If this is Thursday it must be postcard, 772

 

 

 

 

 

The Cross at Saint-Servan, Brittany, France ca early 1900s

 

This unused Vintage postcard is numbered 88, and attributed to the postcard/photography studio of Lévy Fils, Paris.  Typical of French postcards of this era the reverse has a slight greenish tint to it.  The back is divided and labeled for Correspondence on the left and Addressee on the right.  Because of the greenish coloration and the divided back the card can be dated to the early 1900s.  The town of Saint-Servan or St. Servan is located in Brittany, western France, about 2 miles from the Saint-Malo ferry port. 

 

The House of the Cross at Saint-Sevan is where Saint Jeanne Jugan performed their charitable works for the Little Sisters of the Poor.  Today Catholic pilgrims can visit this site.   Who was Saint Jeanne Jugan?  She was a French Catholic nun who was born in 1792 and died in 1879.  She is primarily known for dedicating her life to the neediest of the elderly poor.  The daughter of a fisherman she worked as a shepherdess while young and later as a kitchen maid for the Viscountess de la Chou.  The viscountess took Jugan with her when she visited the sick and poor.  Although Jugan had opportunities to marry, she declined proposals and told her mother that God was calling her to a work with elderly sick women.  Her work began in 1839 with service to one blind woman who was also partially paralyzed who had no one to care for her.  Later Jugan rented a room to provide housing for a dozen elderly people.  That beginning morphed into acquiring an unused convent building that could house 40 people. 

 

Eventually Jugan founded the Little Sisters of the Poor.  About this time additional young women joined Jugan in her mission of service.  The sisters would go door-to-door daily asking for food, clothing, and money for the women in their care.  By 1850 over 100 women had joined the congregation.  Sadly, Jugan was forced out of her leadership by Abbott Auguste Le Pailleur, the priest who had been appointed Superior General of the congregation.  He assigned her to do nothing but begging on the street until she was sent into retirement. 

 

The Little Sisters started In France but by 1851 had expanded to England and five communities were in the United States.  By 1879 there were 2,400 Little Sisters across Europe and North America.  Members of the community make vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and hospitality.  They wear traditional habits, either all-white or black with gray veils.

 

Jugan was canonized a saint in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Sevan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Jugan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Sisters_of_the_Poor