Saint Louise de Marillac was a French woman of deep faith who co-founded the Daughters of Charity with St. Vincent de Paul, dedicating her life to serving the poor, sick, and marginalized. Her legacy lives on through the global work of the Daughters of Charity and her enduring example of humble, Christ-centered service.

Saint Louise de Marillac:
A Life of Service and Compassion

Early Life and Calling

Louise de Marillac was born in 1591 in Ferrières, France, into a noble family. She never knew her mother, and her father’s new wife refused to care for the child. Young Louise was entrusted to the care of her aunt, a nun at the Monastery of Poissy. There she received an excellent education in both secular subjects and religious studies, which prepared her for her future work. As a teenager she felt called to devote herself entirely to God. She even applied to join a strict convent, but delicate health prevented her from entering. Despite this disappointment, Louise continued to study, pray and grow in faith, believing that God had another plan for her life.

Marriage and Family Life

In 1613, at age 22, Louise married Antoine Le Gras, a royal secretary. Within months their son Michel was born, and Louise devoted herself to motherhood and household life. She also remained deeply involved in charitable work from home. Even as a wife and mother, she never forgot her spiritual aspirations. She prayed daily and ran her household with generosity, always setting aside part of their income to help the needy.

Spiritual Crisis and Vision

In the 1620s Louise’s life grew more difficult. In 1622 her husband Antoine fell seriously ill, and Louise nursed him devotedly through a long, painful sickness. During this trial she remembered a pledge she had made: in 1623 she had vowed that if her husband died she would not remarry. That very year, on the feast of Pentecost, Louise received a powerful inspiration. In prayer she experienced a vivid vision of herself living in a small community devoted to serving the poor, under the guidance of a priest. She later wrote down this “lumière” (inner light) and kept it as a guiding promise of God’s plan for her.

After Antoine’s death in 1625, Louise honored her vow and looked for spiritual guidance. She had been in contact with St. Francis de Sales and other holy men, but it was St. Vincent de Paul who became her true mentor. Louise placed herself under Vincent’s direction, and through him found clarity and peace. Vincent recognized her talents– her intelligence, humility and compassion– and invited her to join his work among Paris’s poor. She took a leading role in the Ladies of Charity– a group of pious Parisian women who visited the poor and sick. With these noblewomen, Louise helped distribute food, clothing and medical care to those in need.

Collaboration with St. Vincent de Paul

By 1629, Louise and Vincent were close collaborators. Louise visited hospitals, slums and orphanages alongside him, seeing firsthand the dire needs of the sick, hungry and homeless. She noticed that the well-born volunteers often struggled with extreme hardship, so Vincent and Louise began recruiting young peasant women whose stamina and empathy suited the work. In 1632, after a private retreat, Louise felt God was calling her to organize these helpers into a dedicated group. She spoke to Vincent about forming a community of women who would live together to serve the poor.

Founding of the Daughters of Charity (1633)

On November 29, 1633, Louise and Vincent put this vision into action. In Louise’s own house in Paris, a handful of women took vows to live in community and serve Christ by serving the poorest people. Vincent de Paul was present to bless their commitment. This moment marked the founding of the Company of the Daughters of Charity. These women did not enter a cloister or take lifelong vows as nuns traditionally did. Instead, they agreed to live simply among the poor and to renew their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience each year. They adopted plain gray habits with a distinctive large white “cornette” headdress– the modest dress of rural French women– to identify with the people they served. Louise taught them to see Jesus in every suffering person, living by the belief that loving the poor is loving Christ himself. This spirit of humble service became the heart of the new community. Under Louise’s leadership (she was chosen as their first superior), the Daughters of Charity grew quickly. By 1655 the Church officially approved the Company. In a few decades dozens of Daughters’ houses sprang up across France, each dedicated to active charity.

• New Life and Mobility: The Daughters of Charity lived in small rented homes in the city, not in an enclosed convent. This allowed them to travel freely to where help was needed– to hospitals, refugee camps, battlefields or remote villages.
• Annual Commitment: Rather than taking permanent lifelong vows, each Sister renewed her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience every year. This yearly renewal gave them flexibility to change missions as needs evolved.
• Service and Solidarity: The Sisters dressed simply and identified with those they helped. Louise insisted they treat every person– wealthy or poor, educated or illiterate– with equal dignity, believing each face bore the presence of Christ. Her own motto became the guiding principle of the order.
• Community Prayer: Though active in service, the Daughters remained a prayerful community. Louise encouraged them to gather daily for brief prayer together, attend Mass and meditate, so that their work would always flow from their union with God.

Thanks to Louise and Vincent’s vision, the Daughters of Charity introduced a new model for women’s religious life: one of prayerful service in the world rather than enclosed contemplation alone.

Ministries and Outreach

From the very beginning, Louise and the Daughters of Charity devoted themselves to serving those most in need. Louise organized their work in several key areas:

• Nursing the Sick: The Daughters regularly visited the ill in their own homes and in hospitals. In Paris they worked at the famous Hôtel-Dieu, caring for patients. They brought food, clean bandages, medicines and gentle prayer to the sick and dying.
• Care of Foundlings and Orphans: In 1638 Louise answered an urgent crisis of abandoned children by founding a foundling hospital. Sisters would hurry to rescue unwanted babies from the streets, feeding and caring for them. They also ran orphanages and cared for destitute children, comforting them as tenderly as Louise had raised her own son.
• Education: The Daughters opened “little schools” for poor children. They taught basic reading, writing and catechism, believing that even simple education was a precious gift that could lift children out of misery. In every classroom the Sisters treated children with patience and respect, giving them hope for the future.
• Emergency Relief: Whenever war, famine or disease struck, Louise led the Daughters to the front lines of suffering. During the civil wars of the 1640s and 1650s, for example, Sisters rushed to battlefields and encampments. They nursed wounded soldiers and civilians, organized soup kitchens to feed starving populations, and tended refugees in makeshift shelters. In all these crises they showed extraordinary courage and self-giving love.

Louise insisted on professionalism in charity. She learned from doctors and nurses and made sure the Daughters were well-trained in medicine and hygiene. She coordinated with civic authorities to improve hospital care and public relief. By 1660, the year of her death, the Daughters of Charity operated dozens of hospitals, orphanages, schools and relief programs across France– all founded on Louise’s vision of disciplined, compassionate service.

Spirituality and Personal Virtues

Louise de Marillac’s tireless work sprang from a profound spirituality and personal virtue. She lived a carefully balanced life of prayer and action. Each morning, even as she managed her household and community, Louise attended Mass, spent time in meditation and recited the Rosary. She believed that strong faith life was essential to effective charity. At the same time, she poured out love on people. All who knew her remembered her warmth, simplicity and humility. Louise treated everyone– whether a noble visitor or a bedraggled beggar– with the same courtesy and kindness. She often ate very little herself and would wash the Sisters’ feet to show solidarity.

Above all, Louise trusted in God’s providence. Even during moments of doubt or exhaustion, she turned to prayer and reminded herself of her vision. She once wrote that the great secret of the spiritual life is to surrender everything we love to God’s will. Louise truly believed that in serving the poor she was serving Jesus, and that conviction sustained her courage. In humility and faith she continued every day, convinced that God was guiding her work.

Later Years and Death

In the 1650s Louise saw the Company she had founded flourish. She traveled constantly between the Daughters’ houses, helping to establish new hospitals and schools in other cities like Lyon and Marseille. Even with so much responsibility, she remained modest and hardworking.

Louise de Marillac died peacefully in Paris on March 15, 1660, at about age 68. Sisters who cared for her say she welcomed death calmly, confident in God’s love. Vincent de Paul, her dear friend and co-founder, passed away just six months later. Together they had transformed the Church’s care for the poor in 17th-century France.

Legacy and Influence

Louise de Marillac’s legacy continues to inspire the Church and the wider world. She was beatified in 1920 and canonized in 1934. In 1960 Pope John XXIII declared her the patron saint of all Christian social workers, recognizing how she had pioneered social charity. Her feast day is celebrated on May 9.

The Company of the Daughters of Charity that Louise co-founded still carries on her mission. Today thousands of Sisters serve in dozens of countries, working in hospitals, schools, refugee centers and soup kitchens. They wear a modified habit as a symbol of her humble spirit. In the United States, the Daughters came in 1803 and founded hospitals, schools and orphanages in many cities, following the rule Louise set for them. Many Catholic institutions– hospitals and academies– bear her name in France, the U.S., and elsewhere, honoring her example. Her influence also inspired other women’s orders; for instance, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in America adapted Louise’s Rule for the Sisters of Charity she founded.

Saint Louise de Marillac’s life left two enduring marks on the world: a model of compassionate service and a new way for women to live their faith. She showed that loving God can be lived out by loving one’s neighbor in very practical ways. Even today, many who care for the poor, the sick and the outcast look to her for encouragement. As she once urged, “See Jesus in the distressed and troubled”– a lesson that continues to guide those who walk in her footsteps.