Jeanne Jugan is the foundress and first Little Sister of the Poor. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 1982, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.

Jeanne Jugan grew up in a small town in revolutionary France. Times were tough. Violence ruled the day. For many, begging was a way of life.

Those who openly practiced their faith were imprisoned or killed. Jeanne received her faith formation, secretly and at great risk, from her mother and a group of women who belonged to a lay movement of the day.

By the time Jeanne was four years old her father had been lost at sea. Her mother found odd jobs to make ends meet. Neighbor helped neighbor. As a young girl Jeanne worked as a shepherdess. She learned to knit and spin wool. Later she went to work as a kitchen maid for a wealthy family.

Jeanne barely learned to read and write. Her education consisted mostly of on-the-job training in the school of real life. Neither beautiful nor talented in the usual sense, she was gifted with an extraordinary heart. Jeanne was on fire with love for God!

Barely out of her teens, Jeanne felt the call of divine love. Preparing to leave home, she told her mother “God wants me for himself. He is keeping me for a work which is not yet founded.” Jeanne took the road less traveled, setting out to work among the poor and forsaken in a local hospital.

Many years went by before Jeanne discovered her vocation. Finally, one cold winter night she met Jesus Christ in the person of an elderly, blind and infirm woman who had no one to care for her. Jeanne carried the woman home, climbed up the stairs to her small apartment and placed her in her own bed. From then on, Jeanne would sleep in the attic.

God led more poor old people to her doorstep. Generous young women came to help. Like Jeanne, they wanted to make a difference. Like her, they believed that “the poor are Our Lord.” A religious community was born!

There were so many old people in need of a home, so many souls hungry for love! The work rapidly spread across France and beyond. Struck by their spirit of humble service, local citizens dubbed the group the Little Sisters of the Poor. The name stuck!

For herself, Jeanne chose the religious name Sister Mary of the Cross. She would live it in its fullness.

The work of the Little Sisters continued to spread, borne by the wind of the Spirit. So did Jeanne’s renown – until one day she was mysteriously cast aside by an ambitious priest who had taken over the direction of the young community.

Jeanne was replaced as superior and sent out begging on behalf of the poor. And then one day she was placed in retirement, relegated to the shadows. At the time of her death 27 years later, the young Little Sisters didn’t even know that she was the foundress.

Jeanne had often told them, “We are grafted into the cross and we must carry it joyfully unto death.” How she lived these words! What a radiant example of holiness she gave to generations of Little Sisters!

Like the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies, Jeanne’s life would bear much fruit. Thousands of young women followed in her footsteps. The Little Sisters’ mission of hospitality spread to the ends of the earth, like a great wave of charityIn his time, God would raise Jeanne up. At her beatification Pope John Paul II said that “God could glorify no more humble a servant than she.”

Pope Benedict said that Saint Jeanne’s canonization would “show once again how living faith is prodigious in good works, and how sanctity is a healing balm for the wounds of humankind.”

A friend of the poor – a Gospel witness for our time – a Saint for old age and every age!

There is no better way to sum up Jeanne Jugan’s spirituality than in Jesus’ words:

“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will … Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

Drawn from the Gospel and influenced by two great masters of Catholic spirituality, Jeanne’s spirituality is a unique gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church.

From St. John Eudes, a master of the French school of spirituality, Jeanne learned that the Christian life is a continuation of Jesus’ life and virtues. “We must be so many other Christs on earth,” he taught, “in order to continue here his life and work.”

Jeanne was especially drawn to “continue” the humility of Christ. She was so conformed to her Master that his words became her own: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart” … “To be good Little Sisters,” she often said, “we must be very little, very humble.”

Jeanne Jugan learned from St. John Eudes that “to come to the heart of Mary is to come to Jesus.” She loved Our Lady and believed in the power of her intercession. She radiated her humility, purity and spirit of joyful service. “The Hail Mary will take us to heaven,” she often said. Jeanne’s last words on earth were for Mary: “O Mary, you know that I love you and that I greatly long to see you …”

St. John of God communicated to Jeanne Jugan the living spirit of charity which inspired our fourth vow of hospitality. For both Jeanne and John of God, the poor were the suffering members of the Body of Christ. Hospitality was a means of reaching out to them with mercy and compassionate love of God.

The Brothers of St. John of God also taught her the art of begging for the poor. At the heart of this seemingly humiliating activity was a prophetic vision of human solidarity. St. John of God inspired the people of his day by saying, “Do good to yourselves, brothers, give to the poor!” Jeanne shared this conviction, sure that God had confided each person to the love of all.

Jeanne’s confidence in God’s Providence was unfailing. “Give us the house,” she often said. “If God fills it, God will not abandon it.” Hers was the absolute trust of the poor in spirit, of those who know that all good gifts come from above. “It is so good to be poor,” she rejoiced, “to have nothing, to await all from God.”

Jeanne’s devotion to St. Joseph was an extension of her confidence in God. In Joseph she found a father in the likeness of our heavenly Father, whose Providence watches over the little ones. She turned to him to obtain bread for the poor and chose him as Protector of our Congregation.

Father Eloi Leclerc, an elderly Franciscan priest and writer who spent the final years of his life in one of our Homes in France, beautifully captured the essence of Jeanne Jugan’s charism as foundress in his book, “The Desert and The Rose:”

“There was another point on which Jeanne insisted, connected to the first, and complementary. It is not easy to define. In her, it was a flame, first and foremost. Her eyes lit up when she spoke of it. One could feel the fire of passion rising up in her. One day she pronounced these burning words, magnificent in their simplicity: “What happiness for us, to be a Little Sister of the Poor! Making the poor happy is everything …”

The whole mission and happiness of the Little Sisters is contained here: making the poor happy, giving happiness to the poor.

What made Jeanne Jugan a saint?

Jeanne Jugan was not canonized because she founded a religious congregation, because her work has spread all over the world, or even because the elderly need a friend today more than ever. She was declared a Saint because she practiced heroic virtue.

Heroes are people we look up to, people we want to emulate. Jeanne is a hero in virtue, beginning with the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.

• FAITH enabled Jeanne to see God in the elderly.
• Through HOPE she knew that God would not abandon the poor.
• Through LOVE she gave all she had to the poor, in imitation of Jesus who gave his life for love of us.

Humility was Jeanne Jugan’s crown. She demonstrated great humility in identifying herself with the forsaken, taking their burdens upon herself and going out to beg in their place. And she was heroic in allowing herself to be set aside and forgotten. It was said of Jeanne that humility was the essence of her being. It was the secret of her sanctity!

• 1879 Jeanne Jugan died in obscurity at the motherhouse on August 29, 1879.
• 1890s Mother General Augustine de St. André commissioned the motherhouse chaplain to research the Congregation’s archives with the goal of “discovering and revealing the truth” about Jeanne Jugan.
• 1902 Publication of History of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The truth about the Congregation’s beginnings was established and Jeanne Jugan was reinstated as foundress.
• 1910 In the early 1900s the Sisters at the motherhouse who knew Jeanne Jugan were asked to record their memories of her.
• 1935 Opening of the diocesan investigation “on the reputation for holiness” of Jeanne Jugan. During the 1930s Little Sisters all over the world who had known Jeanne Jugan in their youth were asked to send their remembrances of her to Mother General.
• 1970 The cause for Beatification was introduced in Rome on July 10.
• 1970 – 1976 Study of our foundress’ life by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; preparation of the Positio, official presentation of her life and virtues.
• 1979 The centenary of Jeanne Jugan’s death was celebrated throughout the Congregation. On July 13, Pope John Paul II proclaimed the “heroicity of the virtues” of Jeanne Jugan, declaring her “Venerable.”
• 1982 The “medically inexplicable” and sudden cure of Mr. Antoine Schlatter, a Resident of our home in Toulon, France, was recognized as the miracle necessary for the beatification of our Mother. The decree recognizing the miracle was signed on May 11.
• On October 3, Jeanne Jugan was beatified by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
• 2002 In early March the superior of our home in Kansas City, Missouri (USA) was contacted by Mrs. Jeanne Gatz of Omaha, Nebraska, who informed her that her husband had been cured of cancer through the intercession of Jeanne Jugan in 1989. An investigation into this cure was begun.
• 2005 At the end of September a diocesan Tribunal was held place in Omaha, Nebraska, to gather evidence on the cure of Dr. Edward Gatz.
• 2008 On December 6, Pope Benedict signed the decree approving the miracle through the intercession of Blessed Jeanne Jugan, clearing the way for her canonization.

Click here to read more about the cure of Dr Edward Gatz.

Click here for interview with Dr. and Mrs. Gatz

• 2009 The Vatican consistory announcing the date for the canonization was held on February 21. Jeanne Jugan was canonized on October 11, 2009, along with Blessed Damien of Molokai and three other Blesseds!

Click here to read Pope Benedict’s canonization homily>>

On her vocation …

• “God wants me for himself, he is keeping me for a work which is not yet founded.”
• “Do not call me Jeanne Jugan. All that is left of her is Sister Mary of the Cross, unworthy though she is of that lovely name.”
• “What happiness for us, to be a Little Sister of the Poor!”
• “It is a great grace that God has given you in calling you to serve the poor.”

On union with Jesus and Mary …

• “My good Jesus, I “Let us sing the glory of our risen Jesus.”
• “Jesus is waiting for you in the chapel. Go and find him when your strength and patience are giving out, when you feel lonely and helpless. Say to him: ‘You know well what is happening, my dear Jesus. I have only you. Come to my aid …’ And then go your way. And don’t worry about knowing how you are going to manage. It is enough to have told our good Lord. He has an excellent memory.”
• “The Hail Mary will take us to heaven.”
• “See how Jesus, Mary and Joseph loved one another, all three, how happy they looked, with what kindness and gentleness they spoke to each other. In our little family, it must be the same.”
  “My children, you love Our Lady? She will be your Mother!”
• “When you will be old, you will no longer see anything … as for me, I no longer see anything but the good God.”
• “Eternal Father, open your gates today to the most miserable of your children, but one who greatly longs to see you. O Mary, my dear Mother, come to me. You know that I love you and I long to see You” (her last words).

On spiritual poverty and trust in God …

• “Little, very little, be very little before God.”
• “It is so good to be poor, to have nothing, to depend on God for everything.”
• “If God is with us, it will be accomplished … God will help us; the work is his.”
• “He is so good … love God very much. All for him, do everything through love.”
• “Give us the house – if God fills it, God will not abandon it!”
• “We must always say: ‘Blessed be God. Thank you, my God. Glory be to God.’”
• “God has blessed me because I have always greatly thanked his Providence.”

On serving the poor …

• “My little ones, never forget that the poor are Our Lord; in caring for the poor say to yourself: This is for my Jesus – what a great grace!”
• “Be kind, especially with the infirm. Love them well … Oh yes! Be kind. It is a great grace God is giving you. In serving the aged, it is he himself whom you are serving.”
• “When you will be near the poor, give yourself wholeheartedly.”
• “Making the elderly happy – that is what counts!”
• “My little ones, we should always be cheerful, for our old people do not like long faces.”
• “Refuse God nothing … We must do all through love.”
• “To be a good Little Sister of the Poor, one must love God and the poor a great deal and forget oneself.”
• “Love God very much, so that you can look after the aged well, for it is Jesus whom you care for in them.”

Praying with Jeanne Jugan 

Click to view Novena Prayer to Saint Jeanne Jugan 

Click to view Praying the Rosary with Saint Jeanne Jugan

Click to view Stations of the Cross 

Click to view Prayers to St. Joseph 

Click to view Vocation Prayer to Saint Jeanne Jugan 

Click to view Litany of Saint Jeanne Jugan 

Click to view Praying the Scriptures with Saint Jeanne Jugan