| Jean Pytel likes beating the odds. 
The 78-year-old single lady is taking computer classes, attends water aerobic classes, and does her own household shores --- despite a heart attack she suffered a few years back. And recently, she acquired her first passport ever, to go on a trip she had not contemplated even in her wildest dreams.
As this issue heads to press, Pytel will be flying overseas, as part of a delegation of 12 people, to witness the Oct. 11 canonization of Blessed Jeanne Jugan, the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the religious order which operates San Pedro's Jeanne Jugan Residence for low-income elderly, Pytel's home since 1997.
"I've never been out of the United States except to step by mistake into Mexico for a few minutes and into the lakes of Canada for a few hours (when passports were not required)," Pytel told The Tidings.
Twelve years ago, the retired UCLA's administrative assistant found herself alone. She was living at Casa de los Amigos in Redondo Beach, when her oldest sister told her about the Jeanne Jugan Residence in San Pedro.
They both applied to the Residence and were put on a waiting list for three years. Her sister passed away during that time and in 1997 Pytel moved in. In 2001 she left to take care of a sister in Kansas, then returned about two years later and has lived at the Residence ever since.
The only way she can explain how she was accepted at the home for the elderly that always keeps a long waiting list, is the "great love God has for me."
When Sister Marguerite McCarthy, superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in San Pedro, asked her if she wanted to go to Rome, Pytel was thrilled, but surprised. "It was completely unexpected, too much to comprehend!" she exclaimed.
She even asked Sister McCarthy, "Why me?"
Sister McCarthy explained that her physical strength --- despite her heart attack --- was sound enough to travel. But, Sister McCarthy told The Tidings, it was also Pytel's "strong faith and her understanding of the spirit of Blessed Jeanne Jugan" what earned her the trip, with all expenses covered by the religious congregation.
A dream come true
The same happened with Inez David, the other resident selected to join the delegation. Like Jean Pytel, she is a "serious, practicing Catholic," Sister McCarthy said.
The 86-year-old David calls herself one of the "rookies" at the San Pedro residence. It's only been two years since she moved to the independent living apartments, one of the four levels of care that the Little Sisters provide. (The other levels are residential, assisted and skilled nursing.)
David had been living with one of her children in Colorado. But although she has a large family (eight adult children, 20 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren), she yearned for independence.
She also wanted to dedicate more of her time to her spiritual development. In 1986, before immigrating to the United States from her native Philippines, she joined the Order of Carmel Discalced Secular, a community of lay Roman Catholics who have a strong practice of meditation and prayer.
David has been to Rome before and, on that trip, threw a coin in a fountain as she made a wish to someday return. But that desire had almost vanished. "I never thought I would be back at 86," she smiled.
'Patroness of the elderly'
This weekend, some 4,000 sisters, residents, friends, supporters and benefactors from 202 homes in different parts of the world will converge in Rome for the canonization of Jeanne Jugan, "patroness of the elderly," at St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Benedict XVI will preside, and Jeanne Jugan homes around the world will celebrate Masses of Thanksgiving paralleling the celebration in Rome.
(The others to be canonized Oct. 11 are: Father Jozef Damian de Veuster, who cared for patients with Hansen's disease, or leprosy, on the island of Molokai; Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski, founder of the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary; Francisco Coll Guitart, founder of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and Rafael Arnaiz Baron, 20th-century Spanish Trappist brother known for his humility.)
It was 170 years ago that Jeanne Jugan, a 47-year-old French Breton fisherman's daughter, opened her home to a homeless semi-paralyzed blind elderly woman on a cold winter night. Jugan was inspired, she said, to gather the old lady from the streets and carry her home to place her in her own bed.
With little means of her own and carrying a basket, Jugan went from village to village knocking on doors begging for money and food with the support of the Brothers of St. John of God.
That was the beginning of the French-based religious order, whose mission is to assist the poor elderly (of any ethnic or religious background) with shelter, food, clothing and medical assistance, until their death. Jugan, who has been called the "saint for old age and every age," was beatified on Oct. 3, 1982.
Today, the Little Sisters of the Poor still carry the "begging basket" to collect funds, food and clothing for the 13,000 elderly they serve in 202 homes in 32 countries. There are 31 homes in North America, including U.S. and Canada.
The San Pedro home is also supported by an association of lay people who volunteer at the residence and an Auxiliary of the Little Sisters of the Poor, which conducts periodic fundraisers. A group of medical and dental doctors as well as physical therapists also volunteer their services.
'A call to provide dignity'
The Little Sisters of the Poor believe the canonization of their foundress has worldwide relevance because "it is a celebration of a saintly life; a call to provide dignity to those at the end of life in very difficult physical and financial circumstances; exposes a unique model of health care to the elderly in challenging economic times; and it is a vocation story of young women willing to give the best of their youth for the elderly and the church."
The elderly population is increasing worldwide. According to the Little Sisters of the Poor's document, "Rejoicing in the Canonization of Jeanne Jugan," today more than 1.3 million Americans 65 years old or older live in homes for the elderly. By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be elderly.
The first group of Little Sisters of the Poor in the U.S. arrived in Brooklyn, New York, in September 1868. Within four years 13 homes for the elderly were established nationwide; by the 1950s they had opened 52 homes, a number which has since been reduced to 30.
For 74 years the Little Sisters of the Poor assisted more than 5,500 aged poor at St. Ann's Home, a four-floor building in Boyle Heights that eventually became obsolete and had to be demolished.
With the support of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and individual donors, a new home was opened in 1979 at the former Fermin Lasuén High School on Western Avenue in San Pedro. A new building was added to the south end of the old structure.
The three-floor residence has a capacity for 104 aged poor. Yearly, a waiting list piles up with enough people to fill the home at its full capacity. In June 2005 the Little Sisters of the Poor celebrated 100 years of service in Los Angeles.
'Something supernatural'
Sister McCarthy still recalls the phone call she received in 2002 from Jeanne Gatz, wife of Dr. Edward Gatz, a retired Omaha (Nebraska) anesthesiologist diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1989.
The doctor's wife was advised by Jesuit Father Richard McGloin, at Creighton University in Omaha, to pray to Blessed Jeanne for the healing of her husband, who was told he had just a few months to live. Father McGloin had previously been a chaplain at the Jeanne Jugan Residence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Within a few months, a follow-up biopsy found Gatz to be cancer-free.
Years later, Jeanne Gatz called Sister McCarthy to describe what had happened to her husband. Then Dr. Gatz came on the line.
As he was describing his story, suddenly Sister McCarthy had "a sense that something supernatural had happened," she said. "After going through times of shock and depression, he had this spiritual peace and detachment." 
There was no doubt in her mind that this was the miracle the religious congregation had been waiting for many years to prove to the Vatican and the world that their foundress deserved sainthood. With Sister McCarthy's help, the process for approval of the final miracle required for canonization moved forward, accompanied by months of paperwork, until Blessed Jeanne's canonization was approved and announced early this year.
Dr. and Mrs. Gatz, who spend winters in Southern California, are also attending the Oct. 11 canonization. Dr. Gatz is still healthy at the age of 72.
"This has been a humbling experience," Jeanne Gatz told The Tidings in a phone interview. "It's very difficult to transfer my thoughts into words or feelings. All I can say is that the Holy Spirit was putting all the pieces of the puzzle together." For more information, to make donations or to volunteer at the Jeanne Jugan Residence in San Pedro, call (310)548-0625 or visit www.lspsocal.org.
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