Sisters of Our Lady of Fidelity

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The Congregation of Our Lady of Fidelity (

Catholic religious congregation of women founded in France in 1831 by Henriette Le Forestier d'Osseville, known in religion
as Mother Saint Mary, which has as its primary goal the education of young women, especially orphans. They currently serve worldwide.

History

Origins

D'Osseville, who was to become the foundress of the congregation, was born in 1803 in

Virgin Mary. Her faith was tested and confirmed when one of her sisters was miraculously cured following a life-threatening illness. Subsequently, she and her father visited the most ancient Marian shrine in Normandy, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Deliverance (La Déliverande) in Douvres, to give thanks to God and the Blessed Virgin for this. Her father declared to her during that visit that, "I shall die happy only if a pious work is to remain at La Deliverande as a perpetual living ex-voto in gratitude for what I owe to God."[2]

Inspired by these words, D'Osseville began to feel that she herself might provide the answer to her father's prayer through establishing some way of helping the hordes of children left impoverished and orphaned by the devastation of the nation in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, a cause that had already struck her heart. She believed that she had a confirmation of this inspiration through a vision of the Virgin Mary on the feast of the Assumption of Mary, August 15, 1829. In her vision, she was guaranteed support in her efforts by the Blessed Mother. She soon set out to establish this work, with the support of her father, as well as that of Louis-Jacques-Tranquille Saulet, founder of the Missionary Fathers of Our Lady of Deliverance, a religious community of men dedicated to helping to restore the practice of the Catholic faith in that region, to whom she had confided her thoughts.[3] This association between the two congregations was to endure for nearly two centuries.[4]

D'Osseville was able to recruit a small group of women who felt called to join her in her project. Having gained the approval of

Bishop of Bayeux, in whose diocese the town is located, on February 26, 1831, the small community of women committed themselves as members of the new congregation, called the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Orphans of Mary of the Deliverance, called the Faithful Virgin. They would keep this title as the official name of the congregation until 1969. The spirituality of the congregation is both Marian and Ignatian.[5] They immediately began the construction of a convent to meet their needs. Built in the neoclassical style then popular, the Couvent Notre-Dame-de-Fidélité has become a noted landmark of the region. In the 1930s, its Chapel of the Faithful Virgin was decorated by the noted glassmaker, René Lalique.[6]

Expansion

In 1848 the

Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. which they named St. Mary's Lodge.[2]

In 1851 D'Osseville returned to the motherhouse in Douvres, where she assumed the position of Superior, though she insisted on living with the orphan girls who were cared for there. She remained there until her death in 1858.

The congregation received the

Society of Jesus, were approved in 1904, establishing them fully as an approved religious institute
in the Catholic Church. Since their founding, the Sisters have opened houses in Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Current status

Since 2015, the Sisters of the congregation have also been present in Africa, South Korea and India. As of 2017, they number 55 members in 11 houses of the congregation.

Sources

  • William E. Addis and Thomas Arnold, A Catholic Dictionary..., Kessinger Publishing, 2004, part 1, p. 347.

References

  1. ^ "Théodose Le Forestier d'Osseville". Geneanet. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Norwood Society, The. "A short history of the Convent and Church of Virgo Fidelis (The Faithful Virgin) at Upper Norwood". Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  3. ^ "Communautés des Pères de la Délivrande à Douvres". Paroisse St Régnobert de la Côte de Nacre. Retrieved August 27, 2020.(French)
  4. ^ "L'Espace Khaïré à La Délivrande". Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Fidelité. January 27, 2020.
  5. ^ "Congregation's charisma". Congrégation Notre-Dame de Fidelité. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Tellier, Michel (2005). "Le Christ de lumière de Lalique". Art de Basse-Normandie. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
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