Christian Schools of Mercy, Sisters of the
CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS OF MERCY, SISTERS OF THE
Also known as Sorores Scholarum Christianorum a Misericordia (SSC), a religious congregation with papal approval (1901, 1925), founded at Cherbourg, France, in 1807 by St. Marie Madeleine postel to promote Christian education. The congregation, whose members take simple perpetual vows, is governed by a superior general. The rule of St. John Baptist de la salle was substituted in 1837 for that of the foundress at the request of the local vicar-general. The foundress accepted it. The motherhouse was first established at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Normandy, where the young community settled (1832). Despite initial setbacks, there were 150 members and 37 convents in 1846. The congregation spread from France to the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Italy, Indonesia, and the Congo. In 1862 four teachers took the habit and rule at Heiligenstadt, Eichsfeld, Germany. Since 1922 this has been an independent branch with its motherhouse at Heiligenstadt. The sisters are engaged mostly in teaching, but they also conduct orphanages, homes for the aged, and hostels, besides visiting the sick and the poor, nursing, and aiding in parishes.
Bibliography: g. grente, Une sainte normande (Paris 1946). sister calista, Love Endureth All Things (Cork 1953).
[w. j. battersby/eds.]