St. Jeanne Jugan
Feast day: August 30
Born in a small fishing village of Brittany, France, Jeanne grew up under difficult circumstances after her father was lost at sea when she was very young. After working as a kitchen maid and then in a hospital, she began caring for the poor, especially widows and teaching children. She was joined by several other women, and they formed the basis of the Little Sisters of the Poor, officially started in 1842 in Saint-Servan, France. Jeanne died in 1879 and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 11, 2009, in St. Peter’s Basilica. She is patroness of the elderly.
Collect
O God, who have taught your Church
to keep all the heavenly commandments
by love of you as God and love of neighbor;
grant that, practicing the works of charity
after the example of Saint Jeanne Jugan,
we may be worthy to be numbered among the blessed in your
Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
