Visitation of Ghent
The Congregation of Our Lady of the Visitation of Ghent ( Dutch : Congregatie Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Visitatie van Gent ), or Visitation of Ghent for short , is a religious order under episcopal law within the Catholic Church . It was founded in Ghent , Belgium , in 1682 and is primarily dedicated to educating girls and caring for the elderly.
history
Emergence
The origin of the Visitation of Ghent goes back to the year 1665. At that time raged in the region Flanders the plague . At that time, three women worked in the Ghent plague house. In addition to their work for those suffering from the plague, they also wanted to lead a religious life together. Its leader, Marie Vanden Bossche, was appointed "Superior" and other women joined the first group. When Vanden Bossche died in 1671, Isabella Stoop took over the management. Together with Ignace Gillemans († 1674) she drafted the first set of rules for the group. The basis of this set of rules was the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales , who had been canonized shortly before - in 1665. The members of the community were advised to learn about the life and work of St. Reading Francis de Sales. This set of rules was officially certified on April 30, 1682. This day is therefore considered to be the founding date of the Visitation of Ghent. In 1707 the so-called “Book of Contracts” was created, in which Isabella Stoop once again summarized the essentials of the women's way of life. Each sister was invited to sign this book voluntarily, whereby she undertook to work in the interests of the community for as long as she wanted to live in this community. This voluntary obligation, to which one could only be subject to for a certain period of time, lasted until 1836.
In the service of education
After the plague, women devoted themselves to the upbringing of children, especially children of the poor. After Isabella Stoop's death, the community moved to Brabantdam and founded the “Saletschole”, the “Saless School”, named after St. Francis de Sales. There they looked after and taught about 40 girls. Another 50 children from poor backgrounds were given school lessons in the premises of a former brewery nearby.
In 1798, during the French Revolution, the entire property of the community was confiscated by the French government. They first found a new home in the “Great Beguinage”, then in 1805 they received the request of the city council of Ghent, in which the sisters were asked to take over the neglected orphanage in the Onderstraat. In correspondence on this matter, the sisters were first mentioned as “Daughters of the Visitation of St. Francis of Sales "called. The community accepted the request and moved to the orphanage. From this time on the women lived like nuns in a community, which, however, could not have more than thirty members. They were also not allowed to found other communities because they lacked official episcopal recognition. The sisters themselves did not speak of a monastery, convent or congregation, but simply called themselves "family", "community" or "association".
A congregation of episcopal law
In 1830 Belgium gained independence and a flourishing religious life began. In 1832 the sisters bought a house in the immediate vicinity of the orphanage in Onderstraat. Here they could now build their own school. In 1835 Henri Bracq, a young diocesan priest from the diocese of Ghent, was appointed spiritual director of the community. This transformed the community into a congregation under episcopal law. He wrote new statutes and rules based as far as possible on those rules that St. Francis de Sales gave to his religious order of the Visitation of Mary , which he founded in 1610 together with St. Johanna Franziska von Chantal in Annecy , France . With this conversion to a congregation of episcopal law, enshrined in the so-called “Holy Rule” of 1836, perpetual vows were also introduced. The sisters received a new religious name at their profession. In addition, there was a stricter retreat, prescribed days of reflection and annual retreats. Schooling and education became the only task of the congregation. The number of sisters was no longer limited to thirty. Further communities were allowed to be founded.
The so-called "Holy Rule" remained the basis of the formation of the sisters until the middle of the 20th century and contributed greatly to the deepening of Salesian spirituality in the community, as did the "Spiritual Directory" of St. Francis de Sales. However, the Congregation for the Visitation of Ghent is not part of the Order of the Visitation of Mary. It is an independent religious community within the Salesian family .
Concern for old people
In 1864 the city of Ghent closed the orphanage and in the same year Henri Bracq was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Ghent. On his visitation trips he encountered a new need of the times. In 1872 he asked the Sisters of the Visitation of Ghent to build a home next to their school to care for the elderly.
Via England to Rwanda
Since the number of sisters increased sharply at the end of the 19th century, it was decided to establish further foundations outside of the diocese of Ghent, in 1889 even to establish one in England . 1957 demanded Pope Pius XII. in his encyclical " Fidei Donum " on the religious community to devote more attention to mission. So the sisters established their first branch in Rwanda . In 1981 the African Congregation for the Visitation of Ghent was born.
present
The Visitation of Ghent today consists of two congregations under episcopal law: the Belgian and the African congregation. The Belgian Congregation currently consists of 80 sisters. One of them continues to work in Rwanda, where the community is constantly growing. The sisters work in education and care for the elderly, but also in pastoral care, pilgrimage pastoral care and in social and charitable institutions.
Motto
"Secure in the Sacred Heart of our Savior, with the joy of the Magnificat, united in the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, we walk faithfully our way towards perfect love."