![Tichy Elegy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Tichy_Elegy.jpg)
The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul ( la, Societas Filiarum Caritatis a Sancto Vincentio de Paulo), commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, is a
Society of Apostolic Life for women within the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Its members make annual vows throughout their life, which leaves them always free to leave, without the need of ecclesiastical permission. They were founded in 1633 and state that they are devoted to serving the poor through the corporal and spiritual
works of mercy
Works of mercy (sometimes known as acts of mercy) are practices considered meritorious in Christian ethics.
The practice is popular in the Catholic Church as an act of both penance and charity. In addition, the Methodist church teaches that th ...
.
They have been popularly known in France as "the Grey Sisters" from the color of their traditional
religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...
, which was originally grey, then bluish grey. The 1996 publication ''The Vincentian Family Tree'' presents an overview of related communities from a genealogical perspective. They use the initials DC after their names.
Since 20 April 2020, its Superior General is
Françoise Petit.
Foundation
![Vincent de Paul](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Vincent_de_Paul.PNG)
The institute was founded by
Vincent de Paul
Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...
, a French priest, and
Louise de Marillac
Louise de Marillac , also Louise Le Gras, (August 12, 1591 – March 15, 1660) was the co-founder, with Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church in the United S ...
, a widow. The need for organization in working with the poor suggested to De Paul the forming of a
confraternity
A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most c ...
among the women of his parish in
Châtillon-les-Dombes. It was so successful that it spread from the rural districts to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, where the noble ladies often found it hard to give personal care to the needs of the poor and sent their servants to minister to those in need; but the work was often slighted as unimportant. Vincent de Paul remedied this by referring interested young women from the countryside to work with the "Ladies of Charity" in Paris.
These young women formed the nucleus of the Company of the Daughters of Charity now spread over the world. On 29 November 1633, the eve of St. Andrew, de Marillac began a more systematic training of the women, particularly for the care of the sick. The
sisters
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
lived in the community in order to better develop their spiritual life so as to more effectively carry out their mission of service. The Daughters of Charity differed from other religious congregations of that time in that they were not cloistered. They maintained the necessary mobility and availability, and lived among those whom they served.
[ From the beginning, the community motto was: "The charity of Christ impels us!"
The newly formed Daughters of Charity set up soup kitchens, organized community hospitals, established schools and homes for orphaned children, offered job training, taught the young to read and write, and improved prison conditions. The hospital of St John the Evangelist in the province of Angers was the first hospital entrusted to the care of the Daughters of Charity.] Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul both died in 1660, and by this time there were more than forty houses of the Daughters of Charity in France, and the sick poor were cared for in their own dwellings in twenty-six parishes in Paris.
French Revolution
Anticlerical forces in the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
were determined to shut down all convents. In 1789 France had 426 houses; the sisters numbered about 6000 in Europe. In 1792, the sisters were ordered to quit the motherhouse; the community was officially disbanded in 1793.[ An oath to support the Revolution was imposed on all former members of religious orders who performed a service that was remunerated by the state. Taking this oath was seen as breaking off with the Church while those who refused to do so were considered counter-revolutionaries.
In Angers, revolutionary authorities decided to make an example of sisters Marie-Anne Vaillot and Odile Baumgarten in order to demonstrate what refusal to take the oath would mean. In early 1794 they were publicly executed. At a ceremony in Rome on 19 February 1984 Pope John Paul II beatified ninety-nine persons who died for the faith in Angers, including Vaillot and Baumgarten.][ Their feast day is 1 February.
Sister Marguerite Rutan was the Superior of the community that staffed the hospital at Dax. The six sisters had refused to take the revolutionary oath. The Revolutionary committee wanted to remove the Superior of the Sisters and looked for a motive to arrest her. A false testimony allowed them to say that Sr. Marguerite was unpatriotic, a fanatic against the principles of the Revolution and that she tried to convince the wounded soldiers to desert and join the royalist army of Vendéens. On 9 April 1794 Sister Marguerite Rutan was condemned to death and guillotined at Poyanne Place not far from the prison.][ She was beatified Sunday, 19 June 2011 in Dax, France. Her feast day is 26 June.
Sisters Marie-Madeleine Fontaine, Marie-Françoise Lanel, Thérèse Fantou, and Jeanne Gérard from the House of Charity in Arras were guillotined in Cambrai 26 June 1794. Waiting for the cart to take them to the guillotine, the guards took their chaplets and, not knowing what to do, put them on their heads like a crown. They were beatified on 13 June 1920. Their feast day is 26 June.][
The order was restored in 1801, many former sisters returned, and it grew very rapidly throughout the 19th century.
]
Growth
From that time and through the 19th century, the community spread to Austria, Australia, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Turkey, Britain and the Americas.[ During this period, the ministry of the Daughters developed to caring for others in need such as orphans and those with physical disabilities.
The first house in Ireland was opened in Drogheda, in 1855. By 1907 there were 46 houses and 407 sisters in England; 13 houses and 134 sisters in Ireland; 8 houses and 62 sisters in Scotland. They operated 23 orphanages; 7 industrial schools; 24 public elementary schools; 1 normal school to train teachers; 3 homes for working girls or women ex-convicts; and 8 hospitals.]
The Convent of Saint Vincent de Paul was the first building established on Mamilla
Mamilla ( he, ממילא) is a neighbourhood of Jerusalem that was established in the late 19th century outside the Old City, west of the Jaffa Gate. Until 1948 it was a mixed Jewish-Arab business district. Between 1948 and 1967, it was locat ...
Street in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, near Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate ( he, שער יפו, Sha'ar Yafo; ar, باب الخليل, Bāb al-Khalīl, "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate ...
, in 1886. Precipitating the future growth of that street as a commercial thoroughfare, the sisters put up a series of shops in front of the building and used the rent money for convent operations. The convent was integrated into the design of the Mamilla Mall
Mamilla Mall, also called Alrov Mamilla Avenue, is an upscale shopping street and the only open-air mall in West Jerusalem. Located northwest of Jaffa Gate, the mall consists of a pedestrian promenade called Alrov Mamilla Avenue lined by 140 ...
pedestrian promenade, which opened in 2007.
The motherhouse
A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior
In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...
of the Daughters of Charity is located at 140 rue du Bac
Rue du Bac is a street in Paris situated in the 7th arrondissement. The street, which is 1150 m long, begins at the junction of the quais Voltaire and Anatole-France and ends at the rue de Sèvres.
Rue du Bac is also the name of a station on ...
, in Paris, France. The remains of de Marillac and those of St. Catherine Labouré
Catherine Labouré (May 2, 1806 – December 31, 1876) was a French member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and a Marian visionary. She is believed to have relayed the request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the famo ...
lie preserved in the chapel of the motherhouse. Labouré was the Daughter of Charity to whom, in 1830, the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
is said to have appeared, commissioning her to spread devotion to the Medal of Mary Immaculate, commonly called the Miraculous Medal
The Miraculous Medal (french: Médaille miraculeuse), also known as the Medal of Our Lady of Graces, is a devotional medal, the design of which was originated by Catherine Labouré following her apparitions of the Blessed Virgin MaryAnn Ball, 20 ...
.
The traditional habit of the Daughters of Charity was one of the most conspicuous of Catholic Sisters, as it included a large starched cornette
A cornette is a piece of female headwear. It is essentially a type of wimple consisting of a large, starched piece of white cloth that is folded upwards in such a way as to create the resemblance of horns (french: cornes) on the wearer's head ...
on the head. This was the dress of peasant women of the neighborhood of Paris at the date of the foundation, a grey habit with wide sleeves and a long grey apron. The head-dress was at first a small linen cap, but to this was added in the early days the white linen cornette, from which they became affectionately known as "God's Geese". At first it was used only in the country, being in fact the headdress of the Ile de France district, but in 1685 its use became general. The institute adopted a more simple modern dress and blue veil on 20 September 1964.
Charism
The Charism of a religious society is the characteristic impetus which distinguishes it from other similar groups. Religious communities frequently describe it as a grace or gift given by God as inspiration to the founder, which lives on in the organization. The charism of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul is that of service to the poor.["Charism Alive", Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul West Central Province]
/ref>
United States
:''See: ''
In the United States, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was a Catholic religious sister in the United States and an educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system. After her death, she became the first person bo ...
, a recent convert to the Catholic Church, had hoped to establish a community of Daughters of Charity. Unable to do so because of the political situation during the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, on 31 July 1809 she founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph at Emmitsburg, Maryland
Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrima ...
. The nucleus of the little community consisted of five Sisters who were soon joined by others. Her desire to consecrate her life to works of charity led Mother Seton to request the Rules of the Daughters of Charity founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1633. Bishop Benedict J. Flaget presented the request to superiors in Paris and in 1810 brought to Mother Seton the Rules by which she guided her community during her lifetime. At the time of her death in 1821, the community numbered fifty Sisters. In 1850, the community at Emmitsburg affiliated with the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity in Paris and at that time adopted the blue habit and the white collar and cornette. The community in Emmitsburg became the first American province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of the Daughters of Charity.
By then, other communities had been established elsewhere in the United States. In 1817, Mother Seton sent three Sisters to New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
at the invitation of Bishop Connolly to open a home for dependent children. Their services were urgently needed, for many parents were victims of the epidemics that frequently invaded the city, where there was as yet no system of sanitation. In 1846, the New York congregation incorporated as a separate order, the Sisters of Charity of New York. The Sisters in New York retained the rule, customs, and spiritual exercises originally established by Mother Seton: the black habit, cape and cap.
During the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, the congregation provided nursing services to soldiers in field hospitals and in depots for prisoners of war.
The Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
of 1898 quickly demonstrated the important need for trained nurses, as hastily constructed army camps for more than twenty-eight thousand members of the regular army were devastated by diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, and malaria – all of which took a much greater toll than did enemy gunfire. The United States government called for women to volunteer as nurses. Thousands did so, but few were professionally trained. Among the latter were 250 Catholic nurses, most of them from the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Reverend Mother Mariana Flynn, head of the Daughters of Charity, recalled their service during the Civil War and said her sisters were proud to be "back in the army again, caring for our sick and wounded."
In 1910, the jurisdiction of Emmitsburg was divided into two Provinces with the Eastern Provincial House in Emmitsburg and the Western Provincial House in Normandy, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Contemporary status
As of 2019, 14,000 serve in ninety countries, addressing needs of food, water, sanitation and shelter, besides their work with health care, HIV/AIDS, migrant and refugee assistance, and education.
In July 2011 the Daughters of Charity merged four of the five existing U.S. provinces – Emmitsburg, Maryland; Albany, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Evansville, Indiana. The process of unification began at a 2007 gathering in Buffalo, N.Y. The Province of the West, based in Los Altos Hills, Calif., was not involved in the merger. The newly constituted province is named for St. Louise de Marillac, who founded the congregation in France in 1633 along with St. Vincent de Paul to “serve Christ in persons who are poor.” Administrative offices for the Province of St. Louise are located in St. Louis, Mo. The archival collections of the former provinces will be consolidated in a new facility located within the former St. Joseph’s Provincial House, adjacent to The Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Seton Heritage Center, in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The new province covers 34 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of Quebec.
In Spain, they have run orphanages, soup kitchens and hospitals. In recent times, they were accused of abusing power in maternity wards run by them both in private and public hospitals, stealing children from their mothers. A particular Sor Maria was accused and indicted but never fully judged or found guilty due to old age. This was denounced b
Asociación Nacional de Afectados por Adopciones Irregulares, ANADIR
Activities
Many hospitals, orphanages, and educational institutions were established and operated by the Daughters of Charity over the years, including Saint Joseph College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, Marillac College in Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, Santa Isabel College Manila
The Santa Isabel College, also referred to by its acronym SIC, is a private, Roman Catholic college owned and operated by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul in Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It was founded on 24 October 1632. Santa Is ...
, St Louise's Comprehensive College in Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, and Saint Louise de Marillac High School
Saint Louise de Marillac High School was an all-girls Catholic secondary school in Northfield, Illinois, United States from 1967 to 1994, run by the Daughters of Charity. In 1994, Marillac merged with Loyola Academy.
The former campus of Marill ...
in Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Though no longer staffed and run by the Daughters, five of the hospitals which were founded by them in the USA continue to operate within the St. Vincent's Health Care System.
Marillac St. Vincent Family Services in Chicago is a social service agency offering accredited early childhood education, programs for youth, comprehensive services to isolated seniors, access to food, and outreach to adults and families. The current nonprofit organization evolved from the merger of Marillac Social Center (est. 1914) and St. Vincent de Paul Center (est. 1915).
In Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...
, they help run the Asilo De Pobres and in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
they run the College of the Immaculate Conception.
In the United Kingdom, the Daughters of Charity are based at Mill Hill
Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18, ...
, north London, and have registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ch ...
status.
Daughters operate St. Ann's Infant and Maternity Home near Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Members proposed for Sainthood
Axis collaboration
During WW2
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, members of the order, led by Sister Barta Pulherija, operated a children's concentration camp on behalf of the Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its o ...
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...
known as Jastrebarsko children's camp. Children arrived in an emaciated and weak condition from other camps within the Ustaše
The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...
camp system, with a total of 3,336 children passing through the camp. Between 449 and 1,500 children died, mainly from disease and malnutrition. According to Fumić, the alleged inhumane actions of Pulherija and other nuns and their role in the deaths of many children has never been addressed, much less condemned, by the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Pulherija died in Austria in 1981.
Child abuse inquiry in Scotland
The second phase of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was established in October 2015 to inquire into cases of abuse of children in care in Scotland. It was to report and make recommendations within four years by 2019. But this deadline was later changed to "as soon ...
focused on orphanages run by the Daughters of Charity: Smyllum Park in Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
(1864–1981), Bellevue House in Rutherglen
Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...
(1912–1961), St Joseph's Hospital in Rosewell, St Vincent's School for the Deaf/Blind in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
(1911–1985) and Roseangle Orphanage (St Vincent's) in Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
(1905–1974). Smyllum Park was founded in 1864 and closed in 1981 due to a move from institutional establishments to small family group living for children in care. During its years of operation, it took in more than 11,600 children. "The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which is investigating allegations of abuse against children in care across Scotland, heard from former residents at the Smyllum Park home, who described suffering beatings, sexual and emotional abuse and mistreatment." When opened, the aim was to support homeless Catholic children from Scotland. Bodies of up to 400 children who had died at Smyllum were discovered in a single nearby mass grave.
In 2018 the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry reported that there had been physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at Scottish orphanages run by the Daughters at Smyllum Park (closed in 1981) and Bellevue House (closed in 1961). Lawyers representing the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul at the Scottish Child Abuse inquiry officially apologised to people who had been abused as children in the care of the Charity. Peter Kearney of the Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, said "During the 60-year period the inquiry covered, over 400,000 children experienced residential care in Scotland, the vast majority in non-Catholic homes. Catholics represent only 16 percent of Scotland's population, and Catholic religious orders didn't supply most residential care in the past. That was provided by local authorities. Putting Catholic religious orders at the top of the inquiry's agenda has thus created a skewed perspective."Luxmoore, Jonathan. "Scottish inquiry: Children endured abuse at sister-run orphanages", ''Global Sisters Report'', October 29, 2018
/ref>
See also
*Institute of Consecrated Life
An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church erected by canon law whose members profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds. They are defined in the ...
*Religious institute (Catholic)
A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...
*Secular institute
In the Catholic Church, a secular institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in which consecrated persons profess the Evangelical counsels of celibate-chastity, poverty and obedience while living in the world, unlike members of a relig ...
*Sisters of Charity of New York The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, most often known as the Sisters of Charity of New York, is a religious congregation of sisters in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicated ...
*Vocational Discernment in the Catholic Church Vocational discernment is the process in which men or women in the Catholic Church discern, or recognize, their vocation in the church. The vocations are the life as layman in the world, either married or single, the ordained life and the consecrat ...
References
Further reading
* Martha M. Libster & Sister Betty Ann McNeil. Enlightened Charity: The Holistic Nursing Care, Education, and Advices Concerning the Sick of Sister Matilda Coskery, 1799 - 1870.(Golden Apple Publications, 2009)
* Susan E. Dinan, ''Women and Poor Relief in Seventeenth-Century France. The Early History of the Daughters of Charity'' (Ashgate, 2006)
* Mary Olga McKenna. ''Charity Alive: Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, Halifax 1950-1980'' (1998) in Canad
excerpt and text search
"Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul", ''The Catholic Church in the United States of America'', Catholic Editing Company, 1914, p. 42
External links
International website of the Daughters of Charity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daughters Of Charity Of Saint Vincent De Paul
1633 establishments in France
Religious organizations established in the 1630s