After more than a century and a half of uninterrupted presence in Salamanca, the Little Sisters of the Poor have said goodbye to the city where they carried out for 154 years the charism of Saint Jeanne Jugan in the service of the most needy elderly. The farewell took place on July 1 during a eucharist of thanksgiving presided over by the Bishop of Salamanca, Mons. José Luis Retana, in the residence that the congregation has served for nearly a century.
According to the Diocese of Salamanca, the celebration brought together residents, staff, volunteers, benefactors and numerous faithful who wished to thank the silent dedication of several generations of religious sisters, whose work has marked the city’s history of care and spirituality since 1872.
“Love given is never lost”
During the homily, Mons. Retana described the celebration as “a crossing of gratitudes.” He thanked the Little Sisters for their fidelity to the charism received from Saint Jeanne Jugan and also acknowledged the generosity of those who, over the decades, sustained the work through their material help, volunteering or prayer.
“There are moments in life when words seem too small to express what we carry in our hearts. This is one of those moments,” the bishop stated.
Addressing the benefactors, he recalled that they had been “much more than collaborators,” enabling thousands of elderly people to find in that house “not only a roof and care, but also a home where they felt loved, respected and accompanied.”
The prelate emphasized that the work carried out by the sisters does not disappear with their departure. “Works change, people pass and circumstances evolve, but love given is never lost. It remains in the hearts of those who receive it and in the heart of God,” he affirmed.
A work born of Providence
On behalf of the community, the superior recalled the origin of the congregation founded by Saint Jeanne Jugan, who welcomed an elderly, sick and destitute woman into her own bed, trusting fully in Providence.
With that same trust she also explained the decision to leave Salamanca, a determination that, she acknowledged, has been marked by pain, but also by the certainty of having sought “the best solution” for the residents, the staff and the future of the house.
The religious sister especially thanked the support received for more than a century and a half from the city, from benefactors, from volunteers and from the personnel who have shared the mission of caring for the elderly.
A presence begun in 1872
The Little Sisters of the Poor arrived in Salamanca in December of 1872, encouraged by the then bishop Joaquín Lluch, who had come to know in France the work begun by Saint Jeanne Jugan.
On Christmas Day of that year they welcomed their first elderly resident in a modest dwelling on Padilleros Street. Decades later, the growing demand made necessary the construction of a new residence, inaugurated in 1927 on the present-day Avenida de San Agustín, from where the congregation has carried out its work to the present day.
Throughout these 154 years, thousands of elderly people have passed through the house, sustained by Providence and the constant collaboration of the people of Salamanca.
“Part of our heart will remain here”
In one of the most moving moments of the celebration, the superior addressed the residents, whom she described as “our treasure” and “the deepest reason for our dedication.”
“Today we feel the sadness of farewell, because leaving this house is leaving part of our life, but we also feel peace—the peace of knowing that the spirit of family Saint Jeanne Jugan dreamed of will continue to live in you,” she affirmed.
Before concluding, she summed up the feeling of the entire community with words that drew applause from those present:
“We will leave, but part of our heart will remain here.”