Sisters of the Holy Childhood of Jesus and Mary
The Sisters of the Holy Childhood of Jesus and Mary, known also as Sisters of Ste-Chrétienne, are a Roman Catholic congregation founded in 1807 by Madame Anne-Victoire Méjanes, née Tailleux, for the education of girls and the care of the sick poor.[1]
At the invitation of bishop Jauffret of Metz, Mme Méjanes and her community went from Argancy to Metz and took up their abode in the Abbey of St. Glossinde, where, on 20 April 1807, they bound themselves by vow to follow the statutes drawn up for them by the bishop. Their numbers soon increased.[1] On 31 December 2010 there are 191 sisters in 36 communities.[2]
The religious are divided into choir and lay sisters, the latter occupied with the domestic care of their various institutions, the former engaged in the works peculiar to higher schools, industrial schools, and orphanages. The vows are made annually for ten years, after which final vows are taken.[1]
The congregation received the approval of the Holy See in 1888, and its statutes were granted papal approbation in 1899.[1]
The sisters have houses in France, Austria, Hungary, Georgia, Canada, and the United States.[1] There is a novitiate of the congregation in Salem, Massachusetts.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Rudge 1910.
- ^ Annuario Pontificio 2012, p. 1654.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rudge, Florence Marie (1910). "Sisters of the Holy Childhood of Jesus and Mary". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
