My undergraduate years at Notre Dame were filled with hundreds of visits to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart under a myriad of circumstance: daily Masses, Basilica tours, weddings, Holy Week liturgies, and Vespers in the Lady Chapel, to name a few. But this past Saturday’s Mass celebrating this year’s Evangelium Vitae Medal recipients was a sight I never thought I’d see.

After quoting from the Acts of the Apostles from the readings of the Third Sunday of Easter, Bishop Kevin Rhoades addressed the congregation: “At this Mass, there is a community of sisters with us who, in the face of a terribly unjust mandate of our federal government, have stood up and by their actions have said what Saint Peter and the apostles said to their government in the earliest years of the Church: We must obey God rather than men.’”

At this, the packed Basilica erupted in applause, possibly a typical response considering other moments when this happens: ordinations and final vows of our Holy Cross priests and religious, the welcoming of the newly baptized and confirmed, and even to thank our Basilica choirs. But this was different. Most moments of applause that I call to mind happen at the invitation of a celebrant or master of ceremonies. Here, the crowd’s response was spontaneous, and as they continued to clap, others began to stand, and soon, the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor was receiving a standing ovation.

Considering all the kinds of attention the Little Sisters have been receiving this year, a standing ovation in a university Basilica is, I think, an acknowledgement they didn’t expect—certainly something I never thought would happen—and it is certainly attention their Mother Foundress, Saint Jeanne Jugan, couldn’t have imagined for her little Congregation of beggars.

Beggars? It’s probably not the first characteristic you think of when it comes to the Little Sisters of the Poor. You think of sweet, religious sisters, right? They’re saintly, docile, and joyful, probably so because that fourth vow of hospitality they take does wonders to their aura. You might think they’re literally small, as one of my best friends from college whispered to me after meeting a Little Sister and noticing she was taller than he imagined she would be. But beggars? Unlike the University of Notre Dame, the Sisters’ “alumni” are those elderly poor now in heaven, so it is natural that they must ask their living neighbors for assistance in caring for their current residents.

As the collecting sister in Saint Louis always says about their vocation, any woman who enters this Congregation knows that sooner or later she’ll be a beggar, and inevitably you don’t always come across happy and willing benefactors. Jeanne Jugan’s life was full of such moments, pure examples of humility and reliance on Divine Providence passed on in the spirituality of the Congregation.

My favorite example is from a popular biography of the saint: “An irritable old bachelor struck her. Gently, she replied, ‘Thank you; that was for me. Now please give me something for my poor.’” Another man taunts her, and accidentally pushes Jeanne Jugan down two flights of stairs. Afraid, he calls down to her and asks if she is okay. Jeanne simply brushes herself and tries to comfort the distress of the man, replying she is fine. The man runs down the stairs and hands her some money. Now that’s what I call guilt for the man and dedication for Jeanne.

Who among us is willing to fall down some flights of stairs or be slapped in the face, all for a life in dedication to Christ and His elderly poor? It’s how I see this battle of the Little Sisters against the HHS Mandate: They ask for relief and get pushed backwards, slapped in the face with a threat of fines. They’ve been “found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” of Jesus since 1839, and 2016 certainly won’t be the last year—no matter the Court’s decision—as they continue to defend end-of-life care for the vulnerable, elderly poor.

A standing ovation may be a shock for sticklers of Mass etiquette, but the moment was, without a doubt, a beautiful, moving response to the pure and humble witness of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Sisters are indeed fighters and stand their ground, but beyond the HHS Mandate, they’re simply beggars, collecting souls for Christ while trying to meet their earthly means in a Home modeled after the Holy Family.

I’ve heard the name of Saint Jeanne Jugan invoked in the second part of the Eucharistic Prayer in Masses at Little Sisters’ Homes around the world, but never did I think I would hear it in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. After taking her religious name, Sister Mary of the Cross never thought to be called Jeanne again: “Do not call me Jeanne Jugan. All that is left of her is Sister Mary of the Cross, unworthy though she is of that lovely name.” Sister Mary of the Cross. How fitting a patroness for us at Notre Dame.

Sandra Laguerta is a former Religion and Ethics editor of the Rover and writes from Saint Louis, MO. She affectionately calls Saint Jeanne Jugan “Saint Sister Sass.” Contact her at slaguerta@alumni.nd.edu.