By Larry Peterson
This article appeared in Aleteia on May 18, 2016
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| St. Vincent de Paul, Blessed Frederick Ozanam, St. Jeanne Jugan |
The woman's name was Anne Chauvin and she was blind, paralyzed and
quite old. She was also close to freezing to death. And so it began, for on
that very night Jeanne Jugan turned her life to serving God by caring for the
elderly poor.
Word spread quickly throughout the small town and before long more
elderly sick and poor were being brought to Jeanne. Other women, younger and
healthier, were coming to her also. But they were coming to join her in her
work. The small group of women grew and became known as The Little
Sisters of the Poor
By 1879, there were over 2400 Little Sisters of the Poor in nine
countries. That year was also the year that Pope Leo XIII approved the by-laws
of the order. Ironically, it was also the same year Jeanne Jugan died at the
age of 86. She was canonized a saint on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Saint Jeanne Jugan never knew that when she was founding the
Little Sisters of the Poor a young countryman of hers in Paris was responding
to God’s flowing graces. Frederick Ozanam was a 20 year old student at the
University of Paris. Challenged by his "enlightened" college peers, he
embraced their taunts "to practice what you preach".
Accepting the challenge, Frederick went out and gave his coat to a
beggar. Shortly thereafter, he and
his four pals founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society . That
was in May of 1833. They named the society after St.Vincent because he
was known for his work with the poor.
Vincent de Paul never knew that 170 years after his death an
organization named after him would take up the mantle of helping the poor all
over the world. Frederick Ozanam died at the age of 40 and was beatified and
declared 'Blessed' by Pope John Paul II in 1997. Frederick would never know that the organization he had
founded would one day work side by side with the Little Sisters of the Poor in
their mission of charity toward the elderly poor.
St. Jeanne Jugan could never have known that from the moment
she carried Anne Chauvin into her home she would change the world for thousands
upon thousands of the sick and disabled elderly. She could never have imagined
that in the 21st century her order would be serving the poorest of the elderly
in cities all over the United States and in 31 countries around the world.
Blessed Frederick would never have imagined that his Society of St. Vincent de Paul would become a worldwide
organization with close to a million members helping the needy all over the
world. The grand irony is that over the course of several centuries the paths
of these three saints have been interwoven dramatically as their followers help
the poor, homeless and downtrodden no matter where they may be.
The three saints mentioned here never knew what their simple acts
of kindness would lead to. The difference with them was that, unlike most
folks, they responded to God's grace. Jeanne took care of that sickly woman and
Fred gave away his coat. Vincent worked with poor tenant farmers and founded
the Daughters of Charity.
These three unpretentious, God loving people had two things in
common. First, they embraced God's grace
and followed His call. Secondly, they asked for NOTHING for themselves and welcomed
whatever came their way, including poverty. Their legacies live on in the
thousands upon thousands of their followers and in all those millions who have
been helped by their simple acts of faith. This is a beautiful thing.
As a Catholic I love these people and I am proud to consider
myself part of their extended family. They set examples for us that we are
supposed to emulate. They are our Catholic heroes and therefore members of our
Catholic Hall of Fame. They asked for nothing and gave everything. I love being
able to talk to them. What I love best is when they talk back. And they do,
sooner or later and one way or another.
St. Vincent de Paul, St. Jeanne Jugan and Blessed Frederick
Ozanam, please keep praying for all of us. And ---THANK YOU.
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