Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo

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The Borromean Sisters or Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo ( lat. Sorores Misericordiae Sancti Caroli Borromei ; religious symbol : SMCB) are a Catholic apostolate - charitable active congregation of pontifical right. The order was founded in Nancy in 1652 as Sisters of Love by St. Charles Borromeo and today is divided into seven independent congregations . Two of them are in Germany ( Trier and Grafschaft ), one in Austria ( Vienna ). In France they are known as the Charité Sisters. The Order and all of its congregations are subject to papal law, i. H. directly to the Pope and not to the respective local bishop .

The Order is active in the care of the elderly and the sick, in kindergartens, schools and other educational institutions, in catechesis , in pilgrimage and recreation centers. There are currently more than 300 German Borromean women.

history

The first foundation in Nancy

The history of the Order of the “Sisters of Mercy of Saint Charles Borromeo” goes back to the time of need after the Thirty Years' War . The lawyer Josef Chauvenel from Nancy / Lorraine devoted his life entirely to the poor, sick and abandoned and set up a pharmacy for the poor for those in need. When the plague broke out in Toul in 1651 , he cared for those affected by the plague there, but became infected and died at the age of 31. In accordance with the wishes of the deceased, the father Emanuel Chauvenel carried on his life's work by using his fortune for the welfare of the poor and founded the House of Mercy, La Charité . Some women helped him as volunteers. According to the document, the first sisters called themselves "Sisters of the Holy Family ", which should mean that they wanted to follow the spirit of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The actual foundation of the order took place on June 18, 1652 in Nancy. In 1662, Emanuel Chauvenel donated his larger house "Saint Charles" to the sisters, with a statue of St. Charles Borromeo stood. Therefore, the people called the sisters: "Soeurs de Saint Charles Borromée" (German: Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo) in short: Borromean women. The order grew rapidly.

The foundation of the various congregations and their current branches

The first sisters of the order came from Nancy to Trier in 1811. A branch was founded in Saarlouis as early as 1810 . In 1849 the sisters in Trier moved into a larger house ("Haus im Krahnen") as the motherhouse for the German province. In the Kulturkampf in 1872 Trier was deliberately split off into the first independent congregation in Germany. Xaveria Rudler headed the women's order as Provincial and later General Superior until her death in 1886. This congregation and the corresponding motherhouse operate today e.g. B. the largest clinic in Trier, the motherhouse clinic of the Borromean women . It is represented in various German locations, as well as in the Netherlands and Tanzania .

In 1848 the Prague branch of the order opened a branch in Neisse . This was recognized in 1857 as an independent Silesian congregation. It has been in Trebnitz since 1870 . In 1945 Silesia was occupied by the Soviets and placed under Polish administration. At the end of 1945, after the NKVD camp in Toszek (Upper Silesia) had been dissolved, the nuns of the Trebnitz monastery took care of the survivors and dying who had been found and brought to them. The German sisters, who were expelled from the mother house in Trebnitz, first went to Görlitz and, from 1948, mostly to the Grafschaft monastery in the Sauerland, which had been abandoned since secularization . Since 1951 this has been the General Motherhouse of this congregation. The sisters are responsible for the renowned specialist hospital Kloster Grafschaft on the grounds of the monastery. In addition to other branches and charitable institutions in Germany, this congregation is also active in Romania , Israel and Egypt . The few Polish women who were thus allowed to stay in Trebnitz still run the monastery there and continue to belong to the same congregation. For years, however, contact was made difficult by the political situation.

The Vienna Congregation was also founded in Prague in 1811 and has been independent since 1945. It is responsible for old people's homes , kindergartens and a social center. This congregation is also active in Mexico .

The evangelical equivalent of the Sisters of Mercy are the deaconesses .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.krankenhaus-klostergrafschaft.de/kongregation/
  2. ↑ http://www.krankenhaus-klostergrafschaft.de/kongregation/
  3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from April 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Severin Delges: History of the Catholic Parish St. Ludwig in Saarlouis, Saarlouis-Lisdorf 1931, extension by a second part by Heinrich Unkel in 1952, extension by a third part by Marga Blasius in 1985, part 1, p. 139– 141, part 2, pp. 7-8.
  5. ↑ http://www.smcb-trier.de/de/index.php?c=1&s=ordensgeschichte
  6. ↑ http://www.smcb-trier.de/de/index.php?c=1&s=ordensgeschichte
  7. ↑ http://www.mutterhaus.de/infos/ueber-den-orden/auf-einen-blick.html#contentTop
  8. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from April 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ http://www.borromaeerinnen.at/?page=weltweit&sub=osterreich