Evening star., 1939-10-07
Little Sisters of the Poor
To Mark Their Centenary
Idea of Small French
GirILuunched Vast
Work Of Mercy
By JOHN ]. DAILY.


BY JOHN ]. DAILY.
Rich in reminiscence, the Little
Sisters of the Poor on October 16
will celebrate the Tooth anniversary
Of their orders founding.
In downtown Washington the Lit
tie Sisters of the Poor are as famil-
lar as some of the street signs. Each
day they 60 begging for what they
call "our poor old men-and our
old women!"
The sisters, who in secular life had
all the advantages of good homes
sometimes homes where the family
wealth mounted into the larger fig
ures-humble themselves to stand
at the back doors of restaurants and
shops, to beg for handouts" They
are, many say, the embodiment Of
unselfishness.
Catholic, Protestant, atheist, ag-
nostic-whatever man or woman
may be-if an old person actually be
a down and-outer, with no money,
no friends, there is always a helping
hand extended by the Little Sisters
of the Poor That is why persons of
every race and creed come to their
assistance-for the help Of their old
men and women.
Now Care for 200.
Washington, the Nations Capital,
has known the Little Sisters of the
Poor since shortly after the Civil
War. They came here in February,
1874, to establish a modest home in
st. Patrick's Parish,with only four
old women as house guests. Today,
they have an entire city block and q
building as large as many Of the
Government buildings. At present
220 aged persons, white and colored,
about equally divided. find surcease
from sorrow in their old age with the
Little Sisters
Unlike most charitable organiza-
Gons, the sisters will not accept any
great trust funds. such as those
which are administered for similar
organizations. Instead, they 20 out
into the highways and byways and
beg by word of mouth for almost
everything they get. And the strange
part OF it is, no one seems ever to
refuse them anything. As one down.
town merchant said yesterday,
They ask for so little-and they
get so much!"
For instance: One day, some years
ago, two of the Little Sisters of the
Poor-they always go in pairs
stood in an alley back of great bake
shop and asked for a loaf of bread.
What do you want a loaf of
bread for?" the foreman asked the
little sister.
For our poor old men-and our
old women" the little sister replied.
Protestant's Tribute.
Sister," the foreman said, "I'll
give you all the leftover loaves we
have every day-for your poor old
men and women" And he did.
And thereby was established a Gus
tom. From that time to this the
leftover loaves of one of the biggest
bakeries in Washington go each day
to the home of the Little Sisters of
the Poor. And there the loaves are
dispensed not only inside, but to
outsiders who come each day and
get the bread-the bread of the
poor.
God bless my SOUL" the man
who told this story said, II am 4
Protestant, but I'd give the Little
Sisters of the Poor anything they
want, anything I have :"
They get that, the Little Sisters
Of the Poor do, everywhere they 20
absolute cooperation from gen.
erous-hearted men and women who
admire the humility Of these women
who have cast aside all thought of
self and who work, day and night,
for the old folks.
Oficially, the order is known as
the Congregation of the Little Sis
ters of the Poor. Unoff1cially, they
are known as the Little Sisters.
Like the very order they repre-
sent, the Little Sisters got started
in poor, unauspicious way. It was
away back in the winter of 1898,
In a little town in France.
Birth of World Wide Aid.
Jeanne Jugan was the orphaned
daughter of a fisherman. She met
an old destitute blind woman. The
young girl took the old woman in
hand, decided to provide for her.
Only one way to do that-to 60 beg
ging. And Jeanne Jugan did. That
was the beginning of the work.
When she was % years of age,
Jeanne Jugan left her native heath
and went to the small town Of St.
Servan to nurse in a hospital, but
she took the old blind woman with
her. The girls parents had died,
and she had no one to care for but
this poor helpless woman.
Soon, word of this simple sacri-
flee went around. Other girls became
interested. Two Of them decided to
follow the footsteps of Jeanne Ju-
gan-decided they. too, would adopt
old, needy women. These two girls
were Virginie Tredaniel and Marie
Janet - about the same age as
Jeanne Jugan.
Out Of that association grew the
Congregation of the Little Sisters
Of the Poor. Not interested in world.
ly ambitions the three young girls
started an order that was to spread
n thA faH aavaASs - Sha -a~lA