The Sisters of Holy Cross Menzingen is a

Catholic 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 ...

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s. It was founded in 1844 in

Menzingen Menzingen is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. History Menzingen is first mentioned around 1217-22 as ''Meincingin''. The traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X, which is said to have broken with the Vatican over "doctrinal ...

, Canton

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

, Switzerland by Mother Bernarda Heimgartner, now listed as "

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

" by the Catholic Church. The order is now international with about 1700 sisters.

History

Theodosius Florentini

Rev. Fr. Theodosius Florentini OFM Cap. envisaged a religious congregation of teachers who would educate children, especially girls, who as future mothers would preserve the faith in their families. Thus, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in October 1844 with three young ladies, Maria Anna Heimgartner, (later Mother Bernarda), Cornelia Mader, and Feliciana Cramer. Before long, more young women joined them, and the sisters took up education in many church-run as well as Govt. Schools in Switzerland. Mother Bernarda is honored as the Co-foundress of the Congregation.

Mother Bernarda Heimgartner

Maria Anna Heimgartner was born in Fislisbach, Canton Aargau on November 26, 1822. Her father died when she was fourteen. After her education, she worked as a children's nurse between 1838 and 1840. Feeling called to religious life, she began studies with the canonesses in Baden. She joined the 'Sisters of Divine Providence' in Ribeauville, Alsace between 1843 and 1844. From the village of Menzingen the congregation grew and spread mainly to the poorer central parts of Switzerland. In July 1883 the first five Holy Cross Sisters arrived in Durban in answer to a call for missionaries in Southern Africa. They travelled by steamship from Southampton. Upon arriving they up the St John's River and continued their journey by ox wagon to Umtata, where they established their first school and a hospital. Nine sisters travelled from Menzingen to nurse the sick in government hospitals at

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

and

Quilon Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city ...

, India.Hull, Ernest. "Diocese of Quilon." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 18 June 2016

Location

* Switzerland (1844) * England (1902) * Sri Lanka (1930) *

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 Kingdom ...

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 ...

Institutions

Schools

* Holy Cross School, London, UK *

Holy Cross Preparatory School Holy Cross Preparatory School is an independent preparatory school for girls aged 4–11 in Coombe, London, England. History Holy Cross Preparatory School was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross Menzingen, an international teaching order ...

, London, UK

Hospitals

*St. Josephs Home for the Elders,

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

, Sri Lanka * Holy Cross Hospital,

, Sri Lanka

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.holycross-menzingen.org/ Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century Catholic female orders and societies 1844 establishments in Switzerland