Service To The Poor
The poor were cared for according to methods of relief inspired by the practical genius of Vincent de Paul. During the period of the Fronde (1648-1653), the civil war which reduced Paris to widespread misery and famine, Olier supported hundreds of families and provided many with clothing and shelter. None were refused. His rules of relief, adapted in other parishes, became the accepted methods and are still followed at St. Sulpice.
Orphans, very numerous during the war, were placed in good parishes, and a house of refuge established for orphan girls. A home was open to shelter and reform the many women rescued from prostitution, and another for young girls exposed to the danger of that. Many free schools for poor girls were founded by Olier, and he laboured also at the reform of the teachers in boys' schools, not, however, with great success.
Read more about this topic: Jean-Jacques Olier
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