Born in Paris August 12, 1591, Louise was trained by her father after the early death of her mother. She married Antoine le Gras and bore him a son and devoted herself to her family and works of charity. She was acquainted with St. Francis de Sales, who placed her under the direction of St. Vincent de Paul. This great-hearted priest had recruited girls to help in the care of the poor. He had interested wealthy women in supplying the means of aiding the unfortunate, but the personal care was missing. Louise de Marillac, under the guidance of the saintly cleric, began the formation of the girls in the spiritual life. Without an ardent love of God there could be no effective love of neighbor. On March 25, 1634, she bound herself by vow to the service of the poor, and the others followed her example. Such a generous and self-effacing life called for deep holiness, and in the devoted Louise, the poor, her fellow-workers and St. Vincent de Paul found a valiant woman. Under her inspiration, the Sisters opened hospitals, schools and shelters for foundlings, homes for the aged, and even the needs of soldiers wounded on the battlefield. For twenty-five years, St. Vincent de Paul gave these women conferences to ground them in humility and service requisite for charitable work among the poor. The followers of St. Louise, the Sisters of Charity, as they came to be called, today number thousands. She died in March, 1660, was beatified in 1920, and canonized in 1934.

Reflection — “As long as you did it to one of these, My little ones, you did it to Me.” It is this seeing of Christ in the person of our neighbor that will inspire us with a generous charity towards the poor and the needy.

Taken from Father Alban Butler's "Lives of the Saints for Every Day in the Year — With Reflections" Copyright 1955.