Feb. 28 Saturday of the First Week of Lent; Ember Saturday, Weekday

The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Louise de Marillac (1591-1660). She was born in 1592, and married in 1613. When her husband died she made a vow of widowhood and devoted herself entirely to works of charity. St. Vincent de Paul, who became her spiritual director, gradually initiated her into his own charitable works for the poor and afflicted, and in 1639 they founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity to which St. Louise dedicated the rest of her life. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI on March 11, 1934.

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