, image = Hospital. Ste. Justine Hospital BAnQ P48S1P12190.jpg , image_size = , caption = A member of the Daughters of Wisdom caring for an injured child in the Hospital Sainte-Justine of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1945 , abbreviation = F.d.L.S. , formation = , founder = , motto = , type = Centralized Religious Institute of Consecrated Life of Pontifical Right for women , headquarters = Via dei Casali di Torrevecchia, 16, Rome, Italy , membership = 1,057 members as of 2020 , leader_title = Superior General , leader_name = Sr. Louise Madore, F.d.L.S. , main_organ =

Marie Louise Trichet Marie Louise Trichet, also known as ''Marie-Louise de Jésus'' (1684–1759), was a French Catholic figure who, with Louis de Montfort, founded the Congregation of religious women called Daughters of Wisdom and since the age of seventeen devoted ...

, parent_organization =

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, website = The Daughters of Wisdom is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

of women founded by

Louis de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, Montfort ...

and

in 1703 to serve those in need.

History

In 1703, when he was temporary chaplain of the hospital of

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

, Louis de Montfort assembled some pious young women into a small community, and gave them a rule to live by. Its main points have been retained in the Rule of the Daughters of Wisdom. The congregation strives to acquire heavenly wisdom by imitating the Incarnate Wisdom,

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

.Bemelmans, John. "Daughters of Wisdom." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 16 Sept. 2014
/ref> When St Louis died in 1716, the community numbered only four sisters, led by Blessed Marie Louise Trichet who had met Louis de Montfort in 1701 and became known as the "First Daughter of Wisdom" when she offered her services to the hospital. Her mother is said to have told her: "You will become as mad as that priest". There followed a forty-three year career during which she nursed the sick, gave food to beggars and administered the great maritime hospital of France. The poor people of the Hospital of

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the u ...

(Deux-Sèvres) called her "good Mother Jesus". In 1714, she was joined by Catherine Brunet."Life of Blessed Marie-Louise Trichet", Company of Mary, Vice-Province of Great Britain and Ireland
/ref> In 1715, at the request of the Bishop of

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, the sisters moved to that city. Henceforth the congregation undertook both care of the sick and teaching. Sister Marie-Louise was superior of the congregation. On 22 August 1715, Montfort gave the habit of Wisdom to Sister Ste Croix and Sister Incarnation. In 1720 the site of their mother-house was acquired at

Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre (, literally ''Saint-Laurent on Sèvre'') is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Pilgrimage Some 25,000 visitors per year arrive at the town, for it is the burial place ...

. Henceforth the life of Marie-Louise was to be a series of travels necessitated by new foundations and by visits to all her communities; in 1750 there were already thirty. She died on 27 April 1759. By the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the sisters numbered 700. During the Revolutionary era, they were severely persecuted and imprisoned. Two sisters were

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

d at

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

; and another two, Sisters Véronique and Jouin, at

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. Under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, the community regained most of their former houses and were granted 30,000 francs for building purposes. It was in 1810, when Napoleon was temporarily the master of Europe, that, at his call, the Daughters of Wisdom left French soil for the first time to nurse wounded soldiers at

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. Numerous medals were bestowed on the congregation by Napoleon, and by every French Government since; Spain, Prussia, and Belgium have honoured them for nursing the wounded or plague-stricken soldiers of those countries; as a congregation they have been acknowledged in the Apostolic Brief of

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII ( it, Leone XII; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death ...

in 1825; they were canonically approved, together with the Fathers of the

Company of Mary The Missionaries of the Company of Mary is a missionary religious congregation within the Catholic Church. The community was founded by Saint Louis de Montfort in 1705 with the recruitment of his first missionary disciple, Mathurin Rangeard. The co ...

, in 1853; they were placed under Cardinal

Vincenzo Vannutelli Vincenzo Vannutelli (5 December 1836 – 9 July 1930) was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He spent his career in the foreign service of the Holy See and was made a cardinal in 1890. At his death he was the oldest member o ...

as protector, and favoured by two important decrees in 1893 and 1898 securing the integrity of Montfort's institution; and they received the definitive approbation of the constitutions of Montfort's double foundation in 1904. Since then the Daughters of Wisdom has grown to a multinational organisation with houses across the world.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Daughters of Wisdom website

Catholic female orders and societies Catholic spirituality

History

See also

References

External links