.jpg) Motherhouse inChartres | |
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| Abbreviation | SPC (post-nominal initials) |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1696; 329 years ago (1696) |
| Founders | Louis Chauvet |
| Founded at | Levesville-la-ChenardFrance |
| Type | Religious apostolic missionary congregation ofpontifical right |
| Headquarters | Generalate Via della Vignaccia, 193Rome Italy |
| Coordinates | 41°54′4.9″N12°27′38.2″E / 41.901361°N 12.460611°E /41.901361; 12.460611 |
| Members | 4,000+ |
| Mother Maria Goretti Lee | |
Patron saint | Paul the Apostle |
| Website | https://stpaulrome.com/ |
TheCongregation of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres (SPC) is aRoman Catholic religious apostolic missionary congregation ofpontifical right for teaching, nursing, visiting the poor and taking care of orphans, the old and infirm, and the mentally ill. It was founded inLevesville-la-Chenard, France, in 1696.[1]
The interior spirit is a love of sacrifice and labor for the spiritual and temporal good of others. The postulancy lasts from six months to one year, the novitiate two years, after which the sisters take vows annually for three to seven years, and then perpetual simple vows.[2]
In 1696, the congregation was founded by Louis Chauvet,[1][3] the parish priest ofLevesville-la-Chenard, a little French village, and Marie-Anne de Tilly, a young woman from a noble family. Chauvet enlisted three volunteers. Their first house belonged to Chauvet.
The first superior, Marie Michau, died in 1702, She was succeeded by Marie-Anne de Tilly, who died the following year. In 1708 the small community of sister was entrusted to theBishop of Chartres,Paul Godet des Marais. The bishop gave them a small house and the Apostle Paul as a patron. The house formerly belonged to asabot-maker, and this gave them the name of"les Sœurs sabotières de Saint-Maurice", by which they were originally known.[2]
In 1727, the sisters were asked by Louis XV to establish a foreign mission at Cayenne in French Guiana. The congregation was dispersed under theTerror, during theFrench Revolution, but was restored byNapoleon I,[4] who gave the sisters a monastery at Chartres, which originally belonged to theJacobins, from which they became known as"les Sœurs de St. Jacques".
The sisters expanded their missionary work to the Islands of Martinique in 1818. They settled inEngland in 1847 at the invitation ofCardinal Wiseman.
By 1902 they had over two hundred and fifty houses in France where, besides various kinds of schools, they undertook asylums for the blind, the aged, and the insane, hospitals, dispensaries, and crèches. By 1913, more than one hundred and sixty of these schools had been closed, also thirty of the hospitals, military and civil, in the French colonies, three convents at Blois and a hospice at Brie. On the other hand they had in the meanwhile opened five or six hospitals overseas.
In 1904, seven sisters came to the Philippines from Saigon, Vietnam at the invitation ofFrederick Z. Rooker,bishop of Jaro. They opened a girls' boarding school inDumaguete. Over time, they developedSt. Paul University System, which became known for training nurses.[5]
The first Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres arrived inHong Kong in 1848. Institutions founded by the sisters include:[6]
see penultimate para - Sisters of Charity of St. Paul. These sisters who now add (of Chartres) to their title.....
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Steele, Francesca Maria (1908). "Sisters of Charity".Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3.see penultimate para
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