- Daughters of the Cross
- Daughters of the Cross
♦ Daughters of the Cross† Catholic_Encyclopedia ► Daughters of the CrossA Belgian religious congregation founded in 1833 at Liège, by Jean-Guillaume Habets, curé of the Holy Cross, and Mlle. Jeanne Haze (later Mere Marie-Thérèse). The institute is under the protection of the Blessed Virgin and St. Teresa, and its rules are based on those of St. Ignatius. The nuns, who received papal recognition on 1 Oct., 1845, and had their statutes approved by the Holy See on 9 May, 1851, recite the Office of the Blessed Virgin daily. They make perpetual vows, which are renewed annually on 8 Sept. The chief end of the institute is to honour Christ in His weak and suffering members and to cultivate devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. The main work of the Sisters is the education of poor girls, but they have also established orphanages, and homes for the poor; they nurse the sick, and have shown their devotion on the battlefield in the German wars of 1866 and 1870. At present they have 40 establishments in Belgium, 18 in the German Empire, 12 in India, and 16 in England, whither they first went in 1863. In April, 1899, they opened a new English novitiate at Carlshalton, Surrey. Mère Marie-Thérèse was born at Liège on 27 February, 1782 and died there on 8 Feb., 1876, having passed forty-three years in religion. The process of her beatification has been commenced and the decree for the "Commissio Introductionis Causae" was signed by Pius X on 13 Dec., 1911.STEELE, Convents of Great Britain (London, 1902), 232-5; HEIMBUCHER, Die Orden und Kongregationen, III, 387.A.A. MACERLEANTranscribed by Herman F. Holbrook Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero.♦ Daughters of the Cross† Catholic_Encyclopedia ► Daughters of the CrossA French institute.The first steps towards the foundation of this society were taken in 1625 at Roy, Picardy, by Père Pierre Guérin, Françoise Unalet, and Marie Fannier to provide for the Christian education of girls. The members were not bound by vows. After a happy beginning the organization was almost wrecked by a series of civil misfortunes. A few years later, however, some of its adherents came in contact with Mme. Marie l'Huillier de Villeneuve, who became interested in their work and was encouraged to assist in it by St. Vincent de Paul. She established a house near Paris, in 1651, and with the approval of Archbishop Jean-François de Gondi of Paris, introduced the obligation of making vows. This innovation was opposed by the older houses, and led to the formation of two branches of the society, one secular, and the other religious; papal approbation was obtained for the latter in 1668. Both institutes spread rapidly throughout France, under diocesan control, and noteworthy constitutions were drawn up by Mgr. de Rochebonne, Bishop of Noyon, in 1728. During the French Revolution the sisters were utterly dispersed. A community was established again at St. Quentin on 23 March, 1828; it continued, however, to languish, till Mgr. Simony, Bishop of Soissons, reorganized the institute in 1837, basing his rules partly on those of St. Ignatius, and partly on the old regulations. These were approved by the Holy See on 15 April, 1847. Thereafter the organization spread widely and branches were established eventually at La Louviere, Belgium, and in England at Boscombe, Southsea, and Ryde.BAHEZRE, Filles de la Croix de Paris pendant la Revolution (Paris, 1908); HEIMBUCHER, Die Orden und Kongregationen, III (Paderborn, 1908), 542; HELYOT, Dict. des ordres religieux, IV (Paris, 1859), 335-42; STREBER in Kirchenlexikon, VII, 1090-1.A.A. MACERLEANTranscribed by Herman F. Holbrook O Crux ave, spes unica!The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat. 1910.
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