On this day in 1633, a few young women gathered with Vincent
de Paul and Louise de Marillac and formed the Daughters of Charity in France.
They were educated by Louise.If they couldn’t read, she
taught them. Louise also taught them how to nurse sick people and care for
infants, not to mention the art of prayer and community living.
Thus began the first religious community of women who worked
outside the confines of a cloister.
In the beginning, they adopted a common seventeenth century
dress, and the sunbonnet-like hat worn by the peasant women of the time. It
protected their heads and shoulders from the sun.
Over the years, the sisters began to starch this hat, which
was called a cornette because it resembled what we would call the “horn of
plenty”
Their ministry expanded from care of sick poor people in
their homes to nursing care in the first hospitals, to orphanages, to schools.
Today there are roughly 12,000 of us in countries all over
the world. The ministries have changed
with the times, but care for persons living in poverty is still the main focus.
The “habit”, which comes from the French verb “s’habiller” or “to dress oneself,” and that sailboat like
headgear has changed as well.
From 1633 to 1964, it was this:
From 1964 to 1975, it was this:
From 1975 to 1997, it was this:
With the option of not wearing something on the head:
Which is what I have chosen:
Painters and photographers have loved to paint the old cornette, impractical
though it became in real life service:
No comments:
Post a Comment