work, which was now looked on as a parochial one. The pious women had planned to complete the rule of October, 1840, by making certain additions to it that had been found useful in practice, and to choose a Superior. As had been foreseen, the foundress was unanimously elected Superioress. She was at that time almost 50 years old. This vote put its seal on a state of things that had already existed for three years, as the first of the good women were scarcely lodged in her attic when Jeanne felt her former aspirations for the religious life re-awaken in her. Her mind was always obsessed with the idea of being able to realize these aspirations more and more each day, with the kindly helpers God had sent her.
After having chosen her as their Superior, her companions pledged themselves to obey her, without actually taking a vow, and by general assent they conferred on their association the title of Servants of the Poor.
Meanwhile a grave danger for Jeanne's foundation had arisen, and one which would have destroyed it entirely if God, as always, had not been watching over it. Recently certain slight criticisms had been evoked by the alleged temerity of Jeanne, which was really only her magnificent confidence in God. Following the purchase of the house of the Daughters of the Cross, these criticisms were succeeded in certain circles by real hostility due to touchiness and obvious jealousy, which some invisible demon stirred up in order to try and crush this infant enterprise that was certainly not working for him. They blamed these pious women - their inexperience of the religious life and charitable work - they blamed the collecting and even the poor dependents themselves. Everything was subject to censure and criticism. "What a risk," they exclaimed, "for the future of this wonderful undertaking" (of which they admitted the great utility) "to leave it in such inexperienced hands. Would it not be a hundred times better to entrust it to real Religious, professionals at charitable work?"
From that there was one step only. It was taken. Many overtures were made to the signatories of the deed of purchase - a ladies' committee was established for the purpose of founding and supporting a children's home, to replace Jeanne's undertaking; recourse was had to the Bishop of the diocese - why could not he offer to take possession of the home for the old people and transform i into a simple, ordinary hospital.
Trials of this sort, especially painful when they come from those from whom we would expect assistance and support, are sooner or alter the lot of all organizations, striving to do good/. Indeed it is the condition of their success - God only blessing them, in proportion as they are nurtured in suffering.
Happily the purchasers, beset with entreaties, did not weaver. Moreover soon the diocesan authorities decided in favour of the work, and it was able to continue true to itself, and to advance in the path Providence had planned for it.
During this painful opposition, this same good Providence vouchsafed to the humble Sisters many sweet consolations. One of the most appreciated of these was the sending to them of a man well equipped to understand and direct them in their humble beginnings - that man was Father Felix Massot, Superior of the Brothers of St. John of God, at their house in Dinan. This distinguished religious member of a great charitable Order, to whom the precarious hold on life of this tiny organization recalled that of his own Order at Grenada, filled him with sympathy for Jeanne's foundation the moment he met with it. He showed the greatest interest in it, and put at their disposal his great experience of the Religious life and of charitable work. No one helped more than this providential man, during a great number of years, by his tact, his apposite and wise advice, to organize it in its religious and philanthropic aspect, and to furnish it with a rule wisely adapted to the object it had in view.
No one exercised greater influence for good, no one worked harder to guide it with so pure a hand tic its glorious destiny. Nevertheless, Father Le Pailleur will later attribute to himself all the labour and merit of working out the rule of the Congregation without making any allusion to the overwhelming part that Father Massot played in it, and without ever mentioning his name.
In accomplishing this task, did Father Massot foresee the destinies of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Poor? A document carefully guarded in the archives of the Mother House would warrant us in thinking so. It concerns a diploma drawn up in Latin, countersigned by him of the 25th of August, 1842 - after the signatures of the Prior-General and the Provincial. This diploma associates for 100 years the infant foundation in the prayers, penances and other meritorious works of the Order of the Brothers of St. John of God, in the person of Jeanne Jugan and her companions. Three manuscript lines are inserted between the name and title of the Prior General, and the text constituting the address. Here is the translation. "To the very dear one in Christ, Rev. Le Pailleur, priest, and also the Reverend Mother Jeanne Jugan, Superioress of the Ladies who have care of the aged sick of both sexes, in the Parish of St. Servan, and similarly to each and all of the future - these privileges are valid for 100 years."
A modern expert in handwriting, examining this short addition, has revealed that it was written by the hand of Father Le Pailleur.
It is easy to understand his name being there, ordered as he had been in the preceding month of February to take charge of Jeanne's foundation, and it had been numbered among the parochial works, but it must be noted that except in his status as priest he does not claim any other connection with the work. Apart from exceptional cases, where certain persons are admitted to get the benefit of it, a privilege such as the diploma mentions is only accorded to well-established and active religious associations. Also in addition to the reference to Jeanne Jugan's rank (mention of which is neither found in what follows nor by the pen or tongue of Father Le Pailleur), what makes the document of special importance in the history of the Little Sisters is that from its actual wording and also inner meaning the following facts emerge.
The phraseology employed indicates the end aimed at by the foundation, and the hundred years' duration of the concession; also the extension of this privilege, not only to the Superioress in charge but to all those who will succeed her, and to her present and future companions, indicates the exclusively spiritual character of the favours granted. All these things clearly show that as early as August, 1842, less than three years after its foundation, this privileged association was actually a religious society, small in numbers and of recent origin perhaps, but one fully active and entirely devoted to the service of the aged sick - this has and always will be its sole aim. In fact, it was a religious society, that being shown the vista of 100 years, displayed before it for the first time, gave promise, in the lowliness of its inception, of a long and prosperous destiny.
Father Felix Massot, by whose interposition these precious favours had been obtained, was better able than anyone else to get a clear idea of it - he who worked so hard to direct and give strength to the first steps of the Institute.
About that time, actually the afternoon of the 27th of the following September, another favour was vouchsafed to Jeanne Jugan and her companions. Traveling in the country, the Bishop of Rennes, Mgr. Brossias-St.-Marc, paid them the honour of a visit, accompanied by the parish priest. Before leaving the "Big Basement," to occupy the day after the house of the Daughters of the Cross, the Home was preparing to move its poor furniture. The episcopal visit, because of all this, as only the more picturesque. Profoundly touched by what he saw and heard, the good Prelate showered on the Servants of the Poor his congratulations. His expressions of encouragement, his advice and his paternal blessings brought great joy to these pious women and also great consolation, seeing that the agitation that had threatened to ruin their work and disperse their community had only just died down.
In addition, in the eyes of the public, the Bishop's visit was a sign of approbation - the Bishop having visited the Home, all suspicion and ill-will disappeared as if by magic, and sympathy and help were forthcoming more abundantly.
On the 28th of September, the feast of St. Michael, Jeanne and her helpers had, at last, the joy of taking possession of the House of the Cross, as has been already said. There would now be more air and more space, and in consequence more old people and a fuller community life. All was for the best.
On he actual moving day, an addition of six was made to the twelve old women who had arrived from the "Basement." That splendid housekeeper, Madeleine Bourges, giving up her work as laundress, came to live definitely with Jeanne and put herself entirely at her disposal for work in the new Home. She realized that in these larger premises, and with the number of infirm increasing, the work for her companions had become more exacting. Thus at the end of September the small Community consisted of the foundress, Jeanne Jugan, her pupil, Virgin Tredaniel and Madeleine Bourges. The good Fanchon Aubert had followed from the "Big Basement" to the House of the Cross, resolved not to leave her companions to the last, but to give them all the physical assistance she could, after having sacrificed to the needs of the growing work her furniture, her linen and her small savings.
Pleaded with many times to enter the community and again now, on the arrival at the new house, she used her age as a pretext to say not to these pressing and affectionate entreaties. She was to die, full of years, on the 16th of January, 1850, tended by her companions with every loving care. From the first workers of the early days there was only one that remained outside - Marie Jamet. Her mother, a precise person, and with a pride perhaps a little above her humble station in life, showed the greatest repugnance to the poverty and the begging that obtained in the Home. Up till then she refused her consent because, by her entry, her daughter would embrace a life so humble, so low in the eyes of the world, and so hard on human nature.
Consequently, as Marie has herself narrated, obedient to her mother's prohibition, it was necessary, during those first three years, for her to afford only very limited help, reduced actually to Sunday itself and a few hours in the week, most of her time being taken up by helping her mother with the housework, or doing daily work at the home of M. Lebedel, the gardener. Conquered at last, by her daughter's importunity becoming more pressing, as the result of the occupation of the House of the Cross, Madame Jamet gave way, and towards the middle of October, 1842, Marie was able to definitely to leave her parents' home and to come to share the home, the work, and life of her companions. All the workers of these first days found themselves at last reunited in the same community, under the gentle rule of the admirable foundress and Superioress, Jeanne Jugan, whom M. Dupont, "the Holy Man of Tours," will call a few years after, with every right, the "Mother of all the Little Sisters."
It was foreseen that, with so many more vacancies to fill than at the "Big Basement," Jeanne's Home would soon see an increase in its numbers. In addition, the original inmates and the new ones arrived the day of taking over of the House of the Cross. Others came along, on the days following, and the invasion increased, so that the total was soon no less than fifty.
In filling her Home with these aged sufferers, Jeanne, by her personal efforts, shows herself to be the hardest worker, as she is, by her collecting, the great provider of their daily bread. Her charity, that nothing tires or baffles, has fashioned for her the soul and mentality of a rescuer of outcasts from the depths of the obscurest of hovels. It is in this environment where she loves to scheme to attract a new client to her Home. Let us refer to the Memorial to the Academy to describe to us this peaceful invasion of Jeanne's Home.
"Soon, instead of 12 there were 20, and then the 20 became 30. A year after, towards the end of 1843, she had 40, and today, thank God, she sees around her a family of 65 destitute of both sexes, all old and sick, either cripples, or maimed, or defective mentally, or stricken with incurable diseases, all taken from the misery of their garrets, or from the degradation of the vices which vagrancy brings with it. But how can one speak of the zeal of this wonderful woman in gathering together the poor? Sometimes going herself to look for them in their miserable haunts, she persuaded them to follow her, or if they could not walk she lifted them up, like a precious burden, and carried them happily to the Home."
But soon, thanks to Jeanne's enterprise, the Home, hitherto filled with women, now opened its doors to the aged of both sexes.
One day, during on of her expeditions of charity, she was told of a poor old man of 72, an old sailor named Rudolf Laine. He had been leading a pitiful existence for two years at the bottom of a small damp cellar, almost without clothing, dying of hunger, lying on a rubbish heap with a stone for a pillow. Jeanne runs at once to the place described. The pathetic sight that meets her eyes fills her with pity. She leaves the cellar and tells of her pitiful discovery to someone whom she hopes for help. Touched by the recital, this benefactor gives her a shirt and other clothes, suitable for the old man. Again Jeanne returns to the cellar, and having changed the linen and other clothing of the poor wretch, takes to the House of the Cross. So it was, thanks to Jeanne's charity, Rudolf Laine becomes the first man admitted to the Home of the Servants of the Poor. It would be easy to cite many other examples of the heroic charity of Jeanne Jugan.
At this time, more even than formerly, all sorts of needs, physical and moral, seemed to be focusing themselves on her Home. It was a question of wandering or destitute children, of young girls prematurely exposed to the dangers of the streets, of people suffering from horrible ulcers, or repulsive sores, whom friends wished to get rid of; all were taken to Jeanne Jugan. People said, "They must be taken to Jeanne." Jeanne received them all. But Jeanne's success as a rescuer increased in proportion to her work of collecting. The Memorial to the Academy brings us an echo of the amazement shown at this extraordinary activity of Jeanne's:
"Jeanne, seemingly tireless, multiplies herself in proportion to the number of her poor. Ceaselessly she sallies forth when it is needed, basket on arm, and she returns always with it full. For not only does she receive alms from people who wish to assist her, but she, with pious assiduity, collects the remains from their table, the old linen and clothes they have done with, and so, what would otherwise be lost, helps her to feed and clothe her poor.
"In pleading their cause she is truly eloquent - tears come to her eyes in speaking of their wants. It is difficult to refuse her and almost always she succeeds in softening the hardest hearts. But she pesters none. If she is rebuffed, she retires without showing the least resentment, saying, 'Another time you will help us.' She identifies herself completely with the poor. She is clothed as they are, with what is given her. She eats as they do, taking care to keep the best for those who are sick or feeble, and her helpers imitate her example."
It is not surprising after all this that, filled with admiration at the sight of such charity, the religious and civil dignitaries of St. Servan met together to notify the French Academy of Jeanne Jugan's marvellous activity, and beg for her one of the prizes for outstanding merit, bestowed each year by this illustrious Society. From this unanimous decision came, on the 21st of December, 1844, a "Memorial relative to Jeanne Jugan," which as we have said would serve as a guide to these chapters devoted to the foundation of the work. This edifying document in the actual handwriting of Father Le Pailleur opens as follows:
"The undersigned, witnesses of the heroic charity of a poor woman, who for many years has devoted herself to the relief of suffering in the town of St. Servan (Ille-et-Vilaine), as will be set forth below, think they should proclaim such wonderful goodness, and should submit it to the consideration of the members allotting the prize for virtue, founded by M. Montyon. Moreover, the undersigned declare that this step they are taking has not in any way been suggested by her whom they are recommending, but that of their own accord they revealed to this poor woman their intentions about her. She, far from thinking she merited any praise, begged us with tears that no mention should be made of her, but at last she consented in the interests of her poor."
Astonished itself at such a rare virtue, the Academy willingly bestowed the prize which the dignitaries had asked for Jeanne. It is probable that the Academy seldom had the opportunity of rewarding such merit - it greatly honoured itself in doing it. It was M. Dupin, one of the most prominent members of the Academy, who had the privilege that year of making the customary speech on the occasion of the distribution of the prizes for virtue.
The Academician, speaking of the humble prize-winner, and her charitable work, pronounced a magnificent eulogy with which the facts set forth in the Memorial inspired him.
Here is the stirring peroration: "How is it possible that Jeanne can meet the expenses of such a House? Jeanne is indefatigable. Jeanne is eloquent. Jeanne has prayer. Jeanne has tears. Jeanne has her work. Jeanne has her basket which she always brings back full. Saintly woman! The Academy places in this basket the sum it has at its disposal - it bestows upon you the prize of 3,000 francs."
This discourse, spread by newspapers throughout the length and breadth of France, had a resounding echo. Without her having the least suspicion of it, this eulogy of the humble Breton woman made the rounds of the press and flew from lip to lip. Even the Free Masons themselves could not refuse to add their appreciation to this chorus of praise. Delighted from the philanthropic point of view alone with Jeanne's enterprise and its marvellous results, they described her as an admirable woman and presented her with a gold medal.
Melted, at the request of its owner, it became the cup of the chalice used for the celebration of Mass, in the Chapel of the House of the Cross. What gave greater significance to the presentation of the Montyon prize to Jeanne was that at this time she was no longer at the head of the Work and the Community she had founded, yet by force of circumstances she stood out in the foreground. Actually elected Superior for a year on the 29th of May, 1842, she was again unanimously re-elected on the 8th of December, 1843. But hardly 15 days later, the 23rd of the same month, without her companions who worshipped her being present, for some reason Father Le Pailleur abruptly deposed her from the office, appointing in her place Marie Jamet, who took the title of Superior General.
This proceeding appeared distasteful to the people of St. Servan and displeased them very much. As for Jeanne, she accepted with admirable restraint this undeserved deposition. Suddenly brought back to the rank of a simple Sister, she humbly obeyed her new Superior, who was only 22 years old, giving then and for the time to come, to all her companions, an heroic example of humility and littleness (Petitese). Recovering from then her freedom of action, she is able henceforth to give herself entirely to collecting, for which she has a genius, but this does not prevent her from taking an actual and even prepondering part in the first foundations, so great was her influence and the irresistible ascendancy which she exercised over those about her. Thus, encouraged by its Bishop, advised and directed with perfect competence by Father Massot, helped in its undertakings by the clergy and people of St. Servan, the Association of the Sisters of the Poor, whilst Jeanne Jugan was Superioress, had been able to develop more and more, but with prudent deliberation, towards the complete religious state.
On the 15th of August, 1842, before Vespers, the associates, gathered together in the house of the obliging Mme. Mignot, had taken the simple vow of chastity for six months. On the 21st of November following, after their installation in the House of the Cross, Jeanne Jugan and Marie Jamet, preceding by some days Virginie Tredaniel and Madeleine Bourges, had renewed in the presence of their parish director their vow of chastity, and taken the vow of obedience for one year. The ceremony took place in a very simple setting, in the depths of a damp and gloomy basement, the only illumination being the tallow tapers they held in their hands, instead of wax candles. From that date, the development will become more definite. On the 14th of February, 1844, all four will take their names in religion and Jeanne Jugan will become Sister Mary of the Cross. They will change their titles of Servants of the Poor into that of Sisters of the Poor, this title itself being replaced at Nantes in 1849 by that of Little Sisters of the Poor.
On the 7th of February following, they will take privately the vows of poverty and hospitality. Finally, a little later, they will adopt a distinctive religious habit. In short, in the space of 4 and a half years, the little society founded by Jeanne Jugan will have progressively acquired all the elements that characterise a religious association capable of receiving the approbation of the Church. The vows which constitute its essence, a community life under the direction of a higher authority, a common rule, names in religion, and the same religious habit. There will doubtless be at first some experimenting. The first outlines traced in 1839 will only be fixed by degrees, their scope and form of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor plainly appear.
But since the first months of 1844 it was an accomplished fact, it needed nothing now to qualify for the necessary approbation, except the consecration of longer experience.
Chapter 4
The First Foundations. The Outstanding Role of Jeanne. Her Relations with the Authorities
The year of 1846 was marked for the work of Jeanne Jugan by an event which should be a milestone in its history - we wish to speak of its expansion outside.
At this time the Home of St. Servan was normally organized for the charitable care of the aged, and for the exercises of the worship of God. Following recent enlargements and the opening of a chapel arranged in the hall, it was able to carry on its work at full pressure and its income seemed assured - thanks to the success of the collecting.
The personal prestige of the foundress, still more enhanced since her reception of her Moynton Prize, attracted much attention to her work. However, although aspirants for admission were few, this improved with the arrival, as the two first postulants, of Eulaile Jamet, sister of Marie, and Francoise Trevily, a native of Erquy. The future of the Home could now be faced with confidence.
This was precisely the hour fixed in the inscrutable counsels of Divine Providence, when Jeanne's work, still so humble and unprovided with material means, swarming from its first hive, was going to commence its prodigious extension throughout the world. Actually the first external foundation, that of Rennes, dates from February, 1846, and that of Dinan will follow closely in the month of August. Then, will come between 1846 and 1851 those of Tours, Nantes, Paris, Besancon and Angers.
Of many of these foundations, Jeanne Jugan would appear to be the real mainspring, whether as at Rennes, Dinan or Angers she was the founder, or as when she intervened merely to save, as at Tours, a dangerous and difficult state of things. But these new foundations certainly were not without difficulties or trials.
They sprang up of every kind and from all directions - from the actual setting up of the Houses, from the meagerness of her resources, and from the installing of the system of collecting. Difficulties arose also with the religious authorities and with the civil administration. When struggling with these often inextricable difficulties, the Superioress of the new houses only saw one method of getting out of them - the great method they said was "recourse to Jeanne Jugan."
Thus a local Superioress, at her wits' end, wrote to the Superior-General, "Everyone is asking for Jeanne." In every town she went, either to make a foundation or to help one of her Houses, Jeanne Jugan occupied he most prominent place, and thus her work was able to take root properly. Everywhere the prestige of her name and her work, the ascendancy of her personality, her radiant goodness overcame all obstacles and difficulties. With a simple and modest bearing which soon claimed attention and gained sympathy for her, she went to call on bishops, parish priests, agents, business men, prefects, magistrates and minor officials and laid before them her requests. Had she had to wait for someone whom she did not find at home? With charming Breton tenacity, she exhibited a patience that nothing could tire or rebuff. Modestly hidden in a corner, entirely absorbed prayers from her old prayer book, or silently commending to Heaven, from which all her help came, the success of her visit.
In all circumstances she knew how to plead the cause of her poor, with an eloquence so convincing that before her all doors opened and in answer to her prayers and tears, bishops, prefects, and mayors granted her requests.
Rennes, was, after St. Servan, the second scene of Jeanne's activities as foundress. She arrived there on the 19th of January, 1846, armed with a certificate from the Mayor of St. Servan and preceded by a reputation that was for her the best of recommendations.
Even so, it needed the courage of a saint, for this poor woman, a simple Sister of a Congregation, still in its cradle, not sanctioned by the authorities, without a rule or distinctive dress, to descend on the capital of Brittany with the intention of establishing her work there and convinced that she would succeed. But an indefatigable apostle of charity, she felt herself urged forward by an invincible spirit which defied all difficulties, and her extraordinary confidence in God came to sustain her in her mad enterprise.
On arriving at Rennes, Jeanne lodged with Mlle. Morel, whose acquaintance she had recently made at St. Servan. She immediately commenced her campaign. Her first aim was to get in touch with persons of note and members of the clergy who she expected would help her most in carrying out her scheme. Willingly, but without any reference to herself, she told them of the wonders Providence had worked in St. Servan, and with he thin end of the wedge proceeded to point out how eminently suitable such a work would be in a great town like Rennes, where so many of the aged poor were wandering about destitute.
And in speaking o the poor women of St. Servan, and pleading the cause of the poor of Rennes, her voice shook with such emotion that her hearers easily allowed themselves to be convinced.
Thus she created a favourable impression and won over beforehand much valuable help for the suggested Foundation. Soon, feeling sympathy towards her increasing, Jeanne made so bold as to interview the authorities - first the Bishop, Mgr. Brossais-Saint-Marc, who had seen Jeanne's work at St. Servan. She then saw the Prefect and the officials of his administration, to inform them of her intentions, and ask for the necessary permission.
Everywhere she was received with the greatest deference, and she was listened to with the greatest kindness. If little by little they made things smoother, Jeanne's many efforts did not overcome all the difficulties which were raised against her scheme.
Nevertheless, the intrepid foundress spared herself no pains. What goings and comings through the town! What long delays in the waiting rooms of great personages or at the doors of municipal offices! But strong in her imperturbable confidence enjoyed, Jeanne was never discouraged. "It is true, dear madam," she replied to an official's wife, criticizing her foolish scheme, "it is foolish. It appears impossible, but if God is with us it will happen."
Indeed it did happen. As early as February 28th, Jeanne installed for better or for worse her ten first poor women in a poor tenement consisting of one room and a cupboard, till a month later she took them to a larger premises in the present 107 Rue de Nantes, Faubourg de la Madeleine.
Informed by Jeanne of the preliminary negations, Marie Jamet, her Superioress, hurried from St. Servan, the day of the moving in, to lend her a willing hand in the inauguration of the new Home. It was as in the first garret, the cradle of the work, a very modest beginning, but at least the foundations were laid. Jeanne had lavishly thrown into the work her prayers, her tears, her labours, and her trials. By God's grace and the help of those devoted to her cause, especially Rev. M. Gandon, curate of All Saints, the work planted in such fertile soil would not be long in prospering.
As time went on, the devotion of the Sisters to the service of the aged gained for them more and more both sympathy and alms; moreover, if there were anything that was absolutely essential for them, then Providence, their habitual Provider, found the means to furnish it in the nick of time. Furthermore, as fresh proof of his kindness, the Prefect at once granted Jeanne permission to collect throughout the Department. The Mayor did the same, as far as the Commune was concerned.
After having recalled that her inexhaustible devotion to the poor had deservedly gained for her the Montyon Prize, he worded his permission as follows:
"The Mayor bears witness that Jeanne Jugan always goes forward on her mission of charity with the same zeal; that she has founded a house of refuge for the sick and destitute women; that she has devoted herself with complete self-denial and tireless work to the relief of their misery, having no other resources to carry out her enterprise and to satisfy her necessities than her confidence in Providence, and the help of charitable persons to hose sympathy he could not too earnestly commend her, in order that she may obtain from their bounty active and effective co-operation.
The Mayoralty, Rennes,
31st of March, 1846.
PONGERARD."
Armed with these precious recommendations, the indefatigable Jeanne takes again her basket on her arm. In all kinds of weather she strode through the streets of the town of Rennes, going from house to house, begging for her aged poor. Then she travelled through the greater part of the Department, never for a moment thinking of her bodily weariness. Documents show the extent of her travels at Vitae, Redon, Fougeres, Montfort, St. Meen, Montauban, and Bedee. Foundress of the Home of Rennes, by her collecting she is also for many months its great provider. The Foundation of Rennes had providentially succeeded. The impetus had been given, other foundations would follow shortly.
After Rennes, it was the turn of Dinan to have a Home for the aged. Jeanne Jugan was again the chief worker for them. Invited to the town by Mlle. Follen, a simple business woman, who dreamed of presenting her town with a foundation like that of St. Servan, which she had visited, Jeanne arrived there on the 4th of August, and immediately set to work.
Her friend Mlle. Follen had beforehand aided her task by pleading her cause with the clergy and the town magistrates. The priests and the Mayor had been easily won over to the idea of opening at Dinan a home for the aged poor and destitute.
Furthermore, thanks to the mediation of the Very Rev. Brajeul, arch-priest of St. Sauveur, the Bishop of St. Brieuc had himself approved of the scheme and granted all necessary authorizations. It remains to find premises and to provide them with some plain furniture, and then to make certain of the daily support of the home thus constituted.
Although seemingly less arduous than Rennes, Jeanne's enterprise meant for her good deal of anxiety, of consultations, physical exertion and disappointment. Happily she met again at Dinan the Brothers of St. John of God, friends of her work since its inception, and her best advisers, who helped her in her quest.
Thanks to their interposition, the Mayor of Dinan freely placed at her disposition a place that would at least provide temporary shelter for the poor women. About three weeks after her arrival, all preparations had been made, the house quickly arranged and already six aged poor were received there, with the warmest hospitality.
The new house was certainly not attractive nor comfortable. Situated ear the Brest gate, in one o the twenty-six towers that guard the still intact ramparts of the town, externally it resembled a prison, and within it had all the discomforts of one. Its walls were without plaster or paint, the staircase was uneven and difficult, the rooms badly lit and almost airless, the brick floor was damp and cold.
Jeanne had done her best to decorate this dungeon-like place with the incongruous articles she had managed to collect here and there. It was in this old tower that, on 22nd of August, Jeanne received the visit of an English tourist, himself devoted in his own country to philanthropic work. He was received with kindness, closely observed the scenes of misery and of charity he saw around him, interviewed at length the mistress o this poor hostel, took notes of his impressions and departed deeply interested and profoundly touched.
Once again in his own country he wrote a detailed account of his visit to the Home for the aged at Dinan in an English review. This narrative has come down to us today. It is of the greatest interest, because at an interval of almost a hundred years it shows us Jeanne Jugan, the symbol of charity, in the full exercise of this heroic virtue.
It is also of paramount importance for the history of the Little Sisters of the Poor, because the humble foundress, whom the author persuades to speak, narrates very simply the first beginnings of her work, and reveals the unfailing source and motive power of her extraordinary devotedness.
In it she describes the precautions taken in selecting her dependents, the employment of time, organization of remunerated a labour inside her homes, and the working and results of her collecting.
All these details are historically very valuable, and thy indicate in Jeanne Jugan, apart from her charity and wonderful confidence in God, very great prudence, infinite tact, even an informed but instinctive social sense in this poor woman that was elicited from the depths of her Christian soul. It would be well worth quoting fully this account of the English visitor, but in order not to lengthen unreasonably this chapter, we will give here only a portrait he presents of Jeanne, and his appreciation of her person.
"Jeanne received us in a kindly manner and willingly showed us her room, and another rather superior one, where the poor women worked, and she answered all our questions with good grace. She was plainly but neatly dressed in a black robe, with a bonnet and a white handkerchief. It is the habit adopted by the Community. She appeared to be about 50, and of rather dark complexion. She seemed tired, but her countenance was peaceful and of goodness.
"There was not the least sign of pretence or vanity about her. There is in this woman something so calm and saintly that in looking at her I felt myself in the presence of a superior being, and her words so touched my heart that my eyes, I do not know why, filled with tears."
The premises near the Gate of Brest proved themselves, at the end of some weeks, to be quite insufficient. It was necessary to transfer the old people temporarily, at least, to a house rented for three years, and until this lease fell in they occupied a dilapidated convent that they had just got possession of.
This new removal brought Jeanne fresh anxieties. The greatest was, not the actual organisation of the establishment, but the upkeep, which had become very difficult.
They had just launched at Dinan the idea of a Vagrancy bureau, designed to supply work to the able-bodied poor, and to help the sick. As long as this project was being discussed, it had the vexatious result of almost putting an end to any income from collecting.
The usual benefactors held back. Nothing less than appeals of the priests from the pulpit were needed to change this attitude.
During this critical time Jeanne concentrated her collecting on the surrounding country. One fine day even, deciding to extend her radius of action further afield, and to make sure of the life of the Home at all costs, she went to St. Brieuc. She called on the Bishop and the Prefect and begged permission to collect throughout the whole Department. To her great joy she obtained it easily - the permission being in terms most flattering to her work.
She availed herself of it, to collect in St. Brieuc and the neighbourhood. In addition to the flattering introductions, this journey brought her 500 francs for her poor. Until what date does Jeanne stay at the Home for the Aged at Dinan? We do not know exactly. Towards the end of 1846 her former pupil, Virginie Tredaniel, had been sent there as Superior. Perhaps this had allowed Jeanne to go and exercises her zeal elsewhere. At all events, it is certain that she was suddenly recalled in April, 1848, such difficulties having arisen concerning the collecting that the existence of the work was in jeopardy.
Jeanne hurried to the help of her House in distress, and by her personal prestige she soon won over the sympathy and alms of the charitable.
At the commencement of 1848, the fourth house of the Congregation had been founded in the town of Tours. Its existence was due to the earnestness and devoted assistance of M. DuPont, called "the Holy Man of Tours." It is to this new field of action, so distant and different from Brittany, that we are going to follow Jeanne Jugan.
This time, well prepared by M. Dupont, worthily seconded by Mlle. Henriette Chicoisneau de la Vallette, a person of well-tried devotedness, the foundation had been commenced by the Superioress-General, Marie Jamet, Mere Marie Augustine de la Compassion. The Superioress-General had arrived in Tours on the 30th of December, 1847, accompanied by a novice and a postulant. At first all had gone admirably. As early as the feast of the Epiphany, lodged in a house that had been rented, the Home was, thanks chiefly to the efforts of M. Dupont, ready to receive its first dependents - less than a fortnight later they numbered already seven.
Without being unfavourable, the religious and civil authorities since the opening had been extremely cautious. They had not raised any objection, but they had refused any responsibility before public opinion. Such a Foundation, lacking any means of existence except charity, seemed very venturesome and opposed o human prudence.
Before involving themselves in such an affair, they wished to see the Sisters at work. This state of suspense, as it continued, finished by becoming harmful to the work of the Sisters of the Poor, which, installed meantime in a new and larger abode, totalling at the commencement of the year 1849 fifty poor women, with an equal number of men, seemed to be prospering. Actually, lacking the necessary permissions to start collecting, it was in danger and threatened with disaster.
It was then that the idea came to the Superioress of having recourse to the "human panacea" - she appealed to Jeanne Jugan. On the 10th of February, Jeanne arrived at Tours. Two days later, M. Dupont in a letter allowed his enthusiasm to burst forth.
"For two days," he wrote, "we have had the honour of having amongst us the Mother of all the Little Sisters. What wonderful confidence in God! What love of His Holy Name! She is going to help us in Tours! Material minded men of the world think that this poor seeker for bread, as they call her, asks alms of them, but if their eyes were open they would understand that it is they who receive the greatest of gifts in hearing her speak so lovingly and so simply of God's Providence."
This method, so loving and so simple, of speaking of the Providence of God, was not long in producing its miraculous effect. Hardly arrived in Tours, Jeanne launched out, beginning with applying to the religious and civil authorities, and principal benefactors. in a letter dated the 18th of February, 1849, the young Superioress General, whose efforts to get the necessary authorization had hitherto failed, describes the change of fortune and its immediate results. In a few days all opposition had disappeared as if by magic. No one could resist the prayers and tears of the wonderful suppliant. The Archbishop, Mgr. Morlot, at whose feet she knelt to overcome his last scruples - the Prefect of the Department, the Mayor, all the authorities gave her the permissions she asked for, and so the future of the Home for the aged is henceforth assured. It is she who there, as everywhere else, inaugurated the collecting - having traversed only half the town, she had received 650 francs, without counting gifts in kind.
It was during her stay in Tours that Jeanne Jugan dictated to M. d'Oultremont, member of the conference of St. Vincent de Paul, later on the Bishop of Mans, some pages in which tells very simply of the beginning of her work. Unfortunately, this account, which would have the greatest value and interest, no longer exists.
The year following, in the month of April, 1850, we come across Jeanne Jugan at Angers, once again engaged in opening a new foundation. It as, in the circumstances, her way of discharging a debt of gratitude she was under to the inhabitants of this town. Below is what we read from the Journal de Maine-et-Loire of April 12th, 1850:
"Three months ago, Jeanne Jugan made a collection amongst us for the outsiders. The good reception she received touched her. In leaving she said, 'I have contracted a debt towards the people of Angers. I will soon return to pay it.' The good Breton, true to her word, is today within our walls with a colony of Little Sisters of the Poor, at 37 Boulevard des Lices, and should, in the course of next week, commence her work in the Rue St. Nicolas."
The colony of the Little Sisters mentioned above actually arrived in Angers on the 3rd of April. It was made up of the Superioress-General, Jeanne Jugan, and two others, but of this small party it would appear, judging by the Journal de Mine-et-Loire, that the personality of Jeanne Jugan stood out alone.
As in the other Foundations, the days following the arrival of the Little Sisters were spent in visiting and preparing or the installation. Happily, the question of premises did not arise here, thanks to the generosity of the Very Rev. Maupoint, Vicar General of the Bishop of Rennes, who had placed at their disposal a house and chapel of which he was the proprietor.
The first thought of Jeanne at this moment was to win the confidence of the religious and civil authorities and obtain their help. From he first, Bishop of the Diocese proved to be the most favourable to the foundation of a Home for the aged in his episcopal town, and he gave its founders every encouragement. There remained the civil authorities.
Before interviewing these, narrates Le Journal de Mine-et-Loire, Jeanne felt the need of making herself known to them. For this purpose she addressed to the Municipality a letter of which the following is an extract:
"The discourse of M. Dupin on the Montyon Prize sets forth our origin. Since that encouragement God has blessed us. We are 84 Sisters - we shelter, feed, and care for 500 to 600 aged poor in 7 houses, established in succession at St. Servan, Dinan, Rennes, Nantes, Tours, Paris and Besancon.
"In all these places the patronage of the Bishops, the protection of the Municipality and the charity of the public have sufficed us."
The Mayor's answer was not long in coming. As early as the 10th of April he authorised a collection in the town for the benefit of the establishment of the Little Sisters, and at the same time presented to Jeanne the following recommendation to facilitate her hard task of collecting:
"We, Mayor of the Town of Angers, especially recommend to the charity of the public Jeanne Jugan, modest and pious, and an apostle of charity. She has just given to our city her eighth foundation, a free Home devoted to the aged of both sexes - a kind of waiting-room for the hospitals, that we are obliged to often to refuse cases on account of ant of space. We have had too many opportunities of appreciating the generous inspirations of our citizens to have any doubt as to the sympathetic reception that will be given to this most desirable work for the impoverished old age, and of which Jeanne Jugan in the ardour of her zeal promises and guarantees its success. Given at the Town Hall, 10th of April, 1850."
On account of being delayed for a time, the authorisation to collect throughout the Department granted to Jeanne by the Prefect, on 26th of June, 1850, only arrived just in time to provide the income of her Home, of which the expenses became heavier with the constantly increasing number of old people cared for. However, the Prefect's authorisation was drawn up in terms so favourable to Jeanne that on receiving it she found herself well compensated for the delay.
Here it is:
"We, Prefect of Maine-et-Loire having regard to the particulars which have been given us of the numerous services to the poor rendered by the Dame Jeanne Jugan, and of the self-sacrifice which she and the Little Sisters have shown, authorise this lady to make throughout the whole of the Department of Maine-et-Loire one or more collections for the benefit of the work which she has founded, and we invite the civil and military authorities to give her such protection as may be necessary for her charitable mission. We grant the same authorisation to the Little Sisters who are helping her in her good works.
" The Prefecture, Angers,
26th of June, 1850.
Vallon (Prefect)."
Thus accredited by all these commendations and authorisations, placed by the Prefect's order under the official protection of both civil and military authorities, Jeanne Jugan could again take her legendary basket, because her mission in Anjou had been helped in such a wonderful way.
Nothing more was calculated to gain new sympathies, and to arouse in favour of her poor the generosity of the people of Angers. Indeed she appeared to them so admirable as the Mother and the type of the Little Sisters of the Poor - she in her person had made them so popular that still today in Angers, as in Brittany, her daughters are commonly called the "Jeanne Jugans."
Such was the prominent part played by Jeanne Jugan in the first external Foundations of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor. During these years of incessant activity she was always in the breach. Without permanent attachment to such and such a House, but passing from one to another for several months, or simply the several weeks, she is everywhere where they need her, and where others find themselves powerless to overcome obstacles, her presence alone is sufficient to smooth out the difficulties.
This will explain to us how, even ten years later, when she was living in retirement in the Mother House, planning to found in Paris a sort of home for old soldiers - a scheme which eventually did not materialise - the originator of this enterprise, M. Germainville, keenly desirous of seeing it succeed, pleaded earnestly for the dispatch of Jeanne Jugan, whom he had already known in Dinan. "For the attempt," he wrote, on 20th July, 1863, to La Tour St. Joseph, "the great Jugan must be sent and admitted under the title of Marshal. Tell her I will give her the golden baton. I seem to see her again singing hymns with your other Sisters. I assure you I will never forget that night at Dinan."
How is it possible to explain Jeanne Jugan's stupendous and continual successes in her enterprises and her innumerable transactions, except by the ascendancy which her sanctity gave her, and by the presence in her alone, although unjustly deposed from the office of Superioress, of "charism," peculiarly attached in these years to her mission of Foundress and Mother of all the Little Sisters. The English tourist who visited her at Dinan was not mistaken: Jeanne was indeed " a superior being."
Chapter 5
The First Foundations (continued) Jeanne Jugan, Collector
The outstanding part played by Jeanne in the first foundations of her Institute was by no means limited to the numerous interviews with officials, but, as is evident from the facts outlined in the preceding chapter, she helped for the greater part in establishing and organizing the collecting, in order to meet their necessities. The humble foundress certainly had a genius for collecting. On practicing her heroic charity this was, one may say, her outstanding gift, and she devoted herself to it with the greatest self-sacrifice and courage. It was towards the end of the year 1841, as we have pointed out before, that the sublime idea came into the mind of Jeanne - the idea of becoming a beggar herself in the place and for the benefit of her poor women. Even before the foundation of her work she had got into the way of asking help for the many poor she daily met in the streets of St. Servan. Now she had raised collecting to the importance of an institution, and made it the principal source of income of her work. Many motives had led up to this solution.
Firstly, the urgent necessity of feeding her dependents, whose appetites, always so keen, could not wait.
At this time their number had reached twelve. This was all the "Big Basement" could accommodate, otherwise that number would have been greatly increased. To feed so many mouths her work by day and night was not enough, and it had been already necessary to use a portion of her modest savings. She was compelled to consider other means of support. Faced with this necessity, her mind was made up immediately. "Since I have not enough bread to give them," she declared, " I will go and look for it." In saying this, Jeanne Jugan, always in her great charity anxious for the health of the body, and still more for the food of soul, had two ideas. Firstly to spare her poor women the fatigue and humiliation of begging - secondly, and above all, to snatch them from the moral harm of vagrancy, which some among them seemed rather to regret. This following was with very few exceptions completely her own.
If certain of her first dependents, rescued from the hovels in the city district or the lanes about the port, were content to remain like Margot, resolutely opposed to any suggestion of cleanliness and hygiene, and to sell surreptitiously in the town the sheets and linen lent to them, and if they proved to be tiresome, cross-grained, jealous of one another, very exacting, of not very polished speech, or even bringing with them, after the example of Mathias, their cat and its progeny, however undesirable that might appear, the good Jeanne, with gentle authority and imperturbable patience, would not be long in establishing order, cleanliness, decency, honesty, and peace. Unhappily, professional beggars for the most par, consequently exposed to all the moral miseries that follow in its train, many of these paupers had retained regrettable habits, notably a definite liking for alcohol. Their frequent expeditions into town to beg, multiplying temptations with these opportunities, only served to maintain and strengthen these unfortunate tendencies. To solve these difficulties, Jeanne found it was the best thing to take place of the poor women, and to that end take her basket on her arm and go collecting.
She took the precaution beforehand of inquiring the names and addresses of charitable people who had habitually given them alms. Thanks to this information, she was able to make a regular round for her collection. Each morning, taking her basket in one hand and her cotton umbrella in the other, she went out begging herself, from the customary benefactors in the in the name of her charges, and received with gratitude here a few farthings, sometimes a roll of tobacco, or a piece of bread put aside for them. Knowing many people at St. Servan, in consequence of the dally work she had done in numbers of families, and being herself very favourably known, especially since the foundation of her work, she at once thought of the help she would receive for her dependents through her connections in the town.
Immediately she lengthened her round, and added to it many calls to the houses known to her, and where she found herself quite at home. There she knew that she could insist and when her wants for the house were urgent she did not refrain from doing so. "My good sir," she said one day in the home of one of her benefactors, where she had formerly worked scrubbing and helping daily. "I see in your drawing-room a trinket," pointing to the coveted object. "It has no use to you. If you were to give it to me my poor could live for a day with the money it would bring in." She was often told that, in regard to her poor women, she should not undertake more than she could carry out. Nevertheless, she returned to the attack with gentle obstinacy. "Madam Trouhart," she exclaimed to Mme. Trehouart, wife of a retired sea captain, whose name she mispronounced, "I shall not go till you have given me some sweet potatoes and some crusts of bread to make soup for them."
It also occurred that in the course of her round, habitual benefactors would often tell her of such and such a person, rich or comfortably off, whom she did not know, but from whom she might well expect to receive a good donation. Without waiting, she went to the address mentioned, and modestly explained the reason of her call. Did they, as usually happened, give her the hoped-for-alms, then it was another house on the list of her recognized benefactors and she returned there, and with gentle insistence persuaded them to make permanent the habit that had commenced with their first gift.
One day she was told of a man who was rich, but known to be very miserly. Immediately she called on him, and told him of her poor, and pleaded so eloquently their cause that the rich miser was greatly touched, and gave her a generous donation. Encouraged by this unhoped-for generosity Jeanne came again the next morning. This time the man was angry. "What, you again?" he cried. "I gave to you yesterday. Be off with you." In no way disconcerted the good collector insisted, "My good sir, my poor were hungry yesterday, they are hungry again today, and tomorrow they will still be hungry." Meekness like this disarmed the miser, in whom the natural had tried to gain the upper hand again. Again he placed a large donation in the hands of the collector, and begged her to come again to him when she was in want.
Soon, collecting in the town of St. Servan was not sufficient for Jeanne's activity, neither for her needs. Boldly she approached the country people about St. Servan, where she counted many friends whom she hoped to make benefactors of her work. She undertook to travel throughout the whole district, going from village to village, pleading for gifts in money or kind, even selling woollen things, probably made at the Home, as well as various other objects. Everywhere the spectacle of her humility and love of God and of the poor gave the greatest edification and gained for her the sympathy of all. A Little Sister of a House in Spain wrote on this subject to the Mother House in July, 1932:
"As she went about collecting in the villages in the neighbourhood of St. Servan, it happened that one da she came to my father's house, with basket on arm, to collect and sell knitted vests and other small objects. I was then seven years old. My father, touched with pity and edified by her great humility, suggested that she should place the contents of her basket in a small yard next to the house, to save her fatigue of going from door to door to sell all these small articles, and he told her he would inform all the neighbourhood of this arrangement.
As she had God only before her eyes, she preferred to remain at the door in sight of the passer-by. All the neighbours came quickly and bought all she had in her basket. Everybody about her was edified to see how full of the love of God and her poor she was , even her words were infused with charity. They looked on her as someone superhuman, indeed as a saint. She collected everywhere. She took everything that was given her and spoke very little. This gift made such an impression that although still quite small I said to my parents that I would wish to go to Jeanne Jugan."
Collecting one day in the village of La Froulerie, Jeanne met a gardener who knew her. "Jeanne," he asked, "how should one address you now?" "The humble servant of the poor," she replied. "Come here then, humble servant of the poor," he said, touched and edified by her reply. Saying this he lead her into his garden and filled her basket with vegetables. So it was that no one could resist either her charm, which was part of the humble collector, or her persuasive pleading for her poor.
And also when night came she took the road home, her casket filled to overflowing, weighing heavily on her arm, her fatigue often obliging her to stop and rest for a few minutes. Her favourite halting place was at the foot of a large Calvary between the Village of St. Etienne and that of La Madeleine. What a beautiful scene, worthy of an artist's brush. Jeanne Jugan, humble servant of the poor, worn out with the fatigue of the long dad collecting, with her basket beside her, resting at the foot of the Cross of Him who, rich though He was, willed to be poor for our sakes, and accepted fatigue, weariness, sorrow and death for the salvation of the human race.
From the time they occupied the House of the Cross, at the end of September, 1841, Jeanne found herself forced to extend again her charitable expeditions. During the space of a few weeks, the number of dependents had reached thirty. For anyone less enterprising and less confident in God, this situation would have been heart-breaking, but Jeanne did not hesitate for a minute. The immediate extension of her collecting appeared to her to be the only solution. She commenced her traveling again, fortified with her inseparable basket, to which she now added, as a precaution, one or more coarse linen bags, which would be of the greatest use to her if needed.
Going far beyond the limits of the neighbourhood of St. Servan, she took in all the region of St. Malo and Cancale and thereabouts. She was quick to take advantage of all opportunities capable of increasing her chances of making a good collection, such as local feast-days, fairs, markets, the wealth of visitors to the seaside during the summer season, and ships arriving in port - the work involved she considered as nothing. So it was that she was to be seen with basket on arm or with a large table-cloth spread out at the regattas at St. Suliac and Cancale, on board the ships tied up in the docks, on the beaches or the markets of St. Malo, Parame and other places of that region.
One day she sailed for the Jersey and Guernsey, and later she even expressed the wish to go and collect in England.
The system of collecting which Jeanne had inaugurated at St. Servan, for the benefit of her first home, she also, as we have stated, established afterwards, with the same confidence in God, the same courage, and the same success, for the benefit of the new foundations, notably those of Rennes, Dinan, Tours and Angers. Once provided with the necessary authorization, which the prestige of her name, the fame of her sanctity, and her gentle tenacity, always obtained for her, there was no resting till she had taken again her basket - her great love of the poor filling her with eagerness for action and self-sacrifice. From Tours on 18th July, 1849, her Superioress, Marie Jamet, wrote on this subject: "Sister Jeanne is very happy at Tours, but she is a little miserable at the thought that she cannot still collect."
So it was that Jeanne, carrying out her mission of collecting, traversed at one time or another all the West of France, starting with her own country of Brittany. Her visits are mentioned in the countryside, as well as in the principle Breton towns, from Brest to Vitre, and from St. Malo to Vannes. It was in this latter town that the charming episode occurred, as narrated by M. Georges Goyau. There she met the small Helene de Chappotin, the future Mother Marie de la Passion, foundress of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, whose religious vocation Jeanne predicted. Besides Brittany, the zealous collector left her path through Touraine, Anjou and Maine. She got as far east as Beauce and Chartres, where, staying with a very Christian family, she made a similar prediction to that which she had made at Vannes about one of the children of the house, who became a priest and has himself narrated the episode.
We can imagine the extremes of fatigue, without speaking of other discomforts, which these ceaseless journeys meant for her in all weathers, through vast areas unknown to her, through difficult country, especially if one realises the lack of means of communication at that period. One knows that for the most part Jeanne was forced to do most of her journeying on foot and in addition to carry heavy loads. But nothing could stop that courageous traveler, from the moment that her poor were hungry and it was a question of getting them bread, and Divine Providence, who smoothed the obstacles before her wearied footsteps, rewarded her faith, her self-denial, and her incredible energy by filling her arms to overflowing with the funds she was seeking.
What made the great success of Jeanne Jugan as a collector was the radiance of her virtue - "a virtue, people said, of a truly extraordinary kind." It was above all in this heroic exercise of charity that the sublime collector allowed, unknown to herself, the beauty of her soul to shine forth to the world. To see and hear her pleading for help for her poor was a sermon that carried one away. Her peaceful and modest attitude, which disarmed all refusals and rebuffs; her pious daring which nothing withstood, neither hindrances nor derision; her imperturbable patience, enduring everything for the love of God and her old people, even the interminable delays in the ante-rooms of notabilities; the charm and sweetness of her appeal, her extraordinary eloquence, when with words and tears she was pleading the cause of her poor - all this gave her an authority past belief, and threw wide open for her the doors of servants' halls, drawing-rooms, and offices.
Here, for example, is an account of a collection she mad at the College of St. Sauveur at Redon:
"In the early days of the Institute, she came to collect at Redon, and asked permission to collect among the pupils. I went to see her in the parlour, and she electrified me. Then urged by I don't know what inspiration, I said to her, 'Sister, follow me' and without more ado, I brought her into the study hall of our eldest pupils assembled there to the number of about 100. The astonished pupils stood up, and I said, ' The Sister is going to explain the reason of her presence among you.'
"Jeanne Jugan set forth simply and straightforwardly the object of her visit. Amazed and greatly touched, all the pupils emptied their pockets and desks, and gave generously, with good results for the Sister's purse, even to the last farthing. The same thing occurred with the other pupil's classes. The students of that time never forgot that visit of charity, and we professors were touched and astonished by it."
If it happened that anyone was slow in offering the asked-for alms, Jeanne remained motionless, silent, smiling, and agreeable, united in her self-effacement with God. And having received she left only after having made a graceful curtsy. On the other hand, if by chance she met with a refusal, her equanimity never left her. "When I was a child," narrates a lay woman who knew her, "what struck me most when Jeanne called on my father was her gratitude, her invariably happy expression, whether one gave to or refused her. 'Jeanne,' I said to her, 'Mother sends me to say there is nothing for you today, neither fruit nor scraps, nor anything else.' 'Thank you, Mademoiselle, thank you again. There will be something next time. Thank your mother. I know she would love to fill my basket if she were able.' She never omitted to make a little curtsy when leaving you. She left looking as pleased as if she had received a fortune."
That wonderful serenity of mind that revealed a vision of her sanctity, the exquisite manners, natural to this unaffected, self-effacing daughter of the people, were the fragrant flower of her self-denial and heroic charity.
It must not be imagined, however, that it was by inclination that Jeanne Jugan undertook the hard task of providing for the poor, or embraced the rather adventurous life of collector that we have described. Moreover, to the conditions in which she had habitually to carry on the work - conditions of temperature, of accommodation, of travel, of surroundings, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes hostile, where the least offensive of the adjectives that welcomed her was that of indolent. All these things in a very short time would have cooled her zeal.
The enthusiasm that she showed was that of the saints and apostles of all time - that is, it was founded on self-sacrifice and complete forgetfulness of self, and the love of God and one's neighbour. Proposing to herself as a practical end the good of her poor, she had in view a higher end - the glory of the God she so loved, and the glorification of His Providence.
"We arrived at a house where I feared we should not be well received," writes a Little Sister who accompanied Jeanne one day collecting.
"I told her of my fears, but seizing the bell rope she replied, 'Let us ring in God's name, and God will bless us.' The faith of the Little Sister was rewarded, for we were received and given generous alms."
Jeanne stated later to her companions that it was very painful sometimes to go collecting with her basket, to knock at the door of certain houses and face certain people. Then she prayed with all her heart, her thoughts on the wants of her old people, and courageously she took the road.
"Perhaps you will be sent collecting," she said one day to a young Little Sister. "That will be painful for you. It was painful for me, but I did it for the Good God, and for the poor."
This declaration is the hall-mark of her unshakable heroism. Episodes are not lacking that show not only Jeanne's winning manner in collecting, but also bring out the truly heroic virtue in the collector. Let us cite some of them.
One day a banker, deep in his accounts, noticed her standing at the end of his office. "Well, Jeanne, what are you doing there?" he asked her.
"I am waiting, sir."
"Is that all, Jeanne?"
"I am pleading for my poor women."
"Your poor women! Why have you burdened yourself with them? All the same you don't intend to put them on my back."
"We will share them a little today, sir, if you will allow it. You will feed them and I will take care of them. Be liberal in giving today and you will not see me here for a long time. I will pray for you, sir, and they will pray for their benefactor. I will teach them gratitude."
Another time, in a Breton town where she was collecting, a business man at whose house she had called, so far forgot himself as to strike her. With her imperturbable calm and sweet smile, Jeanne replied, "This blow is for me, sir, now you will give me something for my poor."
One last characteristic, but not the least among those attributed to her. Jeanne was accustomed to go fairly often to the Charity Bureau of St. Servan to ask for bread vouchers for the benefit of her old people. Out of consideration for her at the time of the distribution, she was allowed in the garden of the establishment, thus assuring her a favourable turn, and saving her from mixing with the professional beggars. It happened one day that an ill-disposed woman distributing the vouchers ordered her harshly to go an take he turn in the queue of these vagrants. A little upset by this unforeseen outburst, Jeanne immediately raised her heart to God, and submitted without a word.
From that day, on the day of distribution, she took her place amongst the beggars at the door of the Charity Bureau, and, like them, she patiently waited her turn. This heroic patience of which Jeanne gave constant proof was the putting into practice of the admirable advice she gave later to her novices. "If neighbours say to you, 'At the house next door they must have abused you,' you must reply, 'Will you excuse us, but these people have been very good to us.' Because, you see, my children, when they give you money that is for the poor, but if they treat you badly that is a good deed they are doing to you."
There would be something missing in this chapter if before its close we did not say something of the feelings entertained by Jeanne Jugan towards those who helped her in the work of collecting, and whom she called with such gratitude and respectful admirable "our good benefactors." Real Breton as she was, daughter of a race always sensitive to any kindness and never forgetting it, she conceived for these benefactors the greatest gratitude. And showing the exquisite feeling of her heart and the fullness of her religious faith, which gave to her inherent sense of gratitude its perfection and super-natural efficiency, she surrounded their memory with a kind of veneration.
At the time, Jeanne thanked her benefactors with a pleasant smile and with that graceful courtesy that was customary with her. Then the astonishment and gratitude she felt before their generosity, always so ready to give, and in any case yielding to her tears, translated itself into a fervent prayer for them. Later, when living in retirement at the Mother House, the Little Sisters who know her often recalled how she spoke to them of their benefactors, always with enthusiastic admiration and recommended them earnestly to their prayers.
"What gratitude we owe them!" she said. "Without them what should we be able to do for our poor old people? Let us pray, let us pray fervently for their intentions."
These things themselves prove that, indeed, Jeanne was endowed with real genius for collecting, and y her self-denial and charity knew well how to make use of it to its full value. It was thus that she assured the daily support and the stability of her infant work, founded as it was on absolute reliance on Divine Providence.
Here again is "Charism" attached to her office of foundress. How we see this special grace that presents her to us in all her power, which even magnifies her in our eyes, so that it demands from her the exercise of a lasting heroism. That is why today her posthumous glory is beginning to shine forth after so many years of obscurity and unmerited oblivion, the sublime figure of this unique collector, which has reappeared on the horizon, glorified by her sanctity, fearlessly facing storms, bodily toil, insults of all kinds, going forth basket on arm, her dark cloak flying in the wind, down the long roads and through the towns of Brittany and the region of the West, seeking daily bread for her old people, her soul closely united to God and breathing a continual prayer, this vision brings to our own poor world, sunk in it materialism and selfishness, the priceless gift of an inspiring lesson in disinterested self-sacrifice and heroic charity.
Chapter 6
Lifelong Retreat of Jeanne Jugan
Her life at the Mother-House
Before dealing with this period of the life of Jeanne Jugan where, after having firmly laid the foundations of her work and directed its first expansions and instilled into it for all time its form, its character and its spirit, the humble foundress goes to hide herself behind her companions, to lead a life of prayer and silence and oblivion, let us say a few words about the ecclesiastical approbations which at this period conferred on this work what it had hitherto lacked, that is, in the canonical sense of the word, the title of a real religious society, and the official adoption of the Church.
After the internal changes previously described, and which specially during the years 1842 and 1843, while Jeanne Jugan was Superioress, had resulted in progressively developing their society towards a wholly religious state, it only remained for the Little Sisters to obtain ecclesiastical authority (up till then prudently limited to simple encouragement), and canonical approbation, by means of which it would be able to take rank officially among Religious Institutes, recognized and approved as such by the Church. In view of this eventuality, Father Felix Massot, in the month of April, 1851, had gone to Lille accompanied of his Order he had worked with him for three weeks at a detailed revision and an exact adjusting of the rule of the Little Sisters of the Poor, which already owed so much to his experience of the religious life and of charitable work. Once the proceedings and preliminary formalities towards obtaining approbation were commenced, they had not long to wait for the result. Moreover, the fame, already so widespread, of the young association, pleaded eloquently in their favour. On the 29th of May, 1852, the Bishop of Rennes, Mgr. Brossais-St-Marc, gave his approval of the statutes, and this allowed them to give themselves for the first time the title of Congregation. Two years afterwards, by a decree of the 15th of July, 1853, Rome in its turn, will approve and confirm the Institute as a Congregation with simple vows, and on March, 1879, give its approbation to the Congregation. We may remark on this subject that by the decision of Father Le Pailleur, it was only at the end of this year 1854, on December the 8th, that Jeanne Jugan, then in retirement at the Mother House of Piletiere, at Rennes, was allowed with Madeleine Bourges to take her perpetual vows. Marie Jamet and Virginie Tredaniel had had this privilege two years before, following the approbation of the Congregation by the Bishop of Rennes. The same episcopal pronouncement, which in 1852 approved the statutes of the Society of the Little Sisters of the Poor, proclaimed Father Le Pailleur Superior-General. He had returned, after about two years' absence from the diocese of Meaux, where with two of his colleagues from the parish of St. Servan he had unsuccessfully tried to found a Society of Missionaries for the evangelization of certain parts of France, already lost to Christianity. Father Le Pailleur had accompanied to Tours in 1848 the Mother House and the novitiate, which were installed in the Home for the aged poor, ad there he carried out the duties of director and Chaplin.
Then he followed them to Rennes, where in 1852, at the request of Mgr. Saint-Marc, they had just occupied a part of the Home for the old People, recently organized on the estate of Piletiere, bought by the Congregation some months previously. It is to be noted that it is only from this year 1852 that the Superior-General took the title of Founder of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor and that he gave himself out as such before public and in official documents.
Strange and suggestive coincidence. It is also the moment when, arrived at the height of a popularity which she had never sought, but which had come to her through the fame of her work and the prestige of her sanctity, Jeanne Jugan, only 60 years old and still capable of rendering great services to her congregation, was recalled and kept in the Mother House, which she did not leave till the time of her death.
In connection with this seemingly premature retirement the pretexts alleged for it were that in her state of health Jeanne was unable to stand the excessive fatigues imposed by the collecting and by her ceaseless efforts to help the Foundation. It is true that fearless by temperament and by charity, she was not one to spare herself, and perhaps she felt already the beginning of the heart trouble which afterwards developed. Be it as it may, she lived another twenty-seven years: from 1852 to 1856 at Rennes, at the Mother House de la Piletiere; from 1856-79 at La Tour St. Joseph in the parish of St. Pern in the diocese of Rennes, where the Mother House and novitiate had been definitely transferred, after the purchase of the estate by the Congregation. Remaining a simple Sister since her disposition as Superioress on the 23rd of December, 1853, and in the end she was admitted to the General Council of the Congregation in December, 1853, and she was a member of it until June 1st, 1878.
It was, it would appear, more a matter of form - a question merely of seemliness and of satisfying public opinion, rather then the serious conferring on her an office that is at once a responsibility and an honour, because although it was pretended that she was under mistress of novices, it is all the same strange that no document is permitted to affirm it, so it of more probable that she exercised no office within the house than the quite personal one of her ceaseless prayer, her heroic self-effacement, and the spontaneous radiance of her sanctity.
However, it is quite certain that in contradistinction to the other members of the Council she never assumed the title of "Good Mother." She remained simply until her death the good Little Sister Marie de la Croix. In the absence of official documents for any information on this part of her life of Jeanne Jugan we have only the accounts written and addressed to the Mother House during these last years by the Little Sisters who knew her, and they only cover the period between 1865 to 1879. But thanks to these memories, which constitute in themselves very trustworthy and very interesting evidence, it is possible for us to get an exact idea of what was, during these 27 years of retirement, the existence of Jeanne Jugan, and to testify to the veneration with which her young companions of that time speak today of the "good Little Sister Marie de la Croix," the profound edification and extraordinary influence which by her exhortations, her advice, her example, she, buried in silence and oblivion, nevertheless exercised about her. During this last third of her life, the best hours for Jeanne Jugan, that appealed most to her heart, were those she passed in church and in the beloved presence of her God.
The regular religious exercises, daily Mass, and other visits (which she never missed, unless from absolute necessity when sickness or weakness confined her to the infirmary) called to the church many times a day.
"Immediately the bell was rung for an exercises, her face took on a grave and calm expression, which showed her union with God," writes a Little Sister. "Once with her cloak about her, and on her way to the exercise, it was useless to speak to her, she never stopped - one had only to follow her example. We all had our eyes on her. Her way of taking holy water, of genuflecting in chapel, showed her the living faith in the presence of God. During the prayers she never lifted her head." Thus every day she gave her companions an example of perfect observance, and a striking piety, so edifying to them all.
In addition to the community exercises, Jeanne Jugan often returned to the chapel and spent long hours in watching, her eyes fixed on the tabernacle, and there that loving pious soul poured out into the Heart of her God her sentiments of humble adoration, fervent love and charitable intercession. The spiritual needs of the Sisters, the interests of the Congregation, the salvation of souls, the extension of the Kingdom of God, the exaltation of Holy Church, the liberty of the Sovereign Pontiff - the fervent prayer of Jeanne Jugan never ceased to plead, before the Blessed Sacrament, for these great and holy causes, which were so dear to her.
"Her great soul," it has been said, "embraced not only the interests of her Congregation, but the spiritual needs both private and public of Holy Church." In the chapel, her long acts of adoration always finished by the Way of the Cross. As long as her strength allowed her she was faithful to this daily practice, which was a habit of her youth she had grown to love. In her last years this exercises became difficult for her on account of her infirmities, but the Little Sisters came to her sad. "As far as she could,," says one of them, "she made her Way of the Cross. We carried her prie-dieu, and supported her by the arm. At the eleventh station we heard her say that she was attached to the Cross with her Saviour, and that she wished to carry it joyfully till her death. We prayed with her for the conversion of the infidel, ect.," and the Little Sister adds very humbly," but we found her devotion too long."
This continual intercession was, one may say, the best part of the spiritual mission of Jeanne Jugan at this period of her life. Her Congregation, which was the first to benefit by it, feels even today its benign influence, such are the far-reaching effects of the prayers of the Saints.
After the chapel where she loved to spend long hours communing with her God, it was in the workroom of the novitiate, in the company of the novices and postulants, that Jeanne passed the greater part o each day, herself working at something, for as her companions said, "She was never unoccupied."
Especially did she employ her time there, by the instruction and advice which she freely gave them, and by the radiance of her personal holiness. Another part of the mission of her hidden and silent life was the formation of numberless generations of young Sisters on the perfect model that she was herself, and which has remained the only authentic and true type of the Little Sister of the Poor.
Once work was done, she presided amidst these promising postulants at the recitation of the Rosary, or of special prayers asked for by benefactors, and of spiritual reading which she commented on in a simple and practical manner. She would avail herself of this time sometimes to explain the mysteries of the Rosary, sometimes to give them a short spiritual conference - the result of her reading or private meditation.
In very plain but persuasive words, to which her wonderful example added extraordinary authority, she exhorted her young hearers to allow themselves to be moulded to the religious life, in all circumstances to be inspired with the spirit of faith, to imbue their lives with divine love, to practice humility, smallness ("petitesse"), especially obedience, which is the perfection of humility.
"You are small of stature," she said one day to a very young novice, "but not small enough - be small, very small. Very humble, very obedient, and like that you will be a good Little Sister."
Convinced of the fundamentally essential part of this virtue of obedience in the interior life of a Religious, and in proper working of a Community, she returned constantly to this subject, preaching to the novices the most complete respect, and the most absolute submission to the authority of superiors, and to the rule of the Congregation. "The rule is the will of God," she loved to repeat almost daily, "the bell is the voice of God. We ought to be in the hands of our superiors like sticks, to allow them to place us where it seems good to them. The rule is the treasure of the Religious."
Jeanne Jugan not only interested herself in the spiritual formation of the novices, in whom her faith made her perceive the future spouses of Jesus Christ, but knowing that one day they would be her successors in the work for the poor old people, she strove on every occasion by her judicious advice to make them profit by her great experience of hospitable work and collecting, the care to be taken of these old people, the attitude to be observed towards them, the way to do the household without disturbing them, advice as to the careful preparation of their meals, of their management and cleanliness, of the practice of poverty in the smallest details of the daily life of the House, of the way of making collection, recommendations concerning their relations with the laity, especially with benefactors - Jeanne Jugan omitted nothing that would render more perfect the professional training of the novices, and so in days to come to procure for her old people a little more spiritual and temporal well-being.
"Sometimes," narrates a Little Sister who assisted her during ten months, "Sister Mary of the Cross taught me to make infusions, herb-tea and poultices, telling me that the old people appreciate little attentions - it is the way of winning them to God."
Among the lessons given by Jeanne to the young Sisters was a recommendation always by spreading their own happiness, that of the old people.
"My children," she said to them, "we must always be in a good humour; our old people dislike sad faces."
Jeanne had a wide vision in anything connected with the complete formation of a Little Sister o the Poor in each novice, according to the ideal she had formed of it, and of which, unknown to herself, she was the embodiment. Eager for perfection for herself, she was equally so for her young Sisters, and did not permit casualness, mediocrity, still less any violation of the rule, however light it might be. Because of that, she was full of indulgence for the newcomers not yet used to the customs of the House or the religious life, but she was exacting and strict with older novices, although with them, as they themselves said, she displayed a great gentleness and humility. Her remarks and cautions were always marked with perfect tact and kindness, and were always followed with a promise of prayer.
The Little Sisters who knew her are unanimous in declaring that in everything that concerned the strict keeping of the rule, silence in word and action, deportment, the manner, voice and attitude during prayer, she overlooked nothing in them, where she came across it.
"When Sister Mary of the Cross came to the workroom, she was severe and overlooked nothing," narrates a Little Sister. "If one happened to open or shut the door a little noisily she made a sign to us, and we had to go back and open and shut the door quietly. One day in a hurry, I came down the stairs rather hurriedly. I met Sister Mary of the Cross down below, and she said, 'Go upstairs again, my child, and come down as a Little Sister ought to come down.' One day she stopped another Sister who was walking too quickly, and said to her, 'You are leaving someone behind you, my child.' The Sister turned round and seeing no one behind her said, 'Excuse me, good Sister, there is no one.' Jeanne replied, 'There is the good God. He leaves you to run on ahead, as Our Lord does not walk so fast, and is not in such a hurry as you are.' Another time a novice was doing the housework a little noisily in a room above her. She called her and said, 'My child, go down on your knees; you are going to say a Pater and an Ave because you have offended against silence - you make too much noise when you work. When you come to work in the Home you will tire the poor sick and make them suffer. Go and tell your under-mistress of novices that you worked too noisily."
Anecdotes of this kind were numerous, and they show how great was Jeanne Jugan's desire for perfection in her young companions, and with what untiring zeal she worked in every way to inspire them with the love of it.
A similar sentiment in a different sphere urged Jeanne so often to renew her injunctions to the novices about their health. Knowing the usual indifference of youth in this respect, she urged them to avoid excessive fatigue and she endeavoured to spare them when opportunity arose. She advised them as a mother what precautions to take in such and such circumstances, and her advice ranged from telling them to avoid draughts to explaining how to take herb-tea and other medicines necessitated by certain indispositions, that needed more drastic treatment. In fact, in their daily life, she herself lavished upon them every tender care and attention.
Consideration itself as she was, her hourly thought was for the body and soul of her young Sisters. These unceasing preoccupations of Jeanne Jugan, she being without any official authority in the religious and professional formation of her young novices and postulants, are not a matter for surprise, considering the part she played in founding the Congregation. If she acted thus (and we have just seen with what unquestioned authority), she is so humble, so eager for self-effacement and "littleness," it is that, feeling herself, above all else, the mother of these young Sisters, the noble instinct of this spiritual motherhood, which could not die in her, urged her to watch over them with this tender, unremitting care. In doing this, without any hesitation yet without a particle of authority, she was achieving the accomplishment of her mission of foundress. And what indescribable benefit has accrued from it to the Institute!
During almost thirty years, she thus fashioned to her own likeness the soul of the Little Sister of the Poor, and stamped on it her own strong and indelible character. That is the real explanation of the irresistible attraction the young Little Sisters felt for their venerable senior, not knowing, nevertheless, that she was their mother in the religious life. They found her "admirable in everything," and every time they met her, narrates a novice of that period, they made a happy circle about her. "When we saw her," says another, "we had a feeling of joy and veneration, and merely by seeing her we were edified and encouraged."
It was especially during their recreation, in which Jeanne loved to take part, that their hearts were drawn towards hers. Habitually serious and recollected, it was there that she gave them an example of her simple gaiety. To these children, eager to hear this mysterious witness of the past, never making reference to herself, she told stories of the time of the foundation and all kinds of tales and anecdotes preserved in her memory.
With her love of singing, she sang hymns with them, beating time or striking the ground with her long stick to mark the rhythm. It sometimes happened that for the Little Sisters' recreation she sang little songs of her Candle country, like the "Song of the Cuckoo."
"We had happiness of seeing her at recreation," writes a Little Sister. She was very Gay; when she arrived, we all went towards her. She was so kind. To amuse us, she told us little stories. Sometimes she sang some verses, which always had a moral and edified us."
Another Sister writes: "Her simplicity at recreation - amusing us with trifles - charmed me. In the stories she told us she never spoke of herself - she forgot and effaced herself. At the end of recreation she was resumed her serious and recollected air, which came naturally to her."
One can guess after that, the extraordinary influence which Jeanne Jugan exercised over her young Sisters. Many among them declared that they are indebted to her for their perseverance in their vocation, so much did her example, her advice, her exhortations burning with the love of God, have the gift of dispersing temptations to discouragement, with which they were often assailed, and of leading them to piety and virtue.
It must not be deduced from all this that the life of Jeanne Jugan at the Mother House was passed solely in the company of the young novices. Living apart, almost hidden, she was constantly in touch with the older Sisters, especially, it is said, during the evening recreation. They venerated her, although they were unaware, for the most part, of her status of foundress of their religious family. They loved to have intercourse with her, and spontaneously had recourse to her advice. The admonitions and advice which she gave them were always wise and judicious, filled with the spirit of faith and humility.
"Above all, do as your Superiors tell you," she advised them, "and take no notice of what I tell you, if it is not according to their opinion."
Without ever speaking of what she herself had done, she told them, with infectious admiration, of the interposition of Divine Providence in establishing and developing the work of the Little Sisters. She recalled the memories of adventures happening during the collecting, and while diverting them, she lifted up their souls to God, and opened wider their souls to His love. They would willingly have prolonged their talks with her, so captivated were they hearing her talk of God, and encouraging them so sincerely to goodness, to virtue, to the regularity of the religious life. Jeanne gave them a good example the moment the bell rang, resuming her habitual silence and communing with God alone.
Occasionally at critical times, the Superiors themselves had felt the need of appealing to the wisdom of the "great forgotten one," and derived great benefit from it.
"One day, when they were in great perplexity about making a certain decision," writes a Belgian Little Sister, "it occurred to them to ask the advice of Sister Mary of the Cross. She was sent for and told the facts. As was her custom, she replied, 'I am only a poor ignorant woman. What can I say?' On being again asked for her opinion, she said, since it is your wish, I will obey.' And with all simplicity she gave them advice. It was excellent, and they followed it."
Cut off from the world as she was she had nevertheless not lost complete touch with it. The world, we may say, came back to her in her old friends, and the many visitors that passed each year through La Tour. Many among them asked to see her. Lover of silence and retirement, these visits were irksome, and she sometimes showed it, but she accepted them in the spirit of obedience.
"People came to see me as if I were a curious animal," she said one day to a Little Sister who was accompanying her to the parlour. Certain visitors who knew her by repute schemed to come across her as she went to and fro in the Community, or during her walks in the grounds, and they stopped her in passing, after having made sure of her identity.
"Do not call me Jeanne Jugan," she humbly replied to them, "Jeanne Jugan has been dead for the last forty years. There remains now only Sister Mary of the Cross, who is unworthy of such a beautiful name."
She showed every kindness to these strangers, and after the privilege of seeing her, and hearing her speak of God, if only for a few moments, they went away edified and delighted. She saw her friends of former days more willingly, especially those from St. Servan. It was an opportunity for her to talk of old times, of the modest beginning of the work, to inquire about people she had known, and to get news of her benefactors whom she never forgot. At this memory of the humble origin of her work she would draw herself up to her full height, and with her big stick point to the chapel of the Community, spacious and lofty, like a cathedral, to the great pile of buildings rising from the ground, the vast fields in cultivation, and the innumerable multitude of the Little Sisters coming and going.
Then before these witnesses of the past and the present, so different one from the other, she would intone aloud her hymn of thanksgiving to the Providence of God, a hymn that deep in her faithful heart never ceased. Apart from the regular recreations taken in the company of her Sisters, the great distraction of Jeanne at La Tour was her almost daily walk through hat immense estate. She knew by name every field and every path, she loved its restful peace that was so helpful to her thoughts. Its cultivation interested her, and she followed its progress from day to day, even praying about it.
Leaning on the arm of a novice, her big stick in her hand, her hood on her head when it was cold, a hood so old that it was nearer green than black, she strode with long steps through the paths which were so familiar to her, saying her Rosary or giving herself up to her meditation. When it was not a time of silence, she willingly stopped to talk with the men working in the fields and gardens, asking them news of their families, of their health, and inquiring about their needs and speaking a word about the goodness of God. They repaid her in respect and veneration for the sympathy which, in her instinctive love for the humble, she felt for them. When her tall figure appeared on the horizon, they said amongst themselves, "There, the saint is going by."
Such was, according to the testimony of her companions, the existence of Jeanne Jugan during this last period of her life, the period of forlornness and oblivion, of silent self-sacrifice and secret suffering.
How much did she suffer from being wronged and forsaken? God alone knows - the documents spoke of it to no one. God alone knows the vast extent of her merits.
Continued >>> Page 2
Typed by: Danielle Burton
@Copy Right, Sue Burton, Sacredheart Publications.
Marianne Eichhorn, Sacredheart Organization Israel.
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