All she said was true.

Founder of L'Arche International, Jean Vanier, reminisces about his late sister Thérèse Vanier - the subject of a new biography by Ann Shearer, chosen by the Catholic Herald as one of the books of 2016...

 

What a wonderful woman my big sister.

In her there was such a wealth of wisdom.

When I was just her little brother

I was a bit fearful of her.

She and Benedict were the two older ones

Bernard and I were the naughty little ones.

The two older ones were orderly.

We could create disorder where there should be order.  
 

Years followed years.

When I was a young cadet in the Naval College Dartmouth far from the family

Thérèse looked after me as she could.

When I founded L’Arche in 1964

she came over to Trosly for Christmas

to help me and maybe see what it was all about.
 

And then in 1971

during the first international Faith and Light pilgrimage in Lourdes

she came as a doctor to accompany

a group of people with intellectual difficulties from England.

It was there that she felt a call

not just to be a very competent doctor in London

but to help create L’Arche communities in the UK.

She took a huge and courageous step

to limit her vocation as a doctor.
 

I went to England to help her begin the adventure.

She came more frequently to Trosly

and I went to the United Kingdom.

She was touched by the community here in Trosly

but often upset by all our inadequacies and maybe also the

disorderliness.
She took her place in the International Council

and now and again let us know just how upset she was

by the way we did things and how we didn’t give

the right support and formation to our tired assistants.
 

All she said was true,

we needed her voice of wisdom.

We needed someone like her for L’Arche to grow wisely.

I believe she must have suffered quite a bit

as the coordinator of L’Arche in the United Kingdom.

Assistants coming and going, having to depend on providence in

so many ways.
 

This book reveals her wisdom, her great love

of people and in a special way those with disabilities

and those who were in the last stages of life.

Yes Thérèse was a great and wonderful woman.

She wasn’t always easy.

But through her life was revealed her beautiful heart,

her great wisdom, her exceptional competence.
 

I loved and was very proud of my sister

even if now and again I was a bit fearful of her.
 

This book came about because I wanted Thérèse’s spirit and wisdom to be better known outside and within L’Arche. I believe there is still much that we can learn from her approach to working with people with disabilities and to others who are too often pushed to society’s margins. She herself was sustained by a deep personal faith, but this was far from exclusive. The message of her work for ecumenism remains important, and her desire for greater unity in the wider human community is still also relevant to people of different faiths and none.
 

When I thought of a book about Thérèse’s life and work, I asked Ann Shearer, who knew her well, if she would write it. In discussion with her and others, Eileen Glass, vice international coordinator of L’Arche, and I invited contributors to send their thoughts about Thérèse. This book is the result and I hope you will be stirred by Thérèse as she was known and loved by so many.
 

 

This is an extract from Thérèse Vanier: Pioneer of L’Arche, palliative care and spiritual unity by Ann Shearer, available now in paperback, priced £12.99.

Thérèse Vanier, founder of L'Arche in the UK, was also a distinguished doctor who worked with Cecily Saunders at the world-renowned St Christopher's Hospice in London, and a tireless contributor to Christian ecumenism and interfaith understanding.