LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR. - Jeanne 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 little blind old woman to whom she gave attention and care. To this one another was added, and on 15 Oct. 1840 some pious persons joined Jugan and assisted her in this work of charity. On 1 Oct. 1841 she took another house, and the old women were thus able to rise to six; to maintain it Jeanne begged from door to door. Very soon the refuge was opened to men as well.

Thus was born the Congregation of the Servants of the Poor, who in 1844 changed the name to Sisters of the Poor, and in 1849 assumed the present designation of L. S. of the P. In 1846 asylums were opened at Rennes, Dinan and in other cities of France, which in 1851 rose to 15 with 1500 inmates. 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 counted 177 asylums with 2488 sisters and 20,500 inmates. Today the houses are 314, the sisters 5700 and the inmates over 60,000. Final approval came on 1 March 1879.

The L. S. of the P. devote themselves solely to the material, moral and spiritual assistance of the poor elderly.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: A. Leroy, Storia delle P. S. dei P., trad. it., Rome 1904; G. De Luca, Le P. S. dei P., Rome 1939.

Silverio Mattei

@incollection{ec9_piccole_suore_dei_poveri, author = {Mattei, Silverio}, title = {Piccole Suore dei Poveri}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/piccole-suore-dei-poveri} }

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Little Sisters of the Poor

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