Marie Poussepin
Our founder
Beatification
Social Apostle of Charity was the title received on the day of his Beatification, November 20, 1994 in Rome, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II.
Birth
Born in Dourdan, France on October 14, 1653.
Dourdan was one of the granaries of the immense territory for the cultivation of grains of all kinds. In times of peace it was a deposit of cereals from all the neighboring counties. It also possessed precious clay for modeling and a remarkable wool and silk industry that made it important in France.
Dourdan was one of the granaries of the immense territory for the cultivation of grains of all kinds. In times of peace it was a deposit of cereals from all the neighboring counties. It also possessed precious clay for modeling and a remarkable wool and silk industry that made it important in France.
Epoch
The state of France and of this region, when Marie was born, can be summed up in one word: misery. “Having just passed the terrible wars of the Ligne and the Fronde. They still live of continuous alerts, of relief of soldiers, of shortage of provisions...Ten kilometers around Dourdan there were no crops from 1652 to 1654 because of the War.”
Family
His parents: Claude Poussepin and Julienne Fourrier.
Of this marriage there were seven children: Marie, Juliana, Elizabeth, Anne, Claude I, Claude II, Claude III; of whom, in 1683, only Marie and her younger brother, Claude, survived.
“She grew up in the bosom of a family dedicated to the silk weaving industry and drank from the treasure of the Christian examples of her parents, the flow of faith”
Of this marriage there were seven children: Marie, Juliana, Elizabeth, Anne, Claude I, Claude II, Claude III; of whom, in 1683, only Marie and her younger brother, Claude, survived.
“She grew up in the bosom of a family dedicated to the silk weaving industry and drank from the treasure of the Christian examples of her parents, the flow of faith”
Marie Poussepin and the Confraternity of Charity
The Ladies of Charity, an organization created by St. Vincente de Paul to assist the poor corporally and spiritually, were established as a confraternity in Dourdan on June 29, 1661, by the Lazarist, Father Rivet, a personal friend of St. Vincente de Paul.
From the beginning, Julienne Fourier was named Treasurer, and from then on, Marie, only ten years old, accompanied her mother in her visits to the sick. This was the School of Charity where she was formed. At the age of 22, she succeeded her mother as treasurer and in 1693 she was elected president of the Confraternity, leaving the position until 1716, being already Foundress in Sainville.
From the beginning, Julienne Fourier was named Treasurer, and from then on, Marie, only ten years old, accompanied her mother in her visits to the sick. This was the School of Charity where she was formed. At the age of 22, she succeeded her mother as treasurer and in 1693 she was elected president of the Confraternity, leaving the position until 1716, being already Foundress in Sainville.
Marie Poussepin in the Dominican Third Order of Dourdan
In Dourdan there was the Third Order of St. Domingo, with a view to the charitable service of the poor.
The simple, clear, profound spirituality of St. Domingo de Guzmán must have captivated Marie, who entered as a Tertiary under the name of Sister Catalina.
The simple, clear, profound spirituality of St. Domingo de Guzmán must have captivated Marie, who entered as a Tertiary under the name of Sister Catalina.
Marie Poussepin the industrialist
Marie continues her parents' industry and does so not only as a means of subsistence, but for the renewal and progress of her town's economy and for the benefit and social advancement of the young apprentices and many people to whom she provided work.
“Honest work, inheritance and family seal, already opens in his life a path: work, an instrument at the service of Charity”.
“Honest work, inheritance and family seal, already opens in his life a path: work, an instrument at the service of Charity”.
Sainville
Sainville, a simple village of 40 houses and barely 500 inhabitants.
After the middle of the 17th century and because of the Etampes War, many of the lands of this immense region were left without cultivation. The passage of the soldiers, the famine deepened poverty, hunger, malnutrition. The plague took hold of the region.
When the adults died, a number of orphans were left without asylum and in danger of being exploited, Marie Poussepin realized that there was a mission awaiting her in this population.
She arrived in Sainville with a companion, a novice of the Third Order and three orphans. After the provisional installation in a small rented house, Marie bought a modest house for her community on September 7, 1696, where she saw the possibility of establishing a center for her community, a little school, a dispensary, rooms for work, knitting of stockings.
Here begins a community of the Third Order of St. Domingo for the usefulness of the parish, for the instruction of the youth and the service of the sick poor.
After the middle of the 17th century and because of the Etampes War, many of the lands of this immense region were left without cultivation. The passage of the soldiers, the famine deepened poverty, hunger, malnutrition. The plague took hold of the region.
When the adults died, a number of orphans were left without asylum and in danger of being exploited, Marie Poussepin realized that there was a mission awaiting her in this population.
Marie Poussepin's passage from Dourdan to Sainville
In the winter of 1695 - 1696, inspired by Divine Providence, she left Dourdan, the prosperous town where she was born, to live in the humble village of Sainville, devastated by war, famine and epidemics and “where ignorance was great to say the least“.
In the winter of 1695 - 1696, inspired by Divine Providence, she left Dourdan, the prosperous town where she was born, to live in the humble village of Sainville, devastated by war, famine and epidemics and “where ignorance was great to say the least“.
She arrived in Sainville with a companion, a novice of the Third Order and three orphans. After the provisional installation in a small rented house, Marie bought a modest house for her community on September 7, 1696, where she saw the possibility of establishing a center for her community, a little school, a dispensary, rooms for work, knitting of stockings.
Here begins a community of the Third Order of St. Domingo for the usefulness of the parish, for the instruction of the youth and the service of the sick poor.
Her Passing to the Father's House
In 1737, Marie made her last will and testament, in which she expressed to her thriving community, the heart's deepest desire: to maintain the zeal for the instruction of poor girls, the spirit of poverty and love for work.
On January 24, 1744, Marie Poussepin, the Worker of Providence, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Sainville, at the age of 90, fell asleep in the peace of the Lord, leaving her legacy to the Church, to the Dominican Order, the first Dominican Female Community of Apostolic Life.
Source: Book Woman on the Way, Sr. María Isabel Panqueva A. -O.P.
On January 24, 1744, Marie Poussepin, the Worker of Providence, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Sainville, at the age of 90, fell asleep in the peace of the Lord, leaving her legacy to the Church, to the Dominican Order, the first Dominican Female Community of Apostolic Life.
Source: Book Woman on the Way, Sr. María Isabel Panqueva A. -O.P.