eirs
could only be adequately done by women whose lives were consecrated to
God, who were prepared to spend themselves without stint or measure in
His service. "If you aspire to perfection, you must learn to die to
self" was the teaching of their foundress.

Louise le Gras was a soul of prayer, and she knew that more was needed
than fervent philanthropy and a heart full of pity to give the Sisters
courage for the lives they had undertaken to lead. Uncloistered nuns
were at that time a thing unheard of, and in the first days of the
little company the Sisters were often greeted with insults when they
appeared in the streets. In Vincent's own words, they were "a
community who had no monastery but the houses of the sick, no cells
but a lodging of the poorest room, no cloisters but the streets, no
grille but the fear of God, and no veil but their own modesty."

Their life was hard. They rose at four, their food was of the plainest
description, they spent their days in an unhealthy atmosphere and were
habitually overworked. The life of a true Sister of Charity needed to
be rooted and nourished in the love of God, and no one realized it
more completely than Vincent himself. In his weekly conferences, when
they met together at St. Lazare, he would set before them the ideals
of their vocation, bidding them above all things to be humble and
simple.

"You see, my sisters," he would say to them, "you are only rough
country girls, brought up like myself to keep the flocks." He
understood their temptations and knew their weaknesses, but the
standard was never to be lowered.

"The Daughters of Charity must go wherever they are needed," he said,
"but this obligation exposes them to many temptations, and therefore
they have special need of strictness." They were never to pay a visit
unless it was part of their work; they were never to receive one; they
were not to stand talking in the street unless it was absolutely
necessary; they were never to go out without leave.

"What?" Vincent makes them say in one of his conferences, "do you ask
me to be my own enemy, to be forever denying myself, to do everything
I have no wish to do, to destroy self altogether?"

"Yes, my sisters," he answers; "and unless you do so, you will be
slipping back in the way of righteousness." Their lives were of
necessity full of temptations, and only in this spirit could they
resist them.

Life in the streets of a great city was full of interest to these