RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Women Women’s Work in the Church
gregations established for various purposes. One was founded at Chambrey in Savoy in 1808 for the elementary instruction of children; and a second was founded at Lyons in 1821 to provide for the welfare of female prisoners. The Ladies of the Holy Trinity (Sceurs or Dames de la Sainte Trinité) were founded at Valence in 1824 for the instruction of the poor, the training of orphans, and hospital work, and became active in thirteen dioceses of France, in addition to some twenty houses in Algeria. The Sisters of Our Lady of Good Succor (Sceurs de Notre Dame du bon secours) were established at Paris in 1827 by Madame de Montal for the education of girls, and spread thence to other cities of France. A similar congregation was established under the name of Sceurs de Marie Auxiliatrice in Paris and Castelnaudary in 1854 by Abbé de Soubiran for elementary education, the care of the sick, and the control of homes for working girls.
The Ladies of the Holy Union (Dames de la sainte union) were founded by the priest Debrabant in 1838 with their mother house at Douai for educational purposes. The congregation had over 500 sisters in northern France and Belgium, while an older congregation of the same name had its mother house at Fontenay-le-Comte. The Sisters of Our Lady of Salette were established at Grenoble in 1852, in cooperation with the Missioners of Our Lady of Salette, and, though having but four convents with about sixty sisters, controlled a number of asylums for orphans and the insane. The Society of Mary the Restorer (Société de Marie-Réparatrice) was established at Paris in 1855 by the Baroness Emelie d’Hooghvorst for the perpetual adoration of the sacrament, the equipment of poor churches, and religious instruction. The mother house is in Rome, but the congregation is represented in almost all the Roman Catholic countries of Europe, and in Palestine, India, Reunion, Mauritius, and elsewhere.
The Daughters of Divine Love were founded at
Vienna in 1868 by Franziska Lechner to obtain positions for working girls, to train orphans for housework, and to provide homes for aged women. The sisters number more than 400 and possess some thirty institutions. The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Missions of Africa (or White Sisters) were founded in 1868 by Cardinal Lavigerie (q.v.) of Algiers as the female branch of his Société des Missionaires de Notre-Dame des Missions d’ Afrique. Originally restricted to the care of orphans and hospitals and other works of charity in Algiers, they have engaged since 1894 in missionary activity in central Africa, although in small numbers. The Indian Sisters of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors were founded in 1876 for giving Roman Catholic instruction in the missionary schools of India. The Indian Sisters of St. Anne were established in Trichinopoli in 1877 for the care of orphans, the control of hospitals, the providing of homes for widows, and similar objects. The Sisters of St. Anne in Canada are in charge of hospitals in Montreal, Vancouver, Three Rivers, and other Canadian districts.
See also AmBROSIANS; ANGELICALS; BRIDGET, Saint, oF SweDEN; Cuarity, Sisters or; ENe- LisH Lapres; Murcy, Sisters or; SacrED HEART or Jesus; URSULINES; VISITANTINES; etc.
(O. Z6cKLERT.)
BrstioGRAPHy: Helyot, Ordres monastiques; Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen; Currier, Religious Orders; T. D. Fosbroke, British Monasticism, 2 vols., London, 1802, 3d ed., 1843; M. R. A. Henrion, Hist. générale des missions catholiques, 2 vols., Paris, 1846-47; L. Badiche, Dictionnaire des ordres religieux, 4 vols., ib. 1858; O’D. T. Hill, English Monasticism, London, 1867; C. E. Stephen, The Service of the Poor, ib. 1871; E. Keller, Les Congregations religieuses en France, leurs euvres et leurs services, Paris, 1880; M. du Camp, La Charité privée a Paris, ib. 1886; G. Uhlhorn, Die christliche Liebesthitigkeitt, iii. 414— 448, Stuttgart, 1890; F. C. Woodhouse, Monasticism, Ancient and Modern, London, 1896; Lina Eckenstein, Woman under Monasticism, Cambridge, 1896 (a valuable contribution; deals mainly with English and German nunneries); Theodosia Benson, in RDM, Apr., 1898; the Official Catholic Directory, pp. 805-835 Milwaukee, 1911; the literature under Monasticism.