Little Sisters of the Poor

Beautiful article about a group of nuns belonging to a mendicant order called the “Little Sisters of the Poor” who serve the elderly. The whole article is worth reading even though you have to subscribe (free) to the L.A. Times.

The headline of this story is “Little Sisters of the Poor Focus on Care for Elderly” and I first I misread the headline and thought this was some Catholic hit piece by calling some nuns Little Sisters of the “Poor Focus.”

That was only a minor miracle compared with the whopping $12-million contract to build the order’s San Francisco home that Mother Marguerite signed in 1979 — with no money in the bank. The contractor, she said, asked her where the sisters planned to get the money.

“From St. Joseph,” she calmly replied.

“The color drained from his face,” she recalled with a laugh. But they never missed a payment to him — or a payroll, she said.

…She has been especially impressed with the way the Little Sisters help residents through their final moments of life with songs, recitation of the rosary and Bible verses.

Never ones to waste a begging opportunity, sometimes the sisters whisper a wish into the dying resident’s ear: Please ask God for more nuns when you get to heaven.

“To be with the dying is a special privilege of our vocation,” Sister Paul said. “These people have one foot in heaven; it’s almost like being halfway there yourself.”