Congregations of Providence (III)

SISTERS OF CHARITY

The Sisters of xxyyyk.htm">Providence, known also as Sisters of Charity, were founded in Montreal, Canada, 25 March, 1843, under the Rule of St. Vincent de Paul, by Rt. Rev. Ignace Bourget. In December, 1861, a branch of the order, with intention to form a mother-house, was established at Kingston, Ontario, under the protection of Rt. Rev. Edward J. Horan, then bishop of that diocese. From this establishment four sisters were sent in November, 1873, to open a mission in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1892 this branch of the order, with permission of the Holy See, became a diocesan establishment, with Rt. Rev. Thomas D. Beaven, Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, as ecclesiastical superior. There are no lay sisters in the order, and the members are devoted exclusively to the works of charity. Since they became diocesan their membership approximates three hundred, and the institutes of charity entrusted to their management have been multiplied. In the present year (1908) they have in charge four diocesan hospitals and one sanatorium, with an annual total of about five thousand patients treated therein. Connected with these hospitals is a training school for pupil nurses, and the sisters also receive a professional training and personally care for and supervise the treatment of their patients. They have two orphan asylums, caring for about three hundred children; an infant asylum of modern construction capable of sheltering one hundred and fifty little ones, ranging from infancy to six years. Their duties also extend to the aged of both sexes. They care for one hundred and forty aged and infirm women, and for eighty aged men, in three separate homes of recent construction. They have two homes for working girls, and the provisions of their rule permit them to undertake any work of charity which the bishop of the diocese may see fit to place in their keeping. (See CHARITY, SISTERS OF. Sisters of Charity of xxyyyk.htm">Providence .)