The Paulinian Story & History

The PAULINIAN STORY begins here in the
wheatfields of the region of Beauce, France

Verdant garden in crimson splendor

Field of LIFE but once, plain of DEATH

Where in battle great armies in met.
Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
St. Joan of Arc’s Liberation of New Orleans (1429)
Wars of Religion (1562-1598)
Wars of Fronde (1648-1653)

The series of wars brought great misery to the
country sides --
Poverty, sickness, ignorance

… apathy, religious indifference,
lowering of moral standards

Such was the situation in Levesville-la-Chenard,
a small village 25 miles southeast of Chartres

Fr. Louis Chauvet was assigned as
parish priest of Levesville.

He found the Church in ruins, the presbytery
uninhabitable, the people indifferent and apathetic.

but most especially, he
reached out to his
parishioners to respond
to their misery, engaging
everyone in this endeavor.

This young priest
– only 30 years old–
was filled with zeal
for his people.

Fr. Louis Chauvet
became many things to
his parishioners.
Priest
His great concern was for
their spiritual welfare.
Counselor

Shepherd
He gave special
attention to the
needy, the aged.
He attended to
the abandoned,
looking to their
total well-being.

Scholar
He struggled against
ignorance and the false
teaching of Quietism and
Jansenism…
Musician
- exemplifying the quest
for the
finer things in life.

Teacher
He shared his vision of uplifting the level of life
of the villagers

… through
teaching the
children,
caring for
the sick, and
ministering
to the poor

Young girls of the village
became fired with his vision.

The first
Marie Micheau (17)
Barbe Foucauld (19)
Marie Anne de Tilly (31)
who assisted in their formation
became
co-Foundress.
They became the first
“Daughters of the School of Levesville”

Soon, they were joined by many others -
Anne Bonnet
Marie Denizet
Anne Lerat
Catherine Sirou
Marie Anne Deslandres
Claude Dauvilliers
Marie Foucault
Marie Fleury
Louise Meunier
Jeanne Rosseau
- to name a few.

Le Berceau (The Cradle) became their first home.

unchanged through the
centuries…

-its cellar (La Cave) became the 1st classroom

-with Marie Micheau
as first teacher.

Their RULE
“They will strive to imitate our Lord and
to live his teaching.” (Draft of a Rule)

His love urged them on…
CARITAS
CHRISTI
URGET NOS

“Having neither dowry nor income but earning their
living so as to be able to perform their apostolic work
as gratuitously as possible,
they combined
austere mortification
with the hardest work.”
( cf. Draft of a Rule, Ch. 1)

A scholar himself, Fr. Chauvet
considered scholarship a
function of faith.
Fr. Louis Chauvet wanted the children
to know how to read and write to enable them
to know more about Christian doctrine and
to practice their religion as they should.

With Religion and the
3Rs, the Sisters taught
practical arts and crafts
to equip the young with
productive skills that would
enable them to improve their
living standards.
The first school opened in 1700; a
second school opened in
Chateauneuf-en-Thymerais in 1707.

Marie Micheau, first recruit, first superior,
and first teacher, died at the age of 19 on 15
November 1702
Fr. Chauvet accorded her the right to be buried in the Church, a privilege that
belonged only to the Lord-Founders of the Church, priests and persons consecrated
to God.
Marie Anne de Tilly, co-Foundress
28 September 1703
Fr. Louis Chauvet
Founder, 21 June 1710

Unless a grain
of wheat
falls into the
ground and dies,
it remains a
single grain;
but if it dies,
it shall yield a
rich harvest.

In 1708, Fr. Louis Chauvet entrusted the Sisters of
Levesville under the protection of the Bishop of Chartres.

Bishop Paul
Godet des Marais
gave them the name
Sisters of St. Paul
and
St. Paul, the Apostle
as their Patron.
(+26 September 1709)

Chartres became the Sisters’ new home! (their
first house at St. Maurice)

Having at first settled
in the district of St.
Maurice in Chartres, the
Sisters were once called
the Sisters of Charity of St.
Maurice.
They were also referred
to as “Les Sabotieres”
– wooden shoe wearers
The wooden shoes became symbolic of
the simplicity and poverty of their
lifestyle.

Fr. Claude Marechaux, appointed first ecclesiastical
superior in Chartres wrote, in accord with Fr. Chauvet,
the Sisters’ Rule and the Instructions on the Rule
“How to Perform our Actions Well”
Msgr. Charles de Truchis
who succeeded Fr. Marechaux
was instrumental in preserving
the Rule and the Names of the
first Sisters by letting them write
their names in the community
registry, Le Monument.

With the
Virgin Mary as
their Model

and
St. Paul, Apostle
as their Patron
the Sisters moved
beyond Levesville-la-
Chenard to the whole
of the diocese – and to
the whole of France

living the ideals of
Regularity
Simplicity
Work.

In no time, the
Sisters of
St. Paul
spread all over
France …

- then to the French
colonies and on to
other parts of the
globe.

The French revolution in
1792 ordered the suppression
of all religious congregations
and the confiscation of their
houses and property.

The house at St. Maurice
was confiscated and the
44 sisters living there
were dispersed.

DISPERSAL
Mother Josseaume,
then Superior General, was
incarcerated with 3 sisters
and 212 others at Rambouillet.
They were eventually
released in 1794.
But the Sisters were gone,
their houses were gone… 44 in
Chartres, 111 in the other towns
and villages … the community
appeared for all purposes to be
DEAD!

RECONSTITUTION
1802: The Minister of the Navy,
Denis Decres, requested for Sisters
to replenish those in Cayenne,
whose charity and compassion he
greatly appreciated. With Baron
de Laitre, Prefect of Eure-et-Loire,
a search was made for the
Sisters of St. Paul.
The government that disbanded them
now sought to gather them together.
Mother Josseaumme was found. A search was
made for the dispersed Sisters.

Napoleon Bonaparte,
Premier Consul,
signs the Decree of Reconstitution
of the Sisters of St. Paul of
Chartres,
10 December 1802.
He would also sign, in 1811, the Decree
granting legal recognition to the
Congregation.

A New Dawn!
The Sisters were given
the former Dominican
convent at Rue St.
Jacques

…which today serves as
the Maison Mère -
Mother House - of the
Congregation.

- the Sisters picked up their Life
and continued their work in the
shadow of the great Cathedral of
Chartres

they could again pray
at the altar of
Notre Dame de Chartres.

Paulinian mission flourished in new and different ways both in France
and in other parts of the world.
Hospice De Saint-Pierre
Martinique 1818

Guadeloupe - 1820
Hopital Militaire De Fort De France

By 1834, there were 400 sisters in 67 SPC houses in
France, in schools, hospitals, dispensaries and
orphanages.
There were 45 sisters in the hospitals and schools of
Martinique, Guadeloupe and Cayenne.

Monsignor Augustin Forcade,
assigned as Apostolic Vicar of
Japan and Apostolic Prefect of
Hongkong requested for Sisters of
St. Paul to help him in Hongkong.
Four were sent:
Sr. Alphonsine, his own sister,
Sr. Gabrielle Joubin,
Sr. Auguste Galloin
and Sr. Louis Morse.

Laos - 1904 Today, under Thailand…

However, the secularization laws of
France had far reaching consequences.
Our sisters had to leave 105 public schools
between 1879 and 1903.
Denied and refused in their own country
- later even in the French occupied
territories – the Sisters looked more and
more to the East! They became available
for the Asian missions,
especially to the Philippines.

The loss of Europe was Asia’s gain!
The Provincial Superiors of Asia today
More than 80%
of the total
number of
Sisters in the
Congregation
today are
Asians

Integral to the Life and Mission
of the Sisters of St. Paul was the constant
sharing in the Paschal Mystery of Christ
1 – the poverty and hard work of their
early beginnings
2 - the early deaths of the Founders
3 - the unjust harassment of
Marguerite David who claimed
part of the community property
after Marie Anne’s death

4 – the lawsuits against them
by the merchants of
Chartres and who put
obstacles to their legal
recognition as a
Congregation
5 - the difficulties,
deprivations, and deaths in the first missions
6 - the French revolution, dispersal, and dissolution
7 – the secularization movement, expulsion from
schools & hospitals of France and in its
territories

CHRIST IS
LORD OF HISTORY!
… undaunted, the
Sisters remained
steadfast and joyful -
anchored in the Lord.
ULTIMA LATET
Fr. Louis Chauvet’s Sundial

Russia
Mongolia
Alaska
Turkey
Colombia
East Timor
Today, some 5000 Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres
serve in 32 countries in 6 continents of the world.

St. Paul Alumni to Generation to
Generations
ST. PAUL UNIVERSITY
DUMAGUETE SINCE :1904

The Don Geronimo Villegas and Doña Escolastica Teves de Villegas
family of Tanjay (ca. 1900)
(Photo from the Villegas family archives)

The Don Jose Teves Muñoz and Doña Eustaquia Paula Calumpang de
Muñoz family of Tanjay (ca. 1900).
(Photo courtesy of Atty. Alex A. Villanueva)

The Pastranos of Tanjay with the matriarch Nieves Villacampa vda. de Pastrano (ca. 1920).
[Photo courtesy of Arlene Pastrano-Caballo.]

Perdices Clan
Prof. JULIA MICIANO de PERDICES
(Scan of photo from St. Paul University Dumaguete's
Bidlisiw '79)

Somoza Clan
Maria 'Iyay' Somoza Arnaiz de Diaz and
Francisca 'Paquita' Somoza Arnaiz de Ponce
de Leon.
Elenita '' leni'' Somoza-
Mascardo

Pinili Clan
 The biggest alumni members in this
University

The Paulinian Story & History

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (20)

Destaque

Destaque (20)

Semelhante a The Paulinian Story & History

Semelhante a The Paulinian Story & History (20)

Mais de Monte Christo

Mais de Monte Christo (20)

Último

Último (20)

The Paulinian Story & History