The PAULINIAN STORY begins here in the
wheatfields of the region of Beauce, France
Field of golden grain…
Field of LIFE but once, plain of DEATH
Where in battle great armies in met.
Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
St. Joan of Arc’s Liberation of New Orleans (1429)
Wars of Religion (1562-1598)
Wars of Fronde (1648-1653)
The series of wars brought great misery to the
country sides --
Poverty, sickness, ignorance
… apathy, religious indifference,
lowering of moral standards
Such was the situation in Levesville-la-Chenard,
a small village 25 miles southeast of Chartres
Fr. Louis Chauvet was assigned as
parish priest of Levesville.
He found the Church in ruins, the presbytery
uninhabitable, the people indifferent and apathetic.
but most especially, he
reached out to his
parishioners to respond
to their misery, engaging
everyone in this endeavor.
This young priest
– only 30 years old–
was filled with zeal
for his people.
Teacher
He shared his vision of uplifting the level of life
of the villagers
… through
teaching the
children,
caring for
the sick, and
ministering
to the poor
Young girls of the village
became fired with his vision.
The first
Marie Micheau (17)
Barbe Foucauld (19)
Marie Anne de Tilly (31)
who assisted in their formation
became
co-Foundress.
They became the first
“Daughters of the School of Levesville”
Soon, they were joined by many others -
Anne Bonnet
Marie Denizet
Anne Lerat
Catherine Sirou
Marie Anne Deslandres
Claude Dauvilliers
Marie Foucault
Marie Fleury
Louise Meunier
Jeanne Rosseau
- to name a few.
Le Berceau (The Cradle) became their first home.
Le Berceau today
unchanged through
the centuries…
-its cellar (La Cave) became the 1st classroom
-with Marie Micheau
as first teacher.
Their RULE
“They will strive to imitate our
Lord and to live his teaching.”
(Draft of a Rule)
His love urged them on…
CARITAS
CHRISTI
URGET NOS
A scholar himself,
Fr. Chauvet considered
scholarship a
function of faith.
Fr. Louis Chauvet wanted the children
to know how to read and write to enable them
to know more about Christian doctrine and
to practice their religion as they should.
With Religion and the
3Rs, the Sisters taught
practical arts and crafts
to equip the young with
productive skills that would
enable them to improve their
living standards.
The first school opened in
1700; a second school
opened in
Chateauneuf-en-Thymerais
in 1707.
Marie Micheau, first recruit, first superior,
and first teacher, died at the age of 19 on 15
November 1702
Fr. Chauvet accorded her the right to be buried in the
Church, a privilege that belonged only to the Lord-Founders
of the Church, priests and persons consecrated to God.
Marie Anne de Tilly, co-Foundress
28 September 1703
Fr. Louis Chauvet
Founder, 21 June 1710
Unless a grain
of wheat
falls into the
ground and dies,
it remains a
single grain;
but if it dies,
it shall yield a
rich harvest.
In 1708, Fr. Louis Chauvet entrusted the Sisters of
Levesville under the protection of the Bishop of Chartres.
Bishop Paul
Godet des Marais
gave them the name
Sisters of St. Paul
and
St. Paul, the Apostle
as their Patron.
(+26 September 1709)
Chartres became the Sisters’ new home!
(their first house at St. Maurice)
With the
Virgin Mary
as their
Model
and
St. Paul, Apostle
as their Patron
the Sisters moved
beyond Levesville-la-
Chenard to the whole
of the diocese – and to
the whole of France
living the ideals of
Regularity
Simplicity
Work.
In no time, the
Sisters of
St. Paul
spread all over
France …
- then to the French
colonies and on to
other parts of the
globe.
Cayenne, 18th Century
Paulinian mission flourished in new and different
ways both in France and in other parts of the world.
Martinique 1818
Hospice De Saint-Pierre
Guadeloupe - 1820
Hopital Militaire De Fort De France
Monsignor Augustin Forcade,
assigned as Apostolic Vicar of
Japan and Apostolic Prefect of
Hongkong requested for Sisters of
St. Paul to help him in Hongkong.
Four were sent:
Sr. Alphonsine, his own sister,
Sr. Gabrielle Joubin,
Sr. Auguste Galloin
and Sr. Louis Morse.
Hongkong - 1848
Today…
Today…
Vietnam - 1860
Japan
- 1878
Today…
Today…
Korea - 1888
Today…
Thailand - 1898
Laos - 1904 Today, under Thailand…
Integral to the Life and Mission
of the Sisters of St. Paul was the constant
sharing in the Paschal Mystery of Christ
1 – the poverty and hard work of their
early beginnings
2 - the early deaths of the Founders
3 - the unjust harassment of
Marguerite David who claimed
part of the community property
after Marie Anne’s death
4 – the lawsuits against them
by the merchants of
Chartres and who put
obstacles to their legal
recognition as a
Congregation
5 - the difficulties,
deprivations, and deaths in the first missions
6 - the French revolution, dispersal, and dissolution
7 – the secularization movement, expulsion from
schools & hospitals of France and in its
territories
CHRIST
IS LORD OF
HISTORY!
… undaunted, the
Sisters remained
steadfast and joyful -
anchored in the Lord.
ULTIMA LATET
Fr. Louis Chauvet’s Sundial
