In 1633, on a cold November night in Paris France, young women traveled through the dark streets to meet with St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac to make annual vows to serve the poor and live like Christ. They vowed to like in community with each other and serve Christ through the poor. “Up to that point in history, religious communities of women had been restricted to cloistered convents, due primarily to their pronounced perpetual vows.” (Daughters of Charity) Soon after, the works of the French Sisters of Charity had spread to America where Elizabeth Ann Seton founded the American Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph in Maryland. Her Emmetsburg community united with the international community in 1850 when she began to conform her Religious Order to that of the French Sisters of Charity. “The Daughters of Charity wore the cornette, white starched head piece, from 1685 until 1964. It was considered the recognizable mark of a Daughter of Charity. In its origin, it actually reflected the peasant dress of 17th century France. Over time the cornette went from being more of a veiled piece of fabric to what was often referred to as “wings.” The cornette …show more content…
Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac had started a time-changing new concept of how Religious Orders should work and act. They chose peasant lay women who instead of taking perpetual vows, asked them to take annual vows. It truly was a revolution of women’s religious life and a revolution of the soul for these young girls. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac began their charity my caring for the poor and neglected with and overabundance of love, compassion, service, and healing. They ensured that every poor would be taken care of because they believed that the poor was Jesus himself. “The very motto of the Company of Daughters of Charity is: “The charity of Jesus crucified compels us.” (Daughters of Charity) Elizabeth Ann Seton eventually adopted this rule when she started her Charity in