 Zoe Laboure was born on May 2, 1806 in the town of Fainles-Moutiers, of peasant parents who nurtured their children with love and mutual help and allowed God to reign in the family.Her mother died when Zoe was nine, but this loss led her to take refuge in the boundless love of Mary.Even in her younger years, Zoe manifested a great love for prayer and penance and at the age of nineteen, she strongly felt the call of God through a strange dream picturing an old priest beckoning her to offer herself to God through the person of the sick poor.