The congregation of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly celebrated, on October 27th, a century of uninterrupted presence in Barbastro (1925 – 2025), dedicated to caring for bodies to save souls. Their mission, started by the venerable Saturnino López Novoa in 1873 to care for the elderly without resources, is reborn today with the same silent radicality as always: welcoming those over “60 years old who suffer all kinds of poverty”, whether lack of means or loneliness due to an absent family.
A Truly Uncomfortable Service
These sisters practice a charity that contemporary currents of “media misericordism” rarely highlight. They take on what few want: residences for abandoned elderly, accompaniment in illness, dignified care at the end of life. In the Barbastro house, with five sisters for 72 residents, they offer not only nursing or podiatry, but “a home, a house where there is a lot of affection and a lot of unity”.
And they do it without pusillanimity: recognizing poverty not only as material lack, but as isolation, abandonment, lack of meaning. “An elderly person who has no money is as poor as one who has it but whose family cannot care for him”, explains one of the nuns.
Discretion, Tradition, and Prayer: Ingredients of a Dedicated Life
Unlike many “social actions” with immediate visibility, these nuns prefer the joyful silence of everyday service: prayer, liturgy, humble presence in the small things. Their identity is built on tradition: the charism of Saint Teresa Jornet of “caring for bodies to save souls” remains valid.
Their presence does not claim media coverage, poses, or saturation on social networks. It is expressed in the simple gesture of changing a sheet, giving communion, holding a weakened hand. In a time when many “acts of mercy” are exhibited as campaigns, they teach that true mercy does not ask for applause; it asks for fidelity.
A Lesson for the Theorists of Charity
In an era where mercy has become a fashion label and many initiatives prioritize media impact over constancy, this centenarian congregation offers an uncomfortable lesson: authentic charity demands sacrifice, uninterrupted passion, and presence in the marginal. It is not enough to “make mercy visible”; it is necessary to be where no one wants to be.
These sisters show that the Gospel is not effective when it reduces poverty to a “social problem” or old age to a “demographic burden”. It is revolutionary when it welcomes the last, accompanies the forgotten, and remains before pain until the end.