Born amidst the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan was a humble, devout woman who begged in the streets in order to provide for people in need.
She eventually founded the Little Sisters of the Poor, an international Roman Catholic Congregation of Religious Sisters whose mission is to serve others. Today, the Little Sisters serve more than 13,000 elderly poor in 31 countries around the world. The first home opened in America in 1868 and have 23 homes in the U.S. where the elderly and dying are cared for with love and dignity until God calls them home.
A Day in the Life of a Little Sister of the Poor
5:30 a.m:
Wake up
“When I get up in the morning I know LOVE is waiting for me in the chapel. I know when we go out of the chapel love is waiting for us in the person of the elderly poor.”
-Sister Christian Maria
6:00 am:
Community Meditation and Prayer
“Everything we do, everything that a Little Sister of the Poor does is to manifest the love of our Lord to our residents, so that they can see how precious they are in God's eyes.”
-Sister Amy
7:00 am:
Serve residents breakfast
“When we come out of mass we go to the dining room, so we receive Jesus and then we give back to Him when we are helping the residents in the dining room give them their meal for their bodily needs.”
-Sister Cornelia
11:00 am:
Daily mass with the residents
“We attend Mass usually toward the middle of the day, and it's a moment when the Little Sisters come together with the elderly and we're really one family at the table of the Lord, in the presence of the Lord at the most intense moment for a Catholic—the sacrifice of the Mass.”
-Sister Constance
12:00 pm:
Serve residents lunch
“The mission of the Little Sisters of the Poor is a mission of humble service. I would also say it's a mission of mercy. We are called to be Christ's hands and feet to the elderly poor.”
-Sister Mary Gemina
1:00 pm:
Sisters community time
“What it means to be a Little Sister of the Poor is to be grateful to God for the call and the gift of caring for His special ones who are at the threshold of Heaven at the end of their lives.”
-Sister Loretto
2:15 pm:
Personal prayer
“I think that you realize that you really want everybody to know the love of Christ, and once you've learned the love of Christ in your own heart, you want to share that. It's not something that is there for you to keep, it's there for you to give away, so I think it's more of that.”
-Sister Sheila
3:00 pm:
Begging, visiting residents, administrative other hospitality work
“We go begging for what we need for our residents. To the market, and to churches to ask for the support of the local community. In this way, I was able to see how much God loves us, and how much He takes care of us, and provides for all of our needs.”
-Sister Amy
5
:00 pm:
Personal prayer
“I guess it all comes from the Lord. If we have a relationship with God and we share that relationship with the elderly, it's not really our light that comes through, it is God's light that comes through. They realize that God loves them, by our loving them.”
-Sister Carol Marie
5:30 pm:
Community and evening prayer
“I see Jesus in every Little Sister that I live with. Same as I see them, I see Him in the person of the poor. It's wonderful to live in a community. I think it's a gift to be able to serve not by yourself. For us, our strength comes from living together as one community.”
-Sister Christian Maria
6:00 pm:
Serve residents dinner
“There's a saying that, ‘It's not enough to add years to the life of the elderly, you have to add life to their years.’ That's what my biggest joy is in seeing that happen.”
-Sister Constance
8:30 pm:
Sisters night prayer
“We meet our Lord in the poor, and then our homes we also have a chapel where with the Eucharistic presence of our Lord. To me that is a very precious gift.”
-Sister Amy
9:00 pm:
Check on residents
“Our mission is to welcome the elderly poor into our homes, and to care for them as we would care for Christ himself.”
-Sister Therese-Marie
10:00 pm:
Bedtime
“When I go to bed, if I have exhausted every strength I have the whole day just to respond to that love, I know I'll be able to sleep well at night with a smile even though I'm exhausted.”
-Sister Christian Maria
Any Hour Day or Night:
Caring for the elderly as they die
“We care for the elderly. We serve them day and night. If they call me in the middle of the night, at 2:00 in the morning, I jump from my bed to go. Whatever time it is, I jump, and I run, to be at their service.”
-Sister Georgia