On the Little Sisters of the Poor’s residence for the aged in Washington, D.C., Christy Lugo has the chance to attend each day Mass and obtain different types of non secular enrichment, together with a latest speak on the writings of Pope Francis.
“You understand that that is the home of God,” stated Lugo, a nine-year resident of the neighborhood’s Jeanne Jugan Residence, who will flip 88 in March. “I couldn’t be in a greater place, and I thank the Lord.”
“While you reside on the skin, you go to all these retreats and conferences, however that’s not the identical as residing it,” Lugo stated. “After we’re right here, we reside it.”
Lugo is one in every of 1000’s of aged women and men all over the world who’ve discovered a house with the Little Sisters of the Poor, a neighborhood of 1,600 sisters devoted to caring for the non secular and sensible wants of senior residents.
Along with the neighborhood’s dedication to honoring the dignity of the women and men of their care, and offering them with private and non secular enrichment, consideration is given to the house’s maintenance, including to the consolation and safety of its residents.
“The home is gorgeous, and it’s maintained so nicely,” stated Bonnie Elward, 83, one of many D.C. residents. “I imply, you could possibly eat off the ground. They take such excellent care of it.”
Elward stated she is bodily higher off than a number of the residents, however now has the peace of thoughts that she might be cared for if extra points come up. “I really feel secure. I really feel very comforted,” she stated.
For her half, Lugo had loved residing alone within the 25 years previous to coming into the Jeanne Jugan Residence, “however then the evening got here, and I used to be so lonely,” she stated. “Right here, you’re feeling so secure.”
“What’s it like residing right here? It’s so peaceable,” stated Carmelite Brother Seraphim Sobel of the Carmelite Brothers of Jesus Crucified, who additionally lives on the D.C. residence. “You are feeling very safe. You don’t have something actually to fret about.”
“They don’t deal with us like sufferers, however they deal with us like pals, or household,” he stated.
Encouragement From Pope Francis
Because the world turns its focus to the prolonged hospitalization of Pope Francis, 88, the Little Sisters of the Poor gratefully recall his frequent emphasis on the significance of respecting the dignity of the aged, a theme round which their entire mission is centered.
“It is vitally essential to convey consideration to older individuals,” the Pope informed Little Sister of the Poor Constance Veit throughout his 2015 apostolic journey to the US.
“He inspired us in our mission, evoking the presence of Jesus within the poor,” she recalled of the papal go to to their Jeanne Jugan Residence in Washington. She added that the sisters have been “fairly preoccupied” concerning the Pontiff, who has been hospitalized with pneumonia and different well being considerations since mid-February.
“I’m simply so grateful to him for elevating up the aged,” Sister Constance informed the Register. “This has typically energized me in my very own vocation.”
The Little Sisters of the Poor was based in France in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan, who established the congregation in response to the wants of the aged poor she encountered on the streets. Practically two centuries later, the neighborhood serves 9,100 residents in 153 properties for the aged throughout 31 international locations.
Welcoming Christ within the Aged
The mission of the Little Sisters of the Poor is to look after the “neediest aged” no matter race or faith, whereas offering a house the place they’re “welcomed as Christ, cared for as household and accompanied with dignity till God calls them to himself,” based on their Washington, D.C., website.
“The sisters and members of workers are like a part of my household,” stated Carmelite Father Elias O’Brien, who continuously visits his 96-year-old mom on the D.C. residence. “We share a love for my mother and have grown keen on one another,” he stated. “Despite the fact that Mother has many challenges, all of us need her life to be full of affection.”
What their mission appears like in observe is a each day routine centered round Mass and prayer, extracurricular actions and outings, making certain that the aged’s medical wants are met, and offering alternatives for non secular enrichment and accompaniment.
“This residence is a superb place for them to be,” stated Joyce Miles, actions coordinator for the D.C. residence. She expressed gratitude for her work in bringing the aged “pleasure and luxury, to maintain them at their dignity in the place they’re meant to be.”
“I’m virtually 69, my expensive, so I’d find yourself staying right here,” stated Corazón Nilla Balestros, assistant director of nursing on the residence. “It’s actually like a house that’s peaceable.”
No One Dies Alone
When residents strategy their ultimate days, the sisters take turns sitting with them, repeatedly praying with them till the top.
For Little Sister of the Poor Bernadette Rose, a sister based mostly in Chicago, probably the most enriching elements of their ministry is “to observe with our dying residents and to be with them after they take their final breath.” She stated she prays “with them,” looking for assistance from Our Lord, Mary, Gate of Heaven, and St. Jeanne Jugan.
Even volunteers will come and pray the Rosary, to “be with the one who is dying,” stated Balestros. “We don’t need them to die by themselves.”
“It’s actually very comforting right here,” she added. “You’re not scared to die since you’re not alone.”
A Name to Serve
The ladies who comply with the decision to hitch the Little Sisters of the Poor have a coronary heart for the aged in want, and on this they discover pleasure and objective.
“To see them was to see God,” stated Little Sister of the Poor Patrice of her first encounter with the older women and men being served by the neighborhood. “Upon coming into the house of the Little Sisters, I used to be welcomed with a deep sense of belonging. It was an indescribable peace. I had discovered objective in life.”
For Sister Constance, her “biggest pleasure is seeing the aged smile, serving to them to expertise their lives as significant and value residing till the top.”
With the beginning of Lent, Little Sister of the Poor Carolyn noticed how the mission of the Little Sisters of the Poor “embraces the entire Paschal thriller — the enjoyment of earthly life, the struggling, the dying, and the resurrection to everlasting pleasure.”
She added that the ministry retains her “cognizant of everlasting realities even within the midst of the day-to-day, inspiring me to repeatedly fine-tune and nurture my residing out my name to holiness.”
Prayers for the Holy Father
In 2021, Pope Francis established the annual World Day for Grandparents and Aged, highlighting his care and concern for this demographic of individuals in want.
“It appears to me that simply as Pope John Paul II was the Pope of the younger, Francis has change into the Pope of the aged,” Sister Constance stated.
“I believe even in his sickness the Holy Father is witnessing to the worth of each human individual,” stated Father Elias. “Those that are aged or ailing aren’t any much less precious in our Church, no much less very important in our neighborhood.”
