THE SPIRIT OF

LOUISE DE MARILLAC
Mother of Charity

s y point Ke
Overcoming Trauma and Disappointments
Louises psychological development included many trials. She was rejected by her fathers family, was not welcome in his home, was moved from one place to another, wanted to enter the cloister but is denied and instead they arrange a marriage for her. Then her husband becomes ill and dies. Nothing ever seemed to get completed before the next calamity. But rather than dwell on her disappointments, she comes through these times through faith and prayer.

L L A B O R AT O R I N N O VA T O R , C O

MENTOR

Louise responded to the wide variety of needs before her, and depended on the God she saw in the poor she served.
bio g ra ph y
ouise de Marillac was born on August 12, 1591 to a very prominent family in Paris. Her father, Louis de Marillac, claimed her as his child. Louis was unmarried at the time and Louise never knew who her mother was. At the time of his subsequent marriage, when Louise was 4 years old, he placed her as a boarder in a Dominican convent. There she learned to read and write both in French and Latin. She read the Scripture and grew in her love for God.

Her Spiritual Quest

In her early years Louise was very hard on herself, severely scrupulous, believed in an all-powerful, punishing God. With Gods grace, through the help of others such as St. Vincent de Paul and through her work with the poor, she moves from this frightening image of God towards the gentleness that comes with the Incarnation: God as the suffering Christ.

boarding house where she did the laundry to earn her keep. When Louise was 21 she took her uncles to court and sued for her inheritance. She won the case.

When Louise was 13 years old, Louis died and Louise did not receive her inheritance. Instead she was removed from the convent and sent to a

But even with money for a dowry, she was not accepted into the religious community that she tried to enter. They said it was her ill health, but perhaps it was her illegitimacy. So a marriage was arranged for her with Antoine Le Gras, the secretary to the Queen Mother. He was not of the nobility, but in a position suitable for someone with the de Marillac name to marry.

The Power of Community

Louise realized that some of the problems of ministering to the poor were too difcult to tackle on her own. She excelled at one-to-one training of the Daughters of Charity sent out to serve the poor and sick. Community life was one of the essential elements supporting their vocation. Louise always wanted people to perceive the Daughters in a favorable way so that their works would become accepted and respected.

Using her gifts-- her great skills of organization, training, and management-- Louise found new ways to meet the problems of her day, teaching the Daughters how to run their services more eciently. She helped transform the way the poor and marginalized were cared for.
ouise and Antoine soon had a son, Michel. They were at court and met the rich and famous of their time. Michel was a sickly child and Antoine soon became ill himself. Louise suered from severe headaches, a great fear of abandonment and severe scrupulosity. These were not happy days. In fact in her illogical thinking of the moment, Louise blamed all the family problems on herself. Finally in prayer she was able to free herself from the blame that she had heaped on herself.

supervisors out to assure the wellbeing of the children. Soon she was organizing care for the insane, prisoners, the elderly. She taught the Daughters how to care for the sick and thus transformed hospitals from horrible places to go just to die into places of comfort and healing.

To help free her from her scrupulous nature, Vincent de Paul was recommended to her as a spiritual director. He was busy beginning Confraternities of Charity to care for the needs of the poor in parishes throughout the countryside. Vincent saw Louise as a potential ally in his work. They became great collaborators in service of the poor.

Her great skills of organization and radical thinking enabled her to nd new ways to meet both new and old problems. She helped transform the way the poor and marginalized were cared for in many parts of the world. Shortly before her death in 1660, she said, Do not be upset if things are not as you would want them to be for a long time to come. Do the little you can very peacefully and calmly so as to allow room for the guidance of God in your lives. Do not worry about the rest.

After her husbands death, Louise began visiting the confraternities and organizing them to run more efficiently. Vincent began to appreciate her skills even more. He asked her to train country girls to be Daughters of Charity to continue to work for the poor.

Despite her limitations of birth, her poor health, her worrying nature-- she accomplished much. Using her gifts, working with others, responding to the wide variety of needs before her and depending on the God she saw in the poor she served, Louise de Marillac left the legacy of Charity to be carried on in future generations.

Louise began her rst foster care program, placing babies abandoned in the city with families in the country. She paid the childs expenses and sent

For more, read: Louise de Marillac: A Light in Darkness by Kathryn La Fleur or Praying with Louise de Marillac by Audrey Gibson and Kieran Kneaves or Louise de Marillac: Social Aspect of Her Work by Margaret Flinton.