The Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary are a historically Black Catholic congregation of nuns co-founded by Mother Mary Theodore Williams and Fr Ignatius Lissner in 1916. They follow the Rule of the

Third Order of St. Francis The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi. The preaching of Francis and his disciples caused many ma ...

. Their primary mission has always been education, primarily of children of the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

community.

History

Foundress

Elizabeth Williams was born February 11, 1868, in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. She received her education from the Ladies of the Sacred Heart and the Sisters of the Holy Family, second oldest society of African-American Catholic religious in the United States. At 19, Williams entered the Sisters of Saint Francis' convent in Louisiana. When that order disbanded in 1912, she entered the novitiate of the

Oblate Sisters of Providence The Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) is a Roman Catholic women's religious institute, founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP, and Rev. James Nicholas Joubert, SS in 1828 in Baltimore, Maryland for the education of girls of African des ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

where she was given the name Sister Mary Theodore. Mother Mary Theodore Williams, FHM

Around that time, a bill in the

Georgia legislature The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly e ...

proposed to forbid white teachers from instructing black children. It threatened the closure of schools co-founded by Father Ignatius Lissner, SMA in Georgia and staffed by Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. When the two African-American congregations, the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the Holy Family Sisters, could supply no help, Lissner decided to form a new one. In 1915, while working at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in Washington, DC, Williams learned that Lissner, provincial of the

Society of African Missions The Society of African Missions ( la, Societas Missionum ad Afros; ) abbreviated SMA, also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious Society of Apostolic Life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856. ...

, needed a religious to found a congregation of black

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 ...

in Savannah. On October 15, 1916, received the habit of the new order and took the name of Mother Mary Theodore. The Georgia bill never passed, and the new sisters found little support. They taught by day and, to supplement their meagre earnings, ran a laundry business at night and begged along the waterfront on weekends. Thus, the sisters decided in 1924 to move 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 congregation to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in northern

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where it remains. By 1925, there were sixteen members, eventually including women from the West Indies. In 1930, Mother Theodore had the congregation enrolled in the Franciscan family as members of the Third Order Regular, thus becoming the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary. During the Depression, the sisters established a soup kitchen."Mother Mary Theodore Williams", Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family
/ref> Mother Theodore died in New York in August 1931.

Modern history

From 1952 to 2003 the sisters ran a summer camp on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, providing summer getaways for thousands of youth from New York City and North and South Carolina. At its height in the 1960s, the congregation counted 80 Sisters. As of 2010, there were 18 Sisters, mostly age sixty or older. In 2014, the order's closing was anticipated, but encouraged by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, the sisters extended their outreach to other parts of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In 2017, there were twenty-four sisters, with seven in formation. The sisters then put the Harlem motherhouse up for sale, as there were only three sisters living there. The sisters continue to operate St. Benedict’s Day Nursery. Founded in 1923 at the request of Patrick Cardinal Hayes, it celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2008. Initially providing custodial care, it became one of the first pre-school educational programs in the United States. The St. Edward Food Pantry is another of the ministries of the sisters. The order has operated a food pantry on Staten Island since 1928. The Food Pantry collects food, clothing, gifts and toys for distribution during the Christmas season. The sisters serve in Harlem,

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

and

Owerri, Nigeria Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, O ...

."Nuns Advocating For the Poor On Capital Hill", ''Hudson Valley Press'', February 20, 2019
/ref>

References

{{authority control African-American history in New York City Christianity in New York City Christian organizations established in 1915 Congregations of Franciscan sisters African-American Roman Catholicism Organizations based in New York City Catholic female orders and societies 1915 establishments in the United States Society of African Missions