Little Sisters give aged 'homes, not houses,' U.S.-born leader says

Published: 2007-03-15

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- When Mother Celine of the Visitation decided as a 17-year-old U.S. schoolgirl in San Francisco that she wanted to join the Little Sisters of the Poor, she had no idea the decision would lead her to become the first non-French superior general in the order's nearly 170-year history. Mother Celine was in Sydney in March to visit one of the 31 countries on five continents where the order runs 200 homes for 14,000 residents, most of them the elderly poor. In Australia the Little Sisters of the Poor have homes in Sydney, Melbourne, Kalgoorlie and Perth. "Homes, not houses," Mother Celine said, emphasizing the extra vow of hospitality that Little Sisters of the Poor make in addition to chastity, poverty and obedience. "Our home is your home," she said. "Hospitality in the full meaning of the word is our bond and the source of our apostolic energy -- it is consecrated hospitality." The superior general said the calling of the Little Sisters, founded in 1839 by Blessed Jeanne Jugan, is "to care for the aged and an ultimate care -- preparing them for eternity, as one day we too shall need."

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