Commemorative poem read by Jean Osborn at our 100-year celebration.
This Place Called Mullen Home
It was many and many a year ago In a village by the Brittany sea That a maiden known as Jeanne Jugan Lived a life destined for divinity. For she made her small home a refuge For the old, the helpless, the poor And all found comfort and dignity
As they entered through her door.
Thus began Little Sisters of the Poor Who keep her mission well enthroned; Which brings us now to commemorate This place called Mullen Home. For it all began some decades past In the year eighteen-eighty-one That a request was made by the archbishop Asking the Sisters, “Will you please come And provide a safe haven in Denver For the old, the helpless, the poor?” But the appeal would go unanswered
For thirty years and more.
You may say it was providential, For the Little Sisters surely would, That a flour baron named J. K. Mullen Stepped in just when he should And offered to finance a home for the aged As a memorial to him and his wife To thank the Lord for all the good fortune
That had come into their life.
So by nineteen-hundred-seventeen The home was well underway; Ten beautiful acres were found and deeded Where the home stately stands today. Mother Superior and four Little Sisters Arrived in the winter of that year To begin their labors in earnest For the mission they hold most dear, To care for those needing refuge, The old, the helpless, the poor And in spring of nineteen-eighteen
The first in need came through their door.
How swiftly God turns the hour hand ‘Tis now a century that has come and gone; The Little Sisters have served many souls And our foundress is now ‘Saint’ Jeanne Jugan. And Mullen Home with grace endures Providing sanctuary for the old, the poor And with God’s good will this sacred refuge
Will serve another hundred years and more.
J. A. Osborn
2017