History
The Congregation of the Sisters of St.Charles Borromeo was founded on September 27, 1684 by Adrien Bresy, parish priest of Wez-Velvain, in the diocese Tournai, Belgium. Poverty, famine, illiteracy, sickness of all kinds was the aftermath of French revolution in 17th century.
To give the best primary education to girl children Fr. Adrien Bresy found five young ladies who were ready to help him in his noble enterprise: They were Marie- Catherine Warquain aged 25 years, Elisabeth Therese Lepe aged 25 years, Marie Marguerite Delure aged 24 and Marie –Barbe Delrue aged 22 years from Wez(Belgium). Adrien Bresy started a school and was inspired to constitute the first five teachers into a religious congregation.
The Sisters of St.Charles Borromeo in India
The story of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo in India has for its beginning the proclamation of Pope Pius XI, made in the year 1927. He, by a decree declared, St .Therese the Little Flower as the Patroness of the Missions and the Holy See made frequent appeals to the Congregations in Europe to send labourers to the mission fields.
On December 31, 1929 with the blessing of Pope Pius XI and under the protection of St. Therese the first house in India was opened at Ranipet. They established a school and an orphanage for the girls. Also a dispensary was opened. This first set up in Ranipet became a strong foundation for our Mission in India.
Pioneer
Pioneer
Pioneer
Pioneer
Growth and spread of the Congregation
The historical facts that precede its beginning enforce one to exclaim, ‘Great are the works of God!‘ The flourishing Congregation in India bears witness to God’s intricate ways. The unceasing grace of God has led the Congregation to spread and to give formation to the East, West and the North Provinces in India.
Today there are 64 houses in India, covering 12states serving the people through schools, hospitals, dispensaries, leprosaria, social work centers, homes for the aged, orphanages, boarding houses for the destitute children mid-day meal project for the poor school children, schools for the special children and so on.
The clarion call from overseas missions received a prompt reply from the Sisters. Today the Indian sisters are engaged in various ministries in Belgium, Argentina, Poland, Italy Tanzania, Uganda and Mexico. The remarkable change in the history of the congregation is that, India who was depending upon the foreign missionaries is sending her daughters to the overseas mission to serve.
