Louise de Marillac

Description

Saint Louise de Marillac, D.C., also Louise Le Gras (August 12, 1591 – March 15, 1660) was the co-founder, with Saint Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.She was born out of wedlock on August 12, 1591 near Le Meux, now in the department of Oise, in Picardy. She never knew her mother. Louis de Marillac, Lord of Ferrires, claimed her as his natural daughter yet not his legal heir. Louis was a member of the prominent de Marillac family and was a widower at the time of Louise’s birth. Her uncle, Michel de Marillac, was a major figure in the court of Queen Marie de’ Medici and, though Louise was not a member of the Queen’s court, she lived and worked among the French aristocracy. Thus Louise grew up amid the affluent society of Paris, but without a stable home life. When her father married his new wife, Antoinette Le Camus, she refused to accept Louise as part of their family. Nevertheless, Louise was cared for and received an excellent education at the royal monastery of Poissy near Paris, where her aunt was a Dominican nun.