SCC Chapters: A Brief History

As early as 1869, Mother Pauline's letters reflected that she wished to convene a General Chapter.  She wrote to Sister Johanna, "Probably in a few years, we shall, with God's kind assistance, hold a General Chapter" (December 24, 1869).   On February 21, 1877, Mother Pauline wrote to Sister Mathilde [Provincial Superior in North America], "I would have liked to propose having our first General Chapter here [Mont St. Guibert near Brussels, Belgium] and to have invited Sister Gonzaga and the dear North Americans to it, but His Excellency [Bishop Conrad Martin] thought that we should wait a little longer until everything is more firmly organized.  I realize that he is right.What a joy it will be to see you all again."  She wrote similar letters to Sister Gonzaga [Provincial Superior in South America] in February, August and October of 1877.

Finally, in November, 1878, Mother Pauline could begin to inform her Sisters of the decision to convene the first General Chapter of the Congregation  on Pentecost 1879.  By the end of November 1878, invitations were sent to Sisters Gonzaga and Mathilde, and to Mother Pauline's assistants, Sisters Anna, Walburga and Augustine. Letters were sent to the Sisters of the various provinces to inform them of the need for regional meetings (Provincial Chapters) to take place prior to the General Chapter. Mother Pauline was so joyful about the prospect of the General Chapter, that -- on November 23, 1878 -- she even wrote to her brother and sister-in-law, George and Diene, to share the great news!

Astute readers of this blog will note that our previous post indicated that, in 1859, the Sisters of Christian Charity served in one territorial region, Germany.  But, today's post refers to the year 1877, when Mother Pauline lived in Belgium and had Sisters in North America and South America.  What happened in the almost 20 years in between?  Why was Mother Pauline in Belgium?  Why were Sisters in North and South America?  When did they leave Germany?  What were the conditions that prevented Mother Pauline from convening a General Chapter in the early 1870's?

While we could spend a great deal of time going over the historical events that led to the spread of the Congregation beyond Germany, we direct you to the website of the North American Eastern Province (click here) and the North American Western Region (click here) to learn more about the history and heritage of the Sisters of Christian Charity.
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The Sisters of Christian Charity of the North American Eastern Province will hold our Provincial Chapter from February 14-18, 2019.  Please join us in praying the prayer for our Provincial Chapter.