Catholic Standard El Pregonero
Latest Paper Classifieds Buy Photos

Cardinal Gregory celebrates Mass for 150th anniversary of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington

At an Aug. 14, 2021 Mass at the chapel of the Jeanne Jugan Residence celebrating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory receives offertory gifts from Sister Mary Michael Nickles, at left, the superior for the Little Sisters’ Washington home, and Sister Loraine Marie Clare Maguire, the provincial superior for the Little Sisters’ Baltimore province. Standing at right is Father Charles Cortinovis, the cardinal’s priest secretary. (CS photo/Leslie Kossoff)

Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrated a Mass on Aug. 14, 2021 to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival in Washington, D.C., of the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order whose service to the elderly poor in the nation’s capital began just after the Civil War and continues in the digital age.

“Arriving here in the United States 150 years ago from France, most had to learn English and American customs and ways,” Cardinal Gregory said in his homily during the Mass celebrated   in the chapel of the Little Sisters’ Jeanne Jugan Residence in Northeast Washington. “They arrived soon after the Civil War and found hundreds if not thousands of neglected poor people in the Washington area. They went right to work and quite successfully to become sisters of these forgotten individuals. They continue to do so 150 years later.”

Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrates an Aug. 14, 2021 Mass at the chapel of the Jeanne Jugan Residence commemorating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C. Some of the Little Sisters attending the Mass can be seen in the foreground, wearing their white habits. (CS photo/Leslie Kossoff)

The cardinal noted that that religious order chose Little Sisters as its name.

“They are and choose to be servant relatives to the countless people in our community – and other such communities throughout the globe – who are needy, neglected, poor, elderly and often alone.” He pointed out that as Little Sisters, they become “younger sisters and relatives of those that they care for with such dedication… They care for the elderly laity and clergy with a little sister’s compassionate heart, and they have won the hearts of people not only in the DMV,  but also throughout our nation and beyond.”

Washington’s archbishop praised the Little Sisters as examples of Jesus’s teaching in that day’s Gospel reading from Luke, that “those who listen to God’s word and try to live by that word are dear to the heart of Christ.”

Elderly residents at the Jeanne Jugan Residence in Washington, D.C., participate in the Little Sisters’ 150th anniversary Mass on Aug. 14, 2021 at the chapel there, near a pilgrimage banner honoring the life and legacy of St. Jeanne Jugan, the order’s foundress. (Photo courtesy of the Little Sisters of the Poor)

The congregation at the anniversary Mass included Little Sisters wearing their white habits, and elderly residents who used wheelchairs or walkers to get to the chapel, and who sat and prayed in alternating pews. Following COVID-19 safety guidelines for public gatherings in the District of Columbia, the sisters and residents wore facemasks at the Mass.

According to the Little Sisters’ website, the order traces its beginning to a winter night in 1839, when their French foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan, carried an elderly, blind and infirm woman home on a winter night, climbing the stairs to her small apartment and giving up her own bed to the woman who had no one to care for her. Soon other women joined her work in caring for the elderly poor, and by 1850, the congregation had 100 sisters providing that ministry.

Just 29 years after their order began with that simple, loving act of charity, the Little Sisters established their first home for the elderly in the United States, in 1868 in Brooklyn, New York. Three years later in 1871, the Little Sisters arrived in Washington, D.C., to establish a home there.

“I marvel at that courage and their trust in providence. They basically arrived with nothing,” said Sister Constance Veit,  a Little Sister of the Poor who does communications work for the order and lives at the Jeanne Jugan Residence.

The Little Sisters of the Poor – who take a vow of hospitality, consecrating themselves to the service of the elderly poor – themselves experienced hospitality upon arriving in Washington. Interviewed before the anniversary Mass, Sister Constance told how the first Little Sisters in Washington were invited by the pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, Father Jacob Walter, to begin their home for the aged in his parish. Members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and women from that parish furnished a house for the sisters to use near the church, and had a fire burning, the kitchen full of provisions and served the sisters their first meal.

“Washington stood out for how graciously we were welcomed,” said Sister Constance, noting that according to the records of the Little Sisters, they cried tears of joy at how they were welcomed in the nation’s capital.

Sister Loraine Marie Clare Maguire, the provincial superior for the Little Sisters’ Baltimore province, speaks at the Aug. 14, 2021 Mass at the chapel of the Jeanne Jugan Residence celebrating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C. A statue of St. Jeanne Jugan, the order’s foundress, can be seen near the lectern. (CS photo/Leslie Kossoff)

In a talk after Communion at the anniversary Mass, Sister Loraine Marie Clare Maguire, the provincial for the Little Sisters’ Baltimore Province, noted that seven Little Sisters crossed the ocean for 18 days before arriving in Washington from France. The sisters welcomed their first resident, a blind elderly woman, to their St. Joseph’s Home for the aged two days after their arrival, and soon began caring for other elderly poor.

In 1873, Father Walter blessed a new home built on H Street, N.W., for the Little Sisters, after the sisters had been permitted to collect donations at government buildings and had received grants by Acts of Congress.

“By 1885, we could accommodate 150 residents. Stables were built and horses, a cow, some pigs and chickens along with a vegetable garden helped provide for the needs of our growing family,” Sister Loraine said. “Moving forward to our present time, we surely don’t have these same kinds of commodities today, but we certainly have very generous and loyal benefactors who have continued to support the mission of the Little Sisters in caring for the elderly into 2021.”

Sister Loraine read a letter from Sister Maria del Monte Auxiliadora, the Little Sisters’ superior general in France, who noted that the order’s first house in Washington was placed under the patronage of St. Joseph, and when they moved to their present facility in 1982 on Harewood Road near The Catholic University of America, they named the home in honor of their foundress, Jeanne Jugan, who was beatified that year by Pope St. John Paul II.

St. Jeanne Jugan, who died in 1879, was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

Today the Jeanne Jugan Residence in Washington serves 64 elderly residents, including at its St. Joseph Villa, a wing of 22 low-income apartments for seniors who are still independent in meeting their daily needs. Twelve Little Sisters live and serve at the residence.

About  1,900 Little Sisters of the Poor are serving in 31 countries around the world, including at 22 homes in the United States.

In her letter, Sister Maria del Monte noted that three young women were beginning discernment at the order’s home in Palatine, Illinois, and she encouraged people to pray for vocations and encourage “many more to follow in their footsteps.”

At the anniversary Mass, a pilgrim banner depicting St. Jeanne Jugan was displayed near the altar. The banner was made in Belgium and visited the order’s motherhouse and the house where the saint began the congregation. A small statue and a relic of St. Jeanne Jugan were also placed near the chapel’s lectern.

The concelebrants at the Mass included Benedictine Father Philip Simo, the home’s chaplain, and Msgr. Joseph Ranieri, a weekend chaplain there who serves as the Archdiocese of Washington’s coordinator of pastoral care for priests. Also concelebrating at the Mass where several retired priests who live at the Jeanne Jugan Residence, including Msgr. Joaquin Bazan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington; Franciscan Father Ed Flanagan; Father Richard Hite, MSA; and Father Franklyn McAfee of the Diocese of Arlington.

After the Aug. 14, 2021 Mass at the chapel of the Jeanne Jugan Residence celebrating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory greets resident Cecile Fecteau. Her son, Father Raymond Fecteau, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington who recently retired as the pastor of Our Lady of the Visitation Parish in Darnestown, Maryland, and continues serving as a police chaplain. (CS photo/Leslie Kossoff)

At the Aug. 14 anniversary Mass for the Little Sisters which was a vigil Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Cardinal Gregory offered a special prayer for the people of Haiti, whose country had been hit earlier that day by a magnitude-7.2 earthquake.

“This evening, let us embrace in our prayer the people of Haiti, who have suffered another tragedy in the earthquake today,” said the cardinal, who prayed for those killed and injured, for their surviving family members, and for the first responders and generous benefactors coming to their aid.

By Aug. 18, reports from Haiti estimated that nearly 2,000 people had been killed in the earthquake, which left many more thousands injured and tens of thousands of families seeking shelter. Catholic Relief Services was among the aid agencies rushing to help survivors there.

After the Aug. 14 Mass marking the 150th anniversary of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory greets Mary Nathan, a resident of the Little Sisters’ Jeanne Jugan Residence. Assisting her in the background is Joyce Miles, a staff member and lay associate there. At left is Sister Mary Michael Nickles, the superior for the Little Sisters’ Washington home, and the Little Sister at right is Sister Loraine Marie Clare Maguire, the provincial superior for the Little Sisters’ Baltimore province. (CS photo/Leslie Kossoff)

In her interview before the Mass, Sister Constance noted the challenging time that the Little Sisters and their elderly residents at their Washington home had experienced during the pandemic.

“We did have deaths from COVID in the beginning,” she said, noting that the elderly residents “do miss some friends who they’ve lost” from that disease and other causes. “The past year and one-half has been really tough on everyone.”

The strict safety protocols adopted at the Jeanne Jugan Residence included the initial period of lockdown, when the elderly residents had to stay in their rooms, and for many months, they couldn’t see their families directly. Now family members can visit, after having their temperatures checked at the entrance and answering questions to ensure they are not exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms.

Sister Constance noted that the elderly residents, some of whom lived through the Great Depression and World War II, offered an inspiring example as they endured the coronavirus restrictions.

“They’re quite resilient. They didn’t complain. They take things as they come.. and make the best of it,” she said, adding. It’s really edifying… They’ve been really good sports.”

Reflecting on the Little Sisters’ work, Sister Constance said, “What has always made our ministry so special is as Little Sisters of the Poor, we have always welcomed the elderly into our hearts and homes… They really become family to us.”

After the Aug. 14 Mass marking the 150th anniversary of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory greets Mary Zychlinski, who lives at the Jeanne Jugan Residence and is a retired Catholic University employee. (Photo courtesy of the Little Sisters of the Poor)
Menu
Search