On 11 April 1799 in Besançon, France, during the turbulent times of the French Revolution, Mother Thouret founded the institute of the Sisters of Charity.
For Jeanne Antide and her first companions, living according to the Gospel meant taking part in the journey of life, standing beside the little girls from poor families who were asking to finally return to the classroom to learn to read and write, who wanted to return to turning to God, the Father of all, with renewed trust.
For Jeanne Antide and her first companions, following in the footsteps of Jesus, a man among men, meant leaving home every day to visit people in their humble dwellings, to spend time alongside those who suffer, are alone, forgotten, or abandoned, recognising in each of them the face of Jesus to be loved and served.
For Jeanne Antide and her first companions, letting themselves be led by the breath of the Holy Spirit meant taking up residence in the antechamber of hell at Bellevaux prison in Besançon, to share with the inmates the harshness of that experience, to restore their dignity, hope, and desire to pray, to ask for forgiveness, and to start afresh.
For Jeanne Antide and her first companions, being daughters of the Church meant leaving everything to go where life calls, where the Church sends, beyond the borders of their own diocese, to Savoy, Switzerland, Naples and Piedmont, to contribute to the maturing of a ‘new’ history of closeness, mutual aid and hope.
Even among contradictions and failures: placing all their trust and hope in God alone!
