A History of the Five Orders

Sisters of Mercy | Society of the Holy Child Jesus | Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt
Franciscan Sisters of Peace | Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament

SISTERS OF MERCY, REGIONAL COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK

Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland. She dedicated her life to teaching children and visiting the sick in Dublin’s slums. Catherine built the House of Mercy in Dublin for servant girls and homeless and abused women. Catherine took vows as the first Sister of Mercy in December 1831. Many women were attracted to join Catherine. When she died in 1841, there were fourteen Mercy foundations in England and Ireland.

The Sisters of Mercy came to the United States in 1843. In America, Frances Warde continued Catherine McAuley’s mission of serving the unmet needs of the poor in an area that was going through tremendous change due to the rapidly advancing Industrial Revolution. The Sisters of Mercy arrived in New York City in May of 1846.

The Sisters worked tirelessly in towns and cities across the United States and beyond, educating children (and often adults as well), healing the sick (in homes, hospitals and on battlefields), and establishing a tradition of community involvement that continues today. While ministries in traditional healthcare and education continue, the Sisters of Mercy are also working to help people break the cycle of poverty through community-based grassroots programs that provide housing, job skills training, substance abuse prevention and recovery, literacy and spiritual programs, to name a few.
Works currently sponsored or co-sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Regional Community of New York includes: St. Joseph Residence for Women in Worcester, Massachusetts; Our Lady of Victory Academy in Dobbs Ferry, New York; St. Catherine Academy in the Bronx; Mercy Center in the Bronx; McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys in Leicester, Massachusetts; Our Lady of Mercy Health Care Center in Worcester, Massachusetts; Catholic Health East in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania; Uihlein Mercy Center, Lake Placid, New York and Mercy Healthcare Center in Tupper Lake, New York.

Websites
Sisters of Mercy in the Americas Sisters of Mercy, Regional NYState

SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILD JESUS

Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus are committed to the vision of Cornelia Connelly, who founded the Society in 1846. Cornelia gave her community a heritage of respect for the dignity of every human being that has been translated through the generation as a spirit of trust and reverence for all God’s people.

In 1862, during the Civil War, six sisters brought the Society from England to the developing Church of the United States. They made their first home in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Today, the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus live out the ageless motto of the Society, “Action not Words”, in a variety of educational, pastoral, social, legal and spiritual ministries.

Although the Sisters in the American province had primarily been involved in schools, education today includes adult centers, parishes and seminaries. New areas of ministry arose in the fields of health services in hospitals, home care and hospice; in legal assistance for those who have limited access to the justice system; and in spiritual ministries including spiritual direction, retreat work and chaplainry. The increasing social, racial and cultural divisions led Sisters to areas of social ministry in which they directly aid the poor in schools, neighborhoods and prisons as well as working to effect structural changes that arrest poverty and promote justices and unity within the human family.

Some Sisters continue Holy Child educational philosophy in classrooms and through educational endeavors at all levels. Schools on the East Coast of the United States that are sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus include: Holy Child Middle School, New York City; Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, Summit, New Jersey; Old Westbury School of the Holy Child, Old Westbury, Long Island; School of the Holy Child, Rosemont, Pennsylvania; School of the Holy Child, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania; School of the Holy Child, Rye, New York and the Connelly School in Potomac, Maryland.

Website of the Society of the Holy Child, Jesus

SISTERS OF SAINT DOMINIC OF BLAUVELT

The Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, New York are members of the nearly 800-year old international Dominican Order, founded by St. Dominic in 1216. Their particular foundress is Mother Mary Ann Sammon, an Irish immigrant who was a member of a cloistered Dominican convent in New York City in the latter half of the 19th century. Moved by the plight of orphaned and neglected children she found on the streets of the Lower East Side, she brought them to the convent for shelter. As the number of needy children increased, she established a home for them outside the city and began a new congregation of Dominican sisters in 1890.

Presently over 250 Sisters and Associates continue the mission of Mary Ann Sammon as they live out their Blauvelt Charism through a consciousness of and presence to people who are poor and marginalized. While still maintaining their initial commitment to the field of social service, Blauvelt Dominicans also minister in the fields of education, health care and pastoral ministry. Today, they live their Dominican mission and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in schools, colleges, health care agencies, parishes, community based agencies, prisons and homeless shelters in the United States and in Northern Ireland.

Website of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt

FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF PEACE

In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, Gertrude, Constanza and Pellegrina who were three Sisters from Italy, journeyed to New York in 1865 to provide for the needs of the German immigrants. These women had a dedicated pioneering spirit that attracted vocations and gave impetus to diverse ministries. The Sisters brought peace to others through their works of mercy and justice. In 1890, the Sisters founded the St. Francis Province of their European congregation in Peekskill, New York.

Then, in 1986, one hundred and twelve vowed women of the St. Francis province co-founded a new congregation, the Franciscan Sisters of Peace of Haverstraw, New York. Their roots, charism and identity as a community continue in the spirit, faith and trust in God of those first three Sisters.

The mission of the Franciscan Sisters of Peace is to proclaim and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis. Today, they continue to spread their mission of peacemaking in a variety of ways as teachers, social workers, administrators, parish associates, prison chaplains, retreat directors, day care workers and health care workers.

Website of the Franciscan Sisters of Peace

SISTERS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

A Dominican friar, Anthony Le Quieu, founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, or Sacramentine Nuns, in Marseilles, France, in 1639 to combat the spread of disbelief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and to supply for the world’s want for love of God. The Sisters’ life of prayer is characterized especially by their dedication to continuous adoration of Our Lord in His Eucharistic Presence, wherein the pain and suffering of the Mystical Body of Christ and all its needs are presented to God.

After many years of political and religious upheaval in France, the Sacramentine Sisters were driven from their French monasteries. In the early twentieth century the Sisters established foundations in Belgium and England. Mother St. Augustin led the Sisters from England to establish the Order in North America. After many journeys and disappointments, the Sisters were finally accepted into the Archdiocese of New York.

The Sisters supported themselves by teaching French, sewing and by making altar breads. Eventually they opened an academy for young girls. The Yonkers community grew and the academy flourished for some time. However, in 1975, due to the changing times, the Sisters thought it best to close the academy. In 1996, the community decided to relocate due to the increased costs of maintaining their large building.

The Sacramentine Sisters have had various homes since their decision to relocate from the monastery in Yonkers. They have finally settled in Scarsdale at the former headquarters of the Paulist Fathers. It is here that the cloistered community distributes altar breads to many of the parishes throughout the Archdiocese and as far as Guam. The Sisters hope to return to activities they were well known for in Yonkers, making and selling preserves and religious art.