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This is our story......a story to be known by heart, to be lived in faith and hope and love, and to be recalled again and again… a story to tell with pride and thankfulness!The setting of our story is 17th century France in the little village known as Levesville-la-Chenard, southeast of Chartres. Levesville is found in the heart of wheat fields in the region of Beauce.Our story was conceived in the heart of Fr. Louis Chauvet, pastor of Levesville: founder of the “Daughters of the School”, now known as: Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres...Louis Chauvet came from southern France, and was baptized in Pertuis, Provence on February 17, 1664. It was June 1694 when he took possession of the Parish of Levesville. His rectory became a center of studies, and he wanted to teach the children how to read and write in order to enable them to study and learn more about God and Christian doctrine; to participate more fully and intimately in religious ceremonies, and to practice religion truly.Our story, conceived in the heart of Father Louis Chauvet, blossomed in the soul and bore fruit in the life of Mother Marie Anne de Tilly…Marie Anne was baptized in the Church of Allaines on March 8, 1665. She witnessed the death of four brothers and four sisters. She became responsible for the family and the home at the early age of thirteen when her mother, Anne de Fesnieres, “Lady of Allaines,” died on August 16, 1678 at the age of thirty-three. Her father, Louis de Tilly, “Lord of Villegat,” married Marguerite David of Abonville on November 11, 1681.Marie Anne, obliged to live in subjection to her stepmother, was taken up with incessant anxieties. These developed in virtues of gentleness, goodness and charity. She was obliged to struggle in the midst of all life’s difficulties. These strengthened her character and spirit of decision, taught her to overcome timidity and fear, to develop will power, and above all, to acquire the necessary authority in place of her father who continued to bear the painful events of his family.
Marie Anne became co-foundress with Father Louis Chauvet of the Daughters of the School…Father Louis Chauvet and Mother Marie Anne de Tilly had the same project, spirit, and goal: He was the spirit who conceived. She was the soul who accomplished. When the Pastor of Levesville had discovered the greatness of soul of Marie Anne, he thought it right to confide to her his plans in detail. She was given first place in the plan and was the first to be involved in it. She actively participated in the Parish life, and her charitable activities were centered on the Parish of Levesville. She wore a gray habit, a symbol of giving her whole life to the glory of God and the service of neighbor. For many years, the gray habit was the color chosen and worn by the Daughters of the School. There were two other persons important to note at the beginning of our story. They were Marie Micheau and Barbe Foucault…Marie Micheau was brought to the home of Antoine de Tilly, younger brother of Marie Anne, in 1698 by unknown and providential circumstances. It was there that the co-foundress met her, taught her, and thus prepared her to take part in our story.Barbe Foucault was also led to Levesville by providential circumstances. Like Marie Micheau, she came from a poor family. Unlike Marie Micheau, who was fragile in health, Barbe Foucault was strong and used to hard work. Father Chauvet and Marie Anne de Tilly prepared Marie and Barbe to be the first two “Daughters of the School.” They would teach the children their prayers, catechism, manner of assisting at mass, and how to read and write. The Daughters of the School would also visit the poor and the sick in their homes. On December 13, 1698 King Louis IV of France issued a Royal Decree to establish small schools in all parishes of France…With Marie Micheau and Barbe Foucault who were prepared to be the first two Daughters of the School, Levesville became the first parish in the diocese of Chartres to organize a school.On Easter of 1700 the school opens at “The Cradle,” the rebuilt house which Father Chauvet bought from the Parish Council, with seventeen year old Marie Micheau as teacher and first superior. Barbe Foucault who was nineteen attended to the material needs of the community and the school. Our story is marked by the falling of the grain of wheat into the ground…On November 15, 1702 Marie Micheau died at the age of nineteen due to her delicate health. Marie Anne de Tilly, was unanimously chosen and appointed superior. However, she continued to suffer greatly from her family and became ill. On September 28, 1703, the co-foundress and second superior dies at the age of thirty-eight.Like the falling of the grain of wheat that dies and bears fruit, the first two deaths in our story produced much fruit for the Daughters of the School of Levesville. In the midst of many trials and difficulties, they increased in number, and were able to respond to the request of other pastors who desired to have the Daughters of the School in their parishes. In 1708, Bishop Paul Godet de Marais of Chartres accepted Father Chauvet’s request to take the community of the Daughters of the School of Levesville under his protection, as well as under the protection of Our lady of Chartres. They became known as “Sisters of the Community of School Teachers.” It was the Bishop of Chartres who finally gave them the official name: The falling of the grain of wheat into the ground continues to mark our story. Father Louis Chauvet died on June 21, 1710. He was buried in the choir of the Church of Levesville, but his remains were later brought to the chapel of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres. Barbe Foucault, who was one of the first four Paulinians in Levesville, directed the General Hospital in Mantes for several years, to the satisfaction of many. In 1717, she was unanimously chosen superior general and she brought to Chartres the spirit of Levesville, of Father Louis Chauvet, of Mother Marie Anne, the spirit of: THE PAULINIAN FOR OTHERS. Barbe Foucault carried out the task of superior general with great wisdom and firmness for nine years; after which she died on September 18, 1726 at the age of forty-five, worn out by solicitude, work and penance. The falling of the grain of wheat into the ground continues our story. And it continues to bear fruit. The Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres were serving 17 institutions for children, the poor, and the sick in France. In 1727, they were called for the first time to leave their own country and go to a far-off land to take care of a hospital and to manage a school in Cayenne, Guiana. It was September 10, 1727 when they arrived on their first foreign mission land. From Levesville, to Chartres, to Guiana, our story continues to move on – covering five continents of the world in different countries where the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres serve the children, the poor and the sick…One hundred seventy-seven years after the first sea voyage in our story, and two hundred eight years after the foundation in Levesville, Bishop Frederick Rooker of the Diocese of Iloilo, to which Dumaguete then belonged; requested for Sisters to manage a small school for girls.Sister Marthe de St. Paul (Superior), Sister Marie Louise, Sister Ange Marie, Sister Anne de la Croix, Sister Catherine, Sister Charles, and Sister Marie Josephine sailed from their mission in Vietnam, arrived in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental to establish the first Paulinian foundation in the Philippines on October 29, 1904. As it was in the beginning of our story – in Levesville, the Sisters in the small cradle in Dumaguete grew in strength and in number, through trials and difficulties. Like the falling of the grain of wheat into the ground, the premier school brought forth 37 schools and 23 hospitals, health and pastoral care centers; 61 communities of Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres throughout Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. How true it is indeed, as our story shows, that “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it will bring forth a hundredfold. ” The story of the grain of wheat tells the story that THE PAULINIAN IS FOR OTHERS. Our story is the giving of self for others: “Impelled by the Love of Christ! ” And, with its mission to give itself to others, St. Paul University Dumaguete continues the legacy of Father Louis Chauvet, Mother Marie Anne de Tilly, and the first Daughters of the School in Levesville… … it continues to serve the community, to comfort the sick and depressed… and with its quest to provide quality Paulinian education, it keeps on striving for excellence…
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