• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre, top row, center, Archbishop William E. Lori, left, and Bishop Denis J. Madden, right, pose for a photo following a Mass marking 150 years of ministry in Baltimore for the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Mass was celebrated April 10 in the chapel of St. Martin’s Home in Catonsville. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Apostolic nuncio helps Little Sisters celebrate 150 years in Baltimore

April 11, 2019
By Emily Rosenthal Alster
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News

CATONSVILLE – On April 10, 1869, the Little Sisters of the Poor of Baltimore welcomed their first elderly resident.

Her name was Jeanne, the same name as the order’s French foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan (pronounced in French similarly to John).

On the eve of the Little Sisters’ 150th anniversary of serving in Baltimore, they welcomed a new resident, whose name is John.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United Sisters, joined the Little Sisters at St. Martin Home for the Aged in Catonsville to commemorate the day with an 11 a.m. Mass of Thanksgiving April 10.

Archbishop Pierre, who said in his homily that he is from the same area where St. Jeanne Jugan began her work, has a special connection to the Little Sisters of the Poor, as at one point, they cared for his own mother.

“The Little Sisters have a special place in my heart,” he said. “Your work, sisters, among the poor – especially the elderly poor – your solidarity with them, and your accompaniment of them embody how Pope Francis is calling the whole church to proclaim the joy of the Gospel.”

“You, following in the footsteps of Jeanne Jugan, must see Christ in the least of your brothers and sisters and love him in the elderly poor,” he added.

[metaslider id=123488]

Archbishop Pierre said St. Jeanne Jugan and the Little Sisters glorify God through their humility and care for the poor, especially in a world that values productivity, as the elderly might not be as productive as they once were.

“The homes of the Little Sisters of the Poor throughout the world, but especially in this country, where many people have great wealth, are a reminder to the elderly poor that they matter, they are essential,” he said. “The homes of the Little Sisters of the Poor provide what no government or social service agency can provide – the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus.”

The Little Sisters take a fourth vow, one of hospitality, which was evident to board member John Danko, who met a new resident while visiting for the Mass. He asked her what she liked most about St. Martin’s Home.

“She said, ‘the kindness,’” Danko said. “That’s the essence – it’s the kindness, the charity, the humility – it’s countercultural today.”

Mother Loraine Marie Clare Maguire, provincial leader of the Little Sisters of the Poor’s Baltimore province, noted that over their 150 years in Baltimore, the sisters have been able to call many elderly family.

“It’s more than a privilege, it’s a gift of our vocation,” Sister Loraine Marie Clare said. “We hope that we’ll be able to serve vibrantly for another 150 years.”

Fellow Little Sister Robert Francis Marie Tait said the sisters take their prayer for the future very seriously.

“I think increase of vocations is our biggest hope for the future,” Sister Loraine Marie Clare said, adding that people are living longer than they used to. “There’s going to be a great need for our ministry in the future.”

Email Emily Rosenthal at erosenthal@CatholicReview.org

To view more photos or order prints, click here.

Also see: 

Little Sisters of the Poor celebrate chapel’s renovation with Archbishop Lori

Little Sisters of the Poor minister to Maryland elderly for 140 years

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Emily Rosenthal Alster

Emily Rosenthal Alster, a former staff writer for the Catholic Review, is a contributing writer. She is a lifelong resident of Maryland and a parishioner of St. John in Westminster.

Emily is a graduate of Delone Catholic High School in McSherrystown, Pa. She holds a bachelor's degree in business communication from Stevenson University.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Pre-Vatican II Mass was formed by ‘clericalization,’ says papal preacher
  • ‘God showed up in a very powerful, powerful way’: Archdiocese of Hartford investigating possible eucharistic miracle
  • Men urged to be on fire for faith at Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Maryland conference
  • Cathedral of Mary Our Queen to host world premiere of Passion setting
  • Suspect pleads not guilty in murder of LA Auxiliary Bishop O’Connell

| Latest Local News |

Fullerton Passion Walk a ‘deeply moving’ experience

Ellicott City resident named president of Catholic Charities D.C.

Men urged to be on fire for faith at Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Maryland conference

| Latest World News |

U.S. Catholic bishops call on faithful to pray for Pope Francis’ recovery during hospitalization

Responding to Indigenous, Vatican disavows ‘doctrine of discovery’

Pope ‘steadily improving’ from respiratory infection, Vatican says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • U.S. Catholic bishops call on faithful to pray for Pope Francis’ recovery during hospitalization
  • Responding to Indigenous, Vatican disavows ‘doctrine of discovery’
  • Fullerton Passion Walk a ‘deeply moving’ experience
  • Pope ‘steadily improving’ from respiratory infection, Vatican says
  • Uvalde’s long road to recovery from mass shooting may offer some insights for Nashville community
  • West Virginia governor signs funding bill for pregnancy help centers
  • Movie Review: With ‘The Journey’ Bocelli gives us a Holy Week treat
  • Maryknoll pilgrimage to Central America offers glimpse of ‘sacrifice’
  • Life in Christ

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED