TWO GIFTS FOR MY FRIENDS AT ST. JOSEPH'S HOME FOR THE AGED

          A NEW HYMN AND A NEW BOOK OF HOMILIES 

St Joseph's Home

15 Audubon Plaza Drive

Louisville, KY 40217-1318

502-636-2300

As I have mentioned before, one of my "retirement jobs" is to help provide Masses and the Sacrament of Reconciliation at St. Joseph's Home for the Aged here in Louisville, not too far from my condo. It is operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor who have been in Louisville for a total of one hundred and thirty years! At this time, there are about eleven Little Sisters living and working there - some of them doing what they can on walkers and in motorized carts.  

Yesterday, was the Feast of St. Jeanne Jugan, their foundress. Since I have gotten to know many of the Sisters and many of the people who reside there, I have grown to admire them and love them. 

This year I wanted to give the Little Sisters two special gifts for the Feast of St. Jeanne Jugan. I wrote some new lyrics for an old hymn tune (Ode to Joy). We sang it yesterday at Mass for the first time. I also presented them with the first copy of a new book, a collection of homilies that I have given at St. Joseph Home for the Aged in Louisville, Kentucky, with a promise to give them 100 complimentary copies as a Christmas present as soon as they come off the press.

The hymn is included near the end of this blog-post and information about the book below that, but first here is a bit of history about St. Jeanne Jugan, their foundress.  

Jeanne Jugan was born in France on October 25, 1792. In 1837, Jeanne was approached by an elderly, blind and partially paralyzed woman named Anne Chauvin. With no one there to help the woman, Jeanne carried her to her apartment and took it upon herself to begin caring for her. She let Anne have her bed and Jeanne slept in the attic.

A short time later, Jeanne took in two more old women in need of help and by 1841, she rented another space to house a dozen elderly people. The next year, she attained an empty convent and housed 40 more people.

With approval from her peers, Jeanne began focusing her attention on her new mission - assisting abandoned elderly women. This effort marked the beginning of the religious congregation known now as The Little Sisters of the Poor.

Jeanne constructed a simple Rule of Life for her new community of women. Each day they went around town requesting food, clothing and money for those in their care. Jeanne carried on with her new life's work for the next four decades of her life.

More young women started to hear about Jeanne's mission and joined her. Through begging on the streets, Jeanne was able to open four more homes for her needy within those 10 years. By 1850, over 100 women had joined the congregation.

Jeanne was soon forced out of the leadership role. The local bishop appointed Abbe Auguste Le Pailleur as Superior General of the congregation. Jeanne was assigned to strictly begging on the streets until she was sent to retire in a life of obscurity for her final 27 years of life.

After The Little Sisters of the Poor communities began expanding throughout France, their work spread to England in 1851 and the United States founded five of their own communities from 1866 to 1871. The Little Sisters arrived in Louisville in 1869 and opened a Home on 10th Street. In 1977, that Home closed because it was no longer deemed safe. A new home was opened in 1991 at 15 Audubon Plaza Drive, behind Audubon Hospital. 

By 1879, Jeanne's community had over 2,400 Little Sisters. On March 1, 1879, Pope Leo XIII approved the Constitution for the congregation for seven years.

At the time of Jeanne's death, on August 29, 1879, most of the Little Sisters had no idea Jeanne was the real founder of the congregation. However, Le Pailleur was investigated and dismissed in 1890 and Jeanne became acknowledged once again as the foundress.

St. Jeanne Jugan passed away at the age of 86. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 1982 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.

She is the patron saint of the destitute elderly and her feast day is celebrated on August 30. Today, the Little Sisters serve the elderly poor in 30 countries.

available soon from Amazon Books though my webpage with all my other books

ronknottbooks.com