Little Sisters of the Poor to leave St. Paul after 141 years

For the first time since 1883, when Catholic nuns were summoned from France to care for elderly St. Paul residents in poverty, the Little Sisters of the Poor will no longer call the Capital City home.

While officials say they will not leave St. Paul until after they have secured a buyer for their Holy Family Residence near Irvine Park, that doesn’t mean there isn’t sadness over the loss — among the order’s seven local nuns or the families of its 60 residents.

On a recent Saturday, the residence’s parking lot and surrounding streets were filled with the cars of visitors to the Little Sisters’ annual Christmas Boutique fundraiser. Inside, hundreds meandered through rooms, corridors and communal areas to buy crafts, jewelry, glassware and the sisters’ famous French Market Bean Soup.

Bishop Kevin Kenney stopped to share his family’s appreciation for the feeling of home that the sisters provided. Kenney, a Minneapolis native, said his mother was a resident for several years of the apartments, and then the residence, before her death.

“They’re hands-on, that’s for sure,” he said. “They care about every resident who is here, and the special moment is in the process of dying. They never leave the person alone. There’s always a sister at the bedside, just encouraging the person, so that’s beautiful.”

Little Sisters of the Poor began when Jeanne Jugan, a young woman born during the French Revolution, left home to work in a local hospital. One night in the winter of 1839, she saw a blind, paralyzed old woman out in the cold and carried her to her own small apartment. Soon, she was caring for others. Then, she was joined by other pious young women. Ten years later, the group of caregivers adopted the name Little Sisters of the Poor. Jugan, who died in 1879, was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

The Little Sisters’ mission in Minnesota began when bishops Thomas Grace and John Ireland petitioned the motherhouse in France to send six Little Sisters to come to St. Paul to establish a home for the needy elderly, officials said.

In 1889, a larger home was needed to accommodate 200 people, and a second home was established in northeast Minneapolis. In 1977, the two Homes were consolidated and the current facility in the West Seventh neighborhood was built.

There are 26 Little Sisters of the Poor homes in the United States, and they operate facilities in 30 countries. But those numbers have been shrinking.

In a statement released Oct. 23, Mother Julie Horseman, provincial superior of the Little Sisters, said the decision to transition out of St. Paul is part of their strategic plan to strengthen their ministry and “the quality of our religious and community life.”

“The Little Sisters have recognized the need to withdraw from a certain number of Homes around the world, while at the same time dedicating our resources to much needed upgrades and reconstruction projects in others ... It has only come after a lengthy period of prayer, much consultation and much study.”

Sister Joseph Marie is one of the seven nuns who live and work at the St. Paul residence. They hope to find another Catholic care provider to take over the Holy Family Residence and its neighboring apartments, she said. But no matter how long it takes, Sister Joseph Marie said, they will not leave until a successor is found.

“Despite the fact that we’re leaving, we still concentrate on uplifting the residents as best we can until we depart and continuing to give them the care that they need,” she said. “We have wonderful volunteers, the sisters, the priests — everyone who forms that Jeanne Jugan family. And so, we are now focused on the positive, not the negative.”

Michelle Guertin has worked at the Holy Family Residence for more than two years, first as receptionist and now as an assistant to the development director. She enjoys working at a place that feels like family, “working at a place where I feel like I’m doing something good,” she said. “I enjoy spending time with the residents. It’s important to me. I enjoy feeling like what I do is important to the residents, that I’m making this difference.”

She hopes to continue her work even after the sisters leave, Guertin said.

Kenney hopes “the Lord will send somebody here just as good as the sisters,” but that will be hard to do, he said.

“To have to say goodbye to those sisters is really going to be difficult, just their presence,” he said. “You can’t replace that. The joy that they bring.”