LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR. - Giovanna Jugan (b. at Cancalle in France in 1792, d. in 1879), at the beginning of 1839, took into her modest house at St-Servan a blind old woman, to whom she gave attention and care. Another was added to her, and on 15 Oct. 1840 some pious women joined Jugan and assisted her in this work of charity. On 1 Oct. 1841 she took another house, and the old women could thus number six; to support them Giovanna begged from door to door. Before long the refuge was opened also to men.
Thus arose the Congregation of the Servants of the Poor, who in 1844 changed their name to Sisters of the Poor, and in 1849 assumed their present designation of P. S. dei P. In 1846 homes were opened at Rennes, Dinan, and other cities of France; by 1851 these had increased to 15, with 1,500 residents. In Feb. 1854 the decree of praise came from the Holy See. Foundations multiplied in France, Belgium, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. At the death of the foundress (1879), the Congregation had 177 homes, with 2,488 sisters and 20,500 residents. Today there are 314 houses, 5,700 sisters, and more than 60,000 residents. Definitive approval was granted on 1 March 1879.
The P. S. dei P. devote themselves exclusively to the material, moral, and spiritual care of poor elderly persons.