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L e v e s v i l l e - l a -C h e n a r d

Fr. Louis Chauvet

Founder, Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres

MISSIONARY PASTOR IN LEVESVILLE-LA-CHENARD

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Thus the drab and ordinary took on a touch of newness with fine quality…given the fresh
perspective of the 30 year old priest from Provence.

One thing that was true in the late 17th century is still true today that when one gradually
discovers the many, previously unnoticed aspects of the person of Father Chauvet, one sees
how the light of his attachment to beauty shines through. It is revealed in the transformations
that he brought about in Levesville.

"ULTIMA LATET"
Father Louis Chauvet had that distinctive gift of bringing forth transformation. It was not
simply in the purely structural aspect  of the rectory which to this day  boasts of a sundial with
the inscription “Ultima latet” (the final hour is unknown). His presence and his ministry also
brought  changes to  the life of the parish as a community.  His dedication and zeal in his
ministry worked in the manner of the proverbial leaven that transformed the  ordinary dough.

Much of that transformation was due to the project that he quietly cherished deep in his heart
when he begun to identify what was at the root of the sufferings of the poor in the Region of
Beauce. Besides the fact that rural areas were generally neglected by government  services,
they were likewise often the last in getting the care and attention of the  Religious
Congregations who were mostly established in the cities.

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When Father Chauvet  arrived in Beauce, no organized help was there for victims of  plagues and epidemics,
nor for the  widows and the   elderly who were abandoned. The  ignorance of God, the absence of
opportunity for education among the underprivileged resulted in an oppressive situation that was appalling.

The seed of a Religious project took root in his heart and mind. Although he has never
spoken publicly about opening a school in Levesville, a specific recorded official act
points out the exact date when Fr. Louis Chauvet made a move towards the realization of
this project “on April 28, 1695, the parish priest of Levesville rented out land for the
support of a schoolmistress.“

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The formation and transformation of Marie-Anne de Tilly, Marie Micheau and Barbe Foucault – the
First Daughters of the School came from a deep faith strengthened by trials and patience in suffering
– the paschal way. They were formed in the spirituality of Fr. Louis Chauvet making them into Christ’s
disciples led to the Foundation of the Congregation of the Sisters of St Paul in 1696 and the opening
of the First School in 1700 in Levesville and from there, to the world.

These were the tiny grains of wheat that fell into the ground and died in order to yield a rich harvest.
They died young but ripe for eternity: 1702: Mother Marie Micheau, 19; 1703: Mother Marie-Anne de Tilly,
38; 1726: Mother Barbe Foucault, 45.

Father Louis Chauvet, Founder of the Sisters of St Paul of Chartres died on June 21, 1710.

He was buried in the Church of Levesville on June 22, 1710. In 1843, when Mother Maria Rouyrre was
the Superior General, the remains of Fr Chauvet were transferred to the chapel of the Mother House
in Chartres.

How did he help in the transformation of a Marie-Anne de Tilly from being the dutiful, silently
suffering elder daughter of a landed, penniless country nobility to become the teacher formator of his
first recruits? 

To Levesville from Pertuis,

A man was sent one day,
Priest of God, with heart on fire,
Father Louis Chauvet.

By Christ’s love you were spurred on

Like the apostle Paul of old,
To the Church’s needs responding
To the signs of the times you were keen.

To your call young ladies were drawn,

Filled with fervor for your mission,
To make known the love of Christ,
To the suffering, the poor, the child.

You led them in simplicity and poverty,

In prayer and self-sacrifice.
Kindled in their souls by charity,
The gift they gave was their whole life.

Dear Father Louis Chauvet,

Your life was marked with the paschal mystery,
Forgetting self that Christ may increase,

Dying like the grain to give life and newness.
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You welcomed the gift of God.

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And later on, how did he guide the same fearful, and loving daughter who would brave the threats of her
stepmother to live in community with peasant girls and become the second Superior?

Where did he get the daring and the certainty that the young Marie Micheau – who has never known the
existence of a school in all her 17 years – would be transformed into a good learner and be the first School
Mistress and Superior of the Daughters of the School in 1700?

And who would think that the shy and silent Barbe Foucault, formerly a domestic employee in a rich
Farmhouse, would transform her shyness into a tranquil daring to become successively a hospital nurse, a
Superior and in 1717, as the First elected Superior General of the Congregation?

His Last Days...

It was the month of June when the days are a bit longer, the season when ears of grain are
ripening under the sun. The harvest looked very promising. A little longer and the granaries
would again hold the golden grain that will restore dignity to so many families overwhelmed by
famine. In Levesville, the inhabitants were preparing for happier days, the widows and
widowers were thinking of getting married again. The young people have begun to enjoy life
again, with the summer sun high in the sky. New babies would be born and would have more
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At the rectory Genevieve Chauvet, the younger sister of Fr. Chauvet, kept herself busy in
dedicated service. There was also the 17 year old nephew, Louis, who just arrived from Pertuis.
He has learned to appreciate his aunt and especially his uncle who was helping him to prepare
for the priesthood. On that day, the sun shone brightly but the circumstances gave it a paschal
glow. Father Chauvet felt that his time had come, that his days were numbered.

On June 13, the funeral service of a little baby of one month, took place at the church. This
funeral marked the end of all parish activities for Father Chauvet because he no longer had the
strength to do it. So the act of burial was signed by someone who left no identification except for
a note: “The priest could not sign because he himself is nearing death.”

On June 15, 1710 even though he was sick in bed, Father Chauvet, in his own handwriting, and in
perfect clarity, made some corrections to the will that he wrote on November 7, 1706. Four years
have passed, “His dear daughters” have been entrusted to the Bishop, and therefore he had
complete trust in the Bishop’s representative, Father Claude Maréchaux.

His last wishes showed the spirit of poverty that animated him. He specified his“ordinary charity to
the poor” that he wished to see continued until the next wheat harvest; his capacity to “wisely and
properly dispose of the property of the church that God has given Him” demonstrates the
genuineness of his motives for sharing and the care he took in the fulfillment of his task as a good
steward of the goods entrusted to him.

June 19 was the feast of the Blessed Sacrament. For this solemnity of the Corpus Christi, the Mass was
followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament which was particularly more fervent than ever
because the misery this year had been so severe. The altars of repose for the Blessed Sacrament
have been set up along the procession path. Each were, decorated in a fitting manner to receive
God himself who deigned to be present among his faithful people as they take pride in walking close
beside him. The singing of the Tantum Ergo reached the rectory. The parishioners prayed for their
absent pastor who was about to receive “the sacraments of Penance, Eucharist and Anointing of the
Sick.”

Friday, June 20:

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The inhabitants of Levesville, Abonville and Ensonville were attentively waiting for the news of their
pastor’s passing – he who baptized them, heard their confessions, officiated at their marriage, and
taught them for 16 years, telling them about the resurrection and giving them a taste of life in God and
the desire to live as God’s child.

Saturday, June 21:

At 10 a.m. on the road to Abonville, three men walked toward the study of Master Sirou the Notary
public. Father George Mineau – accompanied by Fr Blot and Jean Gatineau – was going to submit the
will of the “humble and discreet person, Father Louis Chauvet, parish priest of Levesville” into the
hands of the notary.

A page was turning and at the same time, it was the beginning of a beautiful book that the Sisters of
St. Paul of Chartres, would be writing for 300 years with words of solidarity, charity, humility, peace
and praise in various languages.

In Paradisum

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Sunday, June 22:

On Sunday, June 22, the mourners took the path going to the parish. This Sunday was not an
ordinary one. Men, women and children came for a final farewell to their pastor, the man from
Provence who had won their hearts. Spiritually fortified by his teaching and firm in faith, they
listened to the Latin Requiem Mass with the great sequence of “Dies Irae”.

Father Claude Marechaux was appointed by the Bishop to preside at the celebration.

Father Blot and Father Georges Mineau concelebrated with him.

After the Mass, in accordance with the will of the deceased, his body was buried, with “no great
solemnity … before the high altar, in the place of the ordinary priests.” This was not far from the
altar of the Virgin where lie the first Daughters of the school: Marie Micheau, Marie Anne de Tilly and
Catherine Sirou. Surrounded by a large assembly, the choir sang “In Paradisum.”

SOURCE:  “Father Louis Chauvet, Founder of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres  *300th Death
Anniversary* 1710-2010.”

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