Little Sisters of the Assumption

The Little Sisters of the Assumption is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in France in 1865 by Antoinette Fage (Marie of Jesus) (1824–1883) and Father Etienne Pernet.

The declared work of the congregation is the nursing of the sick poor in their own homes. This labour they perform gratuitously and without distinction of creed.

History

The congregation was founded in Paris in 1865, by the Rev. Etienne Pernet, and Marie Antoinette Fage. Both had long been engaged in charitable work, Father Pernet while a professor in the College of the Assumption at Nîmes, and Mlle. Fage as a member of the Association of Our Lady of Good Council in Paris. They met in Paris and Father Pernet placed her in charge of the work of nursing the sick poor which he had inaugurated. Out of this movement the sisterhood grew, Mother Marie de Jesus being the first superior. The nursing of the sick poor was not the only or even the chief purpose of the Little Sisters.

They endeavoured to bring about conversions, to regularize illicit unions, to have children baptized, sent to school, and prepared for first Communion and Confirmation. They formed societies among their clients and enlisted the aid of laymen and laywomen of education and means to further the work of regeneration. The congregation had established houses in Italy, Spain, Belgium, England, Ireland, and the United States of America. The papal Brief approving the congregation was issued in 1897. By 1912, the sisters took simple vows and were governed by a mother-general, who resided in Paris.

Cities where the order ministers

Controversies

Closure of Seven Oaks Playschool

The Little Sisters announced in 2012 that they were closing a long running playschool in Ballyfermot, Dublin. The reason given was that they were in financial need even though the building was built free of charge, they have a substantial property portfolio in Dublin and that they received a large sum of money for the apartments that surrounded the premises. Despite initially offering the building to a third party offering to run the playschool they decided to back out of the leasing agreement last minute, a reason is still yet to be given for the organisation changing their mind and the building currently still remains unoccupied as of December 2013.

References

    External links

     This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton. 

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