VincentWiki:Ephemerides/7 September

1652. Paris. For the first time, Daughters of Charity were about to cross the borders of France. Vincent de Paul, responded the request of Louise-Marie de Gonzague, Queen of Poland, and sent three sisters: Marguerite Moreau, Madeleine Drugeon and Francoise Douelle. After passing through the Baltic Sea and German territories, they would be received by the Queen, in her castle in ?owicz (read: Lo-vee-tch), some fifty miles from Warsaw, where they would stay during the winter. Their debut will not be easy - harsh climate, Swedish invasion on the country, plague epidemic. during the years Daughters of Charity popularly called "Szarytki" (read: Sha-ryt-kee) became very important part of Polish history and country's life, even when the country was swept out from maps of Europe. Before WWII there Sisters were gathered 200 houses cross all then Poland. Presently, there are over 1000 sisters and some 100 houses in three provinces.