Much has been written and said about the many deep relationships that St. Elizabeth Seton had with family, husband, children, and dear friends. Her letters are filled with her affection for them. A woman of … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Appendix
Appendix: Details of the careers of members of the Marillac family. The careers of Michel de Marillac and Louise, Comte de Beaumont, held glory, but also great misfortune. We are told that Michelwas a mystic, … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Part IV: The interior life of Louise de Marillac (5)
Towards mystical union The word ‘mysticism’ is often slipping from my pen. Yet I know that Vincent de Paul, dazzled by the radiance of Saint Teresa, thought himself unworthy to enter that world of reserved … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Part IV: The interior life of Louise de Marillac (4)
The stages in her spiritual course The editors of the four-volume private edition of the writings of Louise de Marillac were confronted with a problem very difficult of solution, but of which they well understood … Read More
Vincent de Paul: Approaches to Government
In 1626, the government of the Congregation of the Mission was not an especially complex task. As an urgent priority, this small foundation of four priests had been placed on a sound legal and financial … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Part IV: The interior life of Louise de Marillac (3)
Her prayer After a certain date the interior life of Louise de Marillac consisted of nothing but prayer. Verbal prayer had always occupied an important place in her life. The confraternities to which she belonged, … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Part IV: The interior life of Louise de Marillac (2)
Her real life an interior one On the day following the death of Louise de Marillac, during the moving scene in which Vincent de Paul addressed her Daughters on the subject of her virtues, one … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Part IV: The interior life of Louise de Marillac (1)
Part IV: The interior life of Louise de Marillac The soul mistress of the body To remark that a great change took place in Louise de Marillac between 1645 and 1650 would be merely naive; … Read More
‘Sister Gen’: A Case Study of Vincentian Leadership
Introduction A former Prime Minister of Ireland, Garrett Fitzgerald, once complained: ‘That’s all very well in practice, but how does it work in theory?’ Theory and practice represent the opposite poles of knowledge and experience. … Read More
Louise de Marillac, a portrait. Part II: The great accomplishment (7)
The mystique of the Rules Since 1629 Louise de Marillac had been in the service of charity; since 1634 she had belonged to the society which she had founded (with Monsieur Vincent) for the practical … Read More










