The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-01-30
Official Relief and Christian Help.

l
| celebrated maxim that what man is paid to
do he does; that if he is paid to work he will
work, and if he is paid to beg he beSs. From
considerations sReft-as these the social philoso-
! pliers around us deduce the conclusion that the
worst thing one can possibly do is to give n
penny, to poor man. The man who asks for
! help without paying for it in the shape of la
Dor is a criminal, and they who give it without
exacting an equivalent are nearly as criminal
as he is He must 60 to work, or if he cannot
get it, or is too old or i'll, or weak to do it,
there is always the parish worIShouse, the only
proper refuge for real destitntion What sort
of refuge that is can form some idea from
recent revelations concerning certain AIetropo-
Titan Unions. But even were these Veally all
that they are supposed to be, were they really
up to the perfection of their own ideal, they
would always be wanting in the best half of a
work of mercy. If Charity "blesses him that
gives and him that takes" it can scarcely be
said to he charity when they who giveare only
the paid officials of the State. And he who
says that no other succOr is to be given to
helpless poverty, blots out so far as he can the
very name of charity from the land We do
not say that discrimination IN giving is not
necessary, and often very difficult but the ne
cessity of discrimination is excuse for the
refusal of aims. Those who
throw upon the State alone the duty of help
ing those who cannot help themselves have no
right to expect the reward tAat is promised to
the least act of charity: This, however, is the
legitimate development of tht-~theory on which
our legislation is based, system of poor laws
in the place of Christian love; let us turn for
u moment and contemplate some of the fruits
of the other tree.
The traveller whose route takes him by the
little town of Oman in the department OF, the
Cotes du Nord, will probably remark an edfice
of considerable extent surrounded on all sides
by recent constructions A picturesque tower
crowned with the image of st. Joseph indi-
Gates its religions character. All around
well cultivated lands noble trees, and rich
pastprages and if the spectator is sufficiently
familiar with the neighborhood to remember
the Dogs and thickets which till lately occu-
pied the site, he viii probably conclude that
monks have been at labor there for the sake of
God and the poor, and that the sons of st. Ber-
nard or of the Able de Rance have made the
desert to blossom like the rose. st. Josephs
is in truth great religions house, and has &C
complished work like that which was the
glory of so many monastic establishments in
the middle ages. Our traveller however, on
entering its portals will not see the white Cis-
tercian habit, the robust hardy features of
men bearing the marks of toll and privation,
but still resolute and UNIDENTIFIED in the service
of God-he will only-catch here and there n
glimpse of n black veil, or hear from the re-
creationroom the cheerful voices of the Little
Sisters of the Poor.The7-w is the work of
.nAn' Int it 10 by @~on,On's hands that il has
been done; they the enterprizing colonists
who have peopled the deserted chateau drain
ed the boys, and filed and fertilized the soil
and here, in the central homo of their congre-
CATION, and happy to be for while together,
they await in spirit of ready obedience the
orders which may send them to England, Ger
many, Russia, or America, to devote themselves
to the service of the helpless poor.
Such virtues and such labors excite not
astonishment but joy in the hearts of those
who share the faith from which they spring;
even those who are strangers to it cannot refuse
the tribute of respectful admiration to these
heroic lives; The congregation of the Little
Sisters of the Poor numbers hundred and
twenty communities established in different
parts of the world. Thirty years ago it did
not exist, and the good priest of St. Joseph's
familiarly known as lie bon PEREZ" is the
father of this widespread family. A simple
" vicalre,' or assistant priest in the town of st.
Malo, his attention was attracted by special
form of misery, that of many old people who
by death or iagratitude had been deprived of
the help of their children, and who, after q
life of hard labor and vain struggle against
poverty, had seen their hopes, one by one,
brokeIkdown by repeated misfortune, and their
strength crushed by sickness and old age. The
tender heart of the :" Yicaire," Nile -PailleHF-
could not bear the spectacle which so often
met ms eyes, and, after long prayer and mcdi-
tatIon, he was rewarded by the conviction that
n great religious congregation about to
arise for the relief of such miseries as these.
lie himself used to say so, but his hearers
scarcely thought that his prediction would be
so speedily and wonderfully verified. There
lived Mt st. Malo poor woman whose name
deserves to be recorded. She was called Jeanne
} ugan, and supported herself by going out TO
service, though she had small house of her
own. In this house NJ. lie Pailleur aud Jeanne
provided 4 home for two or three old women |
and endeavored together to Tighten for them
the last surrows of life. Some time afterwards !.
1 young person went to confession in the |
church it was not her habit to go to NJ le
Pallleurs confessional, and why she entered it !
1n that day she canret even now say, but the |
good priest at once understood that she would |
be the first Superior of his future Order, and |
so she was.
Our limits forbid us to describe in detail the
Early growth of so necessary and beautiful n |
foundation. Some idea of the marvelously |
'apid progress made by the congregation may
De gathered from the fact that since Septem-
Der 1863, seven new houses have been founded |
n the United States alone. There are already |
light communities in England, three in Scot
and, and one in Iceland. Those who believe
n none but human influences can only wonder,
We who see the hand of God may we'll be |
thankful for the fair blossoms of noble actions
which He brings forth out of the desert of a
'elhsh age. good priest, by no means
wonderful genius but a true and pious Chris
ian, sets the example, and suddenly hundreds
# women give up not only the mere pleasures
If the, world, but the legitimate and sacred
oys OF conjugal life and maternity, impatient
% bear the cross of suffering and toll, and to-
ieyote their time their labor, their very lives,
@ @ the most beautiful, but most repulsive form