Abstract
The Hôpital de Nom de Jésus was an important establishment associated with Louise de Marillac, Vincent de Paul, and their communities. The Daughters of Charity were responsible for staffing this hospital beginning in1653, and it survived until the mid-eighteenth century. However, scholars have not had any records of it to study until now. Here, Alison Forrestal presents the Rule of Nom de Jésus, with an English translation, “offering a commentary on its historical context and its composition.” The Rule gives scholars insight into how the hospital developed and shows concern for the corporal and spiritual well-being of those it served. During this time in France, “hospital” was a broad term that referred to “any institution that provided either shelter or medical care, or both, to pilgrims, the indigent, the ill, or the elderly on a short- or long-term basis.” Sometimes such institutions forcibly confined the poor, but this was not the case with Nom de Jésus. Instead, it was a “residential home and workshop for Catholics who could not live independently because of age, infirmity, or extreme poverty.” Along with the Rule, Forrestal explores the foundation and early operation of this hospital and describes the demographics of its residents.
Recommended Citation
Forrestal, Alison Ph.D.
(2021)
"“So that they may be able to live and die as good Christians”: The Early History of the Nom de Jésus Hospital in Catholic Reformation Paris”,"
Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 36:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol36/iss1/3