Sisters of the Most Holy Sacrament
SISTERS OF THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT
(MHS, Official Catholic Directory #2940), a congregation with papal approbation (1935), whose motherhouse is in Lafayette, LA. This community, which follows the Rule of St. Augustine, stems from the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, founded in 1851 by Aloysius Faller, parish priest of Bellemagny in Alsace, France. In 1872, at the request of Abp. Napoleon J. Perche of New Orleans, LA (1870–83), four sisters came to the U.S. Two years later they began their work for the education of children in New Orleans.
Until 1892 Bellemagny remained the motherhouse of the entire community. In that year the U.S. houses organized themselves into a distinct congregation, with its own motherhouse in New Orleans. As the work of education grew more arduous, the practice of perpetual adoration was discontinued, but daily exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was maintained in the motherhouse. The sisters, thereafter, adopted the name of Sisters of the Most Holy Sacrament. In 1924, at the request of Bp. Jules B. Jeanmard of Lafayette (1918–56), the motherhouse and novitiate were transferred to Lafayette. The sisters are engaged in the field of education, catechetics, pastoral care and homes for the aged.
[m. e. martin]