Louise de Marillac’s journey to Montmirail in 1629 was the beginning of a great ministry assisting the Confraternities of Charity. As Sr. Élisabeth Charpy, DC, writes, “Louise was in the prime of her life. She was soon to turn thirty-eight years old. The depression that had overcome her following her husband’s death had now dissipated. Her seventeen-year-old son Michel was a boarder at the seminary at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. Louise’s time was now her own.”

Sr. Louise Sullivan, DC, goes on to say:

“Anxiety over her son was the last major obstacle to the tranquility she needed to begin the Company [of the Daughters of Charity]. By 1633, she could devote herself to the spiritual formation of the Daughters and to foster the love they had for each other, which in turn was to be motivated by the love that Christ crucified had for the poor. All other relationships were to be put aside in the face of that love.” (from the Abstract of the article “The Spirituality of Louise de Marillac: Moved by the Spirit to Charity” by Sr. Louise Sullivan, D.C.)

Read more in the presentation below.