St Paul College of Ilocos Sur

Shaken and moved by the prevalence of misery, poverty, ignorance and religious torpor of his congregation as a result of the Hundred Years War, Father Louis Chauvet, the parish priest of a little village, Levesville-la- Chenard, made a determined and unmistakably decisive endeavor to uplift the human and spiritual levels of his villagers. Having these services for his people in mind: to educate the young girls and to visit and care for the poor in the neighboring hamlets, in 1696, Father Chauvet asked Marie Ann de Tilly, a young lady of nobility, to help him with his plans. Together with some peasant girls of Beauce, their mission of charity was started; a small and dark room in the church served as their first classroom. Not long after, a restored house was renovated to accommodate the increasing number of girls; the “Daughters of the School” (as the volunteers were called) gratuitously persevered in their life of poverty and hard work. Soon after, this fraternal community was established as a religious order, later to be known as the SISTERS OF ST. PAUL OF CHARTRES. The school founded by Fr. Chauvet is known to be the first school in the diocese of Chartres that answered the mandate of King Louis IV of France that parishes should establish small schools in their areas.