St. Louise de Marillac was a French saint who struggled to find God’s will for her life: she married, had a child, discerned the religious life, and struggled to find God’s will in the ups and downs of life’s fortunes.

In 1591, Louise was born out of wedlock to a very wealthy man, Louis de Marillac. Louise never knew her birth mother, but her father Louis embraced her as his natural daughter, although not his legal heir, until he remarried a new wife, Antoinette Le Camus, who refused to accept Louise into their household. Thus, Louise was cared for by various affluent relatives at the Dominican monastery of Poissy.

When Louise was twelve, her father passed away. She began to feel a draw towards religious life. She applied to be a Capuchin nun, and her application was denied. Louise was devastated by this rejection. When she was twenty-two, Louise was persuaded by her family to marry a wealthy young man named Antoine, who was the secretary to the queen. In 1613, Antoine and Louise were wed. Later that year, Louise bore a son, Michel.

While living in Paris, Antoine was struck ill, and Louise cared for her ailing husband and was consumed with regret and guilt for not entering the religious life. Thankfully, her spiritual advisor, St. Francis de Sales, comforted her and advised her to seek God’s will in her current situation: in her life with her husband and son.

Louise was consoled in prayer on the Feast of Pentecost, 1623, that she should remain with Antoine, and, if he died before her, she would seek to make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Antoine passed away three years later. Louise created her rule of life, and went about her daily duties of caring for her son, maintaining her household and caring for the poor in the spirit of a religious sister. Soon, Louise was forced to move out of her fine home and seek more modest housing. She moved in close to where St. Vincent de Paul was doing his charitable work with the poor of Paris.

With a great deal of effort, Louise and Vincent founded the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who worked in Paris alongside St. Vincent to nurse and care for the sick. More important than any of the good work the sisters did, Louise believed that it was above all, vitally important that every woman, whether married or religious, work to surrender herself entirely to God. This surrender to God is the basis of virtue in our homes, our religious communities, and is the true gift of Christian charity.

Louise died at the age of 68 in 1660. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934. She is the patron saint of widows, social workers, the sick and disappointed, children who let down their parents, and people rejected by religious orders. St. Louise reminds us all that God’s will can be pursued in any state of life and it is never too late to answer God’s call.

St. Louise de Marillac, who founded the Daughters of Charity with St. Vincent de Paul—pray for us!