Beginning in France (2)

Levesville. Filled with zeal for the care of his parishioners, Pere Louis Chauvet, the young and holy Parish Priest of Levesville, a small French village not far from Paris, invited in 1696 some young girls to help him educate the poor children. The four courageous and selfless volunteers, later joined by their mentor, Marie Anne de Tilly, formed the first community of what was then simply called "School Sisters".

At first they lived in their own homes. In 1699, Pere Chauvet gathered them together in a small house and drew up for them a simple rule of life. The first Superior chosen was 17-year-old Marie Michau. He had no thought of founding a great international religious order. He only wanted a few nuns to take care of the poor in his parish.

Preparing them to become exemplary wives and mothers of tomorrow, the Sisters taught adolescent girls how to sew and to cook. Short of space, they brought the children down their basement and taught them reading, writing, arithmetic, and catechism by candlelight. Their concern for the education of the poor did not however confine them to teaching only. They also visited them, especially when they were sick. As for their livelihood, they sold their own knitting and embroidery work.

Gradually as more and more generous and zealous young women joined them, they were able to venture out of Levesville when a request for Sisters came in 1707 from another distant village.