From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
October 16th - St. Margaret d'Youville
Foundress of the Sisters of Charity, called Grey Nuns
The oldest of six children, at seven years of age Mary Margaret
Dufrost, born at Varennes near Montreal, had already lost her
courageous soldier-father. After receiving only two years of excellent education in Quebec City with the Ursuline nuns, she was obliged to
return to Varennes before her 12th birthday, to assist her mother to
bring up her five younger brothers and sisters. The Sisters had
foreseen the heavy responsibilities which would come upon her, and
under their tutelage, as they later testified, she had =E2=80=9Credoubled h=
er
activity and application to all her duties.=E2=80=9D By means of a subsidy granted by the king of France to the families of his deceased military officers, the little family was able to remain together.
One day, some 60 years later, Mother Margaret d'Youville, Foundress=
of
a Congregation of Sisters of Charity, would be known to the people of
Quebec as =E2=80=9Cthe Providence of Montreal.=E2=80=9D It became proverbia=
l among the
Church's authorities, even before she died, when there was a
charitable work to do, to =E2=80=9Cask the Grey Nuns; they never refuse a mission.=E2=80=9D This was indeed an honorable reputation; but in 1730 the =
26
year-old widow of Francis d'Youville, could not have imagined such
honor, nor what Providence was holding in store for her already strong
and experienced charity.
Saint Margaret was living in Montreal with her two sons at the death
of Mr. d'Youville. It was soon evident that the pious widow would s=
eek
no distraction amid the world's frivolities. She took in sewing and
opened a little business, thus becoming known in the city; half of her
earnings were always dedicated to her children's Christian
instruction. Both of her sons would later become priests. These
occupations were not enough, however, to occupy her time; she visited prisoners, cared for the dying, brought peace to many troubled
households, and even aided the poor financially. Her work with the
unfortunate soon brought to her 3 apostolic young hearts, to offer
their assistance. The 4 young women put their savings in common, and
kneeling before a little statue of the Blessed Virgin, vowed their
lives to the care of the poor. They rented a house, and soon received
5 suffering members of the Mystical Body of Christ as their charges.
The young missionaries did not escape the harsh opinions which always
test the perseverance of those who desire to serve God in the person
of the unfortunate. Undisciplined tongues accused them of bootlegging
alcohol and even of making abundant use of it themselves. Mother
d'Youville prayed to the Eternal Father, to whom she would always h=
ave
an outstanding devotion, that she might not, during her trials, lose
her good spiritual director who was ill; she already had lost her
closest companion by death. The director was cured, but the little
hospital burnt down in January of 1745. The misery of the little group
won sympathy for them, and soon lodging, clothes and food were offered
them.
Their destitution drew the attention of city authorities, who at that
time were wondering what to do about the city hospital, overburdened
with large debts and without sufficient personnel to staff it. When
Mother d'Youville offered to take on both the debts and the labors,
they were very happy indeed to accept her offer. With five companions,
nine indigents and two lady-boarders, she entered the hospital in
1747. There a new difficulty for the foundress would soon make its
appearance; the work still had enemies.... an appeal to the king of
France, Louis XV, elicited his command that the decision of the local authorities be canceled, and she was authorized in 1752 to keep the
hospital and to found a Community.
It was not only the sick who were the object of Saint Margaret
d'Youville's loving care. Foundling children, prisoners, or=
phans, the
handicapped, the aged, were soon the cherished beneficiaries of the
Grey Nuns' indefatigable solicitude. Their foundress passed to her
reward in 1771; and that night a large luminous cross appeared in the
Montreal skies, attesting the death of a Saint. But her community
continued and has been richly blessed, not only by the poor it has
strengthened for the combats of life, but by the Father of the Poor
Himself, who in 150 years gave it extension to fifteen dioceses of
North America. The Grey Nuns have labored in the most difficult
missions of the extreme north of Canada, as well as in a dozen cities
of the more southerly provinces and the United States. Their
self-effacement, their missionary spirit, their hardy courage in the
face of the rudest living conditions, have earned the admiration of
all who know them.
Source: La V=C3=A9n=C3=A9rable M=C3=A8re d'Youville, by Abb=C3=A9 =
=C3=89mile Dubois (L'Oeuvre
des Tracts: Montreal, 1921).
Saint Quote:
Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a
free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a
man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace
from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is
what man has as his unique possession.
--Saint Joseph of Cupertino, from the reading for his feast in the
Franciscan breviary
Bible Quote:
=C2 My dearest, if God hath so loved us, we also ought to love one
another.=C2 (1 St. John 4:11)=C2 DRB
<><><><>
A Prayer Of Confidence In God
Jesus of the loving Heart, I believe that thou doth care for me more
than Thou careth for the birds of the air or the lilies of the field.
I believe that Thou doth care for me more than a mother careth for the
child in her arms.
I believe that even though a mother may forget the child of her womb,
yet wilt Thou not forget me.
And, therefore, I trust in Thee in all and through all and in spite of
all. Amen.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)