October 24, 1875. . . Dedication of the Present Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis
The Little Sisters of the Poor is an outstanding charitable congregation of Catholic sisters of which relatively little is known. Their program of help for poverty-stricken old people is remarkable and far reaching, but the Little Sisters avoid every form of publicity. The order has existed in St. Louis since1869, and the older of their present institutions there was dedicated, October 24, 1875.
The Little Sisters are an active unenclosed religious congregation founded in St. Servan, Brittany, in 1839. The first colony arrived in the United States in 1868 and other colonies continued to come. The fifth arrived in St. Louis on May 1, 1869, in answer to a call of Archbishop Kenrick because of the numbers of poor in that city. May 3, the six Little Sisters moved into four “void and empty” rooms near the corner of Ninth and Morgan streets. In a short time they were able to bring together a stove, a temporary altar and the bare necessities of housekeeping. May 5, they received their first Charge and within two months there were 50 old people in the home. The institution in St. Louis was chartered July 14, 1870, and the cornerstone of the present building laid the following year. This building, dedicated in 1875, was their only establishment in St. Louis until December 3, 1900, when a home was opened on the south side.
The Little Sisters refuse to accept a fixed income or a regular allowance from the government and depend solely upon begging. Their source of income is their physical strength which carries them from door to door where they beg for food and clothing for their wards. Nearly 5000 old people have died in the St. Louis home and twice that number have been cared for by the order there. The sisters are dedicated to the care and support of aged people of 60 years or over who are infirm and without sufficient means of livelihood. To the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they add hospitality. In St. Louis, 36 of these devout sisters feed, clothe, house and care for on the average of 485 old people, the housing capacity of the St. Louis homes.
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