The Daughters or Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul is a congregation of women with simple vows, founded in 1633 and devoted to corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Their full title is Sisters or Daughters of Charity (the founder preferred the latter term), Servants of the Sick Poor. The term "of St. Vincent de Paul" has been added to distinguish them form several communities of Sisters of Charity, animated with a similar spirit, among whom they rank in priority of origin and greatness of numbers. They have always been popularly known in France as "the Grey Sisters" from the colour of their habit, which is bluish grey. Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ...

The congregation was founded by Vincent de Paul, a French priest, and Louise de Marillac. The need of organization in work for the poor suggested to Vincent de Paul the forming of a confraternity among the people of his parish. It was so successful that it spread form the rural districts to Paris, where noble ladies often found it hard to give personal care to the wants of the poor. The majority sent their servants to minister to those in need, but often the work was slighted. Vincent de Paul remedied this by inducing young women from the country to go to Paris and devote themselves to the service of the poor under the direction of the Ladies of Charity. These young girls formed the nucleus of a very large community of the Sisters of Charity now spread over the world. On 29 November 1633, Louise de Mérillac began a more systematic training of the girls in the care of the sick and in spiritual life. This is looked on as the real foundation of the community. Saint Vincent de Paul (April 24, 1576 – September 27, 1660) was born at Pouy, Landes, Gascony, France to a peasant family. ... Saint Louise de Marillac (also known as Louise de Marillac Le Gras) (12 August 1591–15 March 1660) was a French nun and is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church She was born illegitimately in Ferrieres-en-Brie near Meux, France. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ...

On the death of Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul there were, in 1660, more than forty houses of the Sisters of Charity in France, and the sick poor were cared for in their own dwellings in twenty-six parishes in Paris.

During the 19th century, the community spread to Austria, Portugal, Hungary, the British Isles, and North and South America. Currently, they number about 27,000.

External links

Daughters of Charity - International site

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Catholic Encyclopedia (also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia today) is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by the The Encyclopedia Press, designed to give authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. // History The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11...