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Sisters' vocation rooted in Christ's love of poor

Daughters of Charity serve the poor and enjoy worldwide community support

Published: May 12, 2007   

By Tara Little
Associate Editor

Tara Little

These Little Rock Daughters of Charity serve the poor in different ways, but they cook, pray and share household expenses while living in community.

Tara Little

These Little Rock Daughters of Charity serve the poor in different ways, but they cook, pray and share household expenses while living in community.

"To love the poor is to love God the right way; to serve them well is to serve God well; to honor our Lord we must imitate him."

St. Vincent de Paul founded the Daughters of Charity on this belief in 17th-century France. Today it is an international religious community of women dedicated to serving the poor.

Though the sisters make traditional religious vows, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul is a society of apostolic life rather than a religious order, said Sister Teresa Daly, DC, of St. Louis.

When the community was founded in 1633, she said, all religious orders were cloistered so St. Vincent de Paul set the sisters apart so they could be free to go out and serve wherever they were needed.

In Arkansas there are eight Daughters of Charity who do just that. Through two missions, one in Little Rock and the other in Gould, these sisters serve in many ways. They are Sisters Maria Liebeck, Joan Pytlik, Doris Moore and Mary Lou Stubbs, in Little Rock, and Sisters Kathleen Miles, Virginia Dunker, Denise Duplessis and Judy Warmbold in Gould. Among them are a Catholic schoolteacher, prison minister, licensed counselor, pastoral administrator, artist and three social service workers. There jobs may vary, but together they live and pray in a community of Christ.

Sister Joan, director of the diocesan Hurricane Recovery Office, said she became a Daughter of Charity because she had "that inner feeling of wanting to give yourself completely to God" as well as the desire to serve the poor. Originally from Milwaukee, she has been a sister since 1961.

Even though women have other options today if they wish to serve the poor, Sister Joan said living in a religious community provides the support and example to live out that mission for life.

"We all have moments when we say, 'I'd like to go lay in a hammock in Fiji," she said. "But we stay with it because we have the support of a community that models it."

Sister Virginia is a literacy tutor for Varner State Prison in Grady. She was born in Perryville, Mo., and has been with the Daughters for 54 years. She said being able to help people recognize their gifts and talents is the greatest blessing of her life.

"I feel like I really can help them," she said of the prisoners she tutors. "I feel that what I do makes them feel better about themselves and about what they can accomplish."

Sister Virginia said she was first called to religious life in seventh grade and never thought of any other order because the Daughters of Charity were present in her life since childhood.

For anyone who might have a call to religious life, she said, "Try it out, even if you have doubts. There is no way to find out unless you try. Go see. It is so much better to try instead of regretting that you never checked it out."

Sister Judy closed a private practice in Springfield, Mo., to move to Arkansas last September to develop the mental health services for DePaul Health Center in Dumas and St. Elizabeth Health Center in Gould.

Originally from St. Louis, Sister Judy became a Daughter of Charity in 1958 when she was 18 years old. The licensed professional counselor said her new job is quite a challenge.

"What I discovered is that there is a great stigma related to mental health in southeast Arkansas," she said. "The need is extremely great. The number of clients is small, but growing little by little."

However, the work is fulfilling, Sister Judy said, because she gets to be a part of another person's growth. "It is empowering other people who are empowering me at the same time."

Unlike Sister Virginia, Sister Judy said she knew nothing about the Daughters of Charity before she decided to look into religious life.

"But I read about this community that was devoted to working with people who were poor and vulnerable and whose rules and norms were flexible toward that goal," she said.

She said this life has allowed her to do many different ministries in many different places. Other blessings include community support, time for solitude, support for a life of prayer and the chance to work with people.

Sister Judy said without being in a religious community, she probably would not have been able to take the new job in Gould.

"I had the infrastructure. I had a community to live with down here. I have a community to back me up," she said. "I can freely do some things with people who are poor that I wouldn't be able to do probably if I was a single woman."

Sister Teresa Daly is vocations director for the Daughters of Charity West Central Province of the United States. This province, which is based in St. Louis, encompasses 11 states including Arkansas.

From 1988 to 2003, she served in Hamburg, Malvern and Arkadelphia. Originally from Silver Spring, Md., she has been a sister for 38 years.

"Our life is about prayer, community and service of the poor," she said. "Prayer is really important to me. Living in community, doing things together and having that community support is also really important to me."

Sister Teresa said women considering religious life in today's world are not that much different.

"I think young women today are looking for community and prayer," she said. "I think they're looking for a group bigger than themselves where they can serve and be supported."

Sister Teresa said any unmarried Catholic woman between 19 and 45 is eligible to become a Daughter of Charity.

The formation process has six steps. These are initial discernment, pre-postulancy, postulancy, seminary (novitiate), being sent on mission and finally, making vows for the first time.

During initial discernment, a woman is put in contact with a Daughter of Charity mission near her home. She then visits that house for dinner and prayers once a week to get to know the sisters. When she is ready, she asks to become a pre-postulant.

A pre-postulant moves into a DC house to get the community experience, but retains her job and car. Once she is ready, she asks to be a postulant. At this phase, the postulant moves into a DC house located in the city of the provincial house. An Arkansas postulant would move into a St. Louis house, get a job and take theology classes.

After a year, the postulant applies for admission with the community. If she is accepted, she enters seminary (similar to novitiate) for 18 to 22 months. Currently the national seminary for the Daughters is located in Evansville, Ind.

After seminary, the new sister is sent on "mission" to a house in her province. In consultation with the DC, she gets a job in a ministry for which she is trained. The DC does send sisters to college, but degrees are not required.

After five to seven years, the sister makes her vows for the first time. Then she renews them annually like all Daughters of Charity throughout the world on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation.

Sister Teresa said her goal is to help women discern where God is calling them. If that is religious life, "we want women who are healthy and open to growth."

Sister Denise teaches religion and music at St. Peter School in Pine Bluff. Originally from Gonzales, La., she has been a sister since 1952. She said the Daughters would give a woman discerning a religious vocation many gifts.

"She will always, through her whole life, have people who love her and are her friends," she said. "She will be part of a worldwide team spreading the word of God together 'by each doing her best in her own little cabbage patch.'"

There will be a Daughters of Charity National Discernment Retreat Jan. 18-20, 2008, in Evansville, Ind. To register, e-mail Sister Teresa at or visit http://www.daughters-of-charity.org.

Who are the Daughters of Charity?

The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul: