St. Mary of the Cross

Jeanne Jugan was born Oct. 25, 1792 in Brittany, growing up during the French Revolution. Her father was lost at sea when she was four years old, and her mother struggled to take care of the eight young children. Her mother secretly gave the children religious instruction, despite the anti-Catholic persecutions of the new, secular government.

Jeanne worked as a shepherdess and learned to spin and knit. At age 16 she got a job as a maid with a Catholic viscountess and accompanied her when visiting the sick and poor. Jeanne declined marriage proposals, and at age 25 she joined the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists) as a third order associate. She then worked as a nurse in the hotel in Saint-Servanfor.

Due to health, she had to leave her post at the hospital. She found work as a servant for a fellow third order Eudist. Jeanne and her employer taught catechism to the local children and cared for the poor.

In 1837, Jeanne and two other women rented a small cottage and begin a community dedicated to teaching and helping the poor. In 1839, she began taking in poor women in need, even offering up her own bed and renting extra rooms for them. By 1842, she had around 40 people she hoped to house; the community purchased an old convent in order to provide for them. The community recognized that helping the elderly was their call. With that mission, they established the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Jeanne took the name Sister Mary of the Cross and spent the rest of her life devoted to caring for the elderly poor, providing housing, food, clothing, and money. The congregation grew quickly. Around 1850, the priest appointed as superior general of the congregation pushed Sister Mary of the Cross out of her leadership role. She continued her work in caring for the poor while new sisters did not know she was the founder of the order. Only in 1890, after her death, was the priest’s unwarranted actions investigated and Jeanne’s founding role acknowledged.

St. Mary of the Cross died on Aug. 29, 1879 in Saint-Pern, France. She is the patron for old age, the elderly poor, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Her feast day is Aug. 30.