Sisterhoods. All societies or communities of women living together under a religious rule, binding upon all, and with a common object for their united life, may be called Sisterhoods in the largest sense of the term. But in common use the word denotes those communities which are not enclosed, and whose life is one of active labour. An account of the great religious communities of women in the early and middle ages of Christianity falls under the head of Monachism. Indeed the state of Christendom for many centuries prevented the possibility of life and work for women such as that of Sisters of Charity. Women were affiliated to the great monastic orders, the Benedictine, Augustinian, Carmelite, &c., but, with one partial exception, that of the Hospitalers, 'Religieuses Hospitalières,' were invariably cloistered. There were several communities of hospital nuns, the great hospitals of the Hôtel Dieu at Paris, San Spirito at Rome, Dijon Hospital, and several others in France being served by them. But they lived in convents adjoining the hospitals, and only left their cloisters to nurse the sick. Even when the Franciscan and Dominican orders of preaching friars arose, the nuns belonging to them, the Poor Clares and Dominican nuns, were strictly enclosed. Their members might and did exercise the most powerful influence on society and education—nay, as in the case of a St Teresa or St Catharine of Sienna, on theology and politics—but this was through the force of moral and religious excellence, and sometimes of genius.
It was the glory of St Vincent de Paul to found, in 1633, assisted by Madame Le Gras, the first superior, the Society of 'Filles de la Charité,' and to lay the foundation of all modern religious communities who lead an active life devoted to various works of charity. The great need of such a society had become so obvious that the holy see, which had hitherto discouraged every attempt of a kindred character, solemnly approved of 'The Daughters of Charity' in 1655. In their constitution it was enacted that the community was 'to consist of girls, and widows unencumbered with children, destined to seek out the poor in the alleys and streets of cities.' In their founder's words, they were 'to have for monastery the houses of the sick; for cell, a hired room; for their chapel, the parish church; for their cloister, the streets of the town or wards of the hospital; for enclosure, obedience; for grating, the fear of God; for veil, holy modesty.'
The order spread with wonderful rapidity, and now numbers between 30,000 and 40,000 sisters, with two thousand houses over the world, devoted to every conceivable work of charity. Outside of France they have houses in Algeria, Belgium, Austria, the British Isles, Italy, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the Levant, Palestine, China, the United States, Guatemala, Panamá, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, La Plata, Chili. In 1891 they undertook the care of a hospital at Jerusalem, at the request of the pasha, by whom at its opening they were received with great ceremony.
All are in connection with the mother-house, Rue de Bac, Paris, and are under the superioress, who is elected every three years, and who resides there. After five years' probation the sisters take vows, renewable every year. Their habit is gray-blue cloth, with large white collar, and white cornette for the head.
After St Vincent de Paul's sisters, the 'Petites Sœurs des Pauvres' rank next in numbers and in variety of active labours. They were founded in 1840 at St Servan, in Brittany, by the Abbé le Pailleur, then but twenty-five, and a young girl, Marie Jamet, a poor needle-woman. She was soon joined by another poor girl, Virginie Tredaniel, scarcely sixteen, and shortly after by an old servant, Jeanne Jugan, whose name is now known throughout the length and breadth of France, and who at forty-eight had saved 600 francs (£24). The institute was formed for the special object of the care of the aged, destitute, and sick poor. The work was begun by receiving a blind old woman of eighty in an attic, belonging to a poor woman, Fanchon Aubert, who at sixty years of age gave all she had to the work and lived with the sisters, though not formally joining the institute—then supported, as it still is in great measure, by scraps of food and other alms which the sisters begged day by day from house to house. At the present day, in all their houses, coffee-grounds form in the hands of the Little Sisters the basis of a beverage which is esteemed a delicacy by their old people.
Jeanne Jugan received from the French Academy the 'prize for virtue,' i.e. a grant of 3000 francs (£120) awarded every year to the person who is judged to have surpassed all others in works of charity. The recipient is said to be 'crowned by the French Academy.' This sum was applied to building their first house at St Servan, the Abbé le Pailleur selling his gold watch and other effects to help them; and the work begun thus humbly half a century before had by 1892, when the venerable founder and Marie Jamet (then mother-general) were still living, become one of the most imposing and important charitable institutes of our time, possessing 270 houses, with 4400 sisters. The mother-house, established at La Tour in 1856, contains 600 novices from all parts of the world; and from this single centre are directed the work of their thousands of sisters and the affairs of their houses all over France, besides those in Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the British Isles, Sicily, America, Africa, India, Ceylon, and Australia. The institute was definitively approved by Leo XIII. in 1886—the object, 'the care of aged people of both sexes, irrespective of creed.'
The 'Sœurs de Bon Secours' (of Troyes) were also founded in 1840, by Abbé Miller, canon of the cathedral at Troyes, for the purpose of nursing the sick in their own homes. There are now 115 houses of this 'congregation' in Europe, seven in Africa, and one in New York. In time of war the sisters nurse the soldiers on the battlefield and in the ambulances. There is another order of 'Bon Secours' Sisters (of Notre Dame), founded in 1824 by Archbishop Quélen.
A heroic sisterhood was formed in 1868 by Cardinal Lavigerie, called 'of the African Mission,' for the care of 300 Arab orphans after the great Algerian famine. They have been pioneers of civilisation as well as Christianity, ploughing and planting vineyards with their own hands, and in 1892 had eleven different houses scattered throughout northern Africa—among the Kabyle Mountains, on the edge of the desert, and along the coast of Algeria. One of their chief works is the reception and education of negro children rescued from slave-dealers. In July 1891 three of these sisters were brought, at the request of the king of
Dahomey, to visit him; they were received with great pomp, and sent away with large presents, amongst which were three girls between ten and fifteen. Many other smaller societies of sisterhoods devoted to the care of the poor exist abroad; but, after France, Ireland has by far taken the lead, both in the rapid growth of such societies and in the number of women she has given to the work. Indeed, considering the smallness of her population, 4,700,000, she has probably far surpassed every nation in Europe in this charitable work.
During the prevalence of the penal laws in Ireland it was impossible for a woman in the dress of a sister to be seen in the streets. But on their repeal in 1782 and 1793 the fire of charitable enthusiasm in Irishwomen broke out and spread the more rapidly for its long repression. The 'Irish Sisters of Charity' were founded in Dublin in 1815 by Mary Aikenhead, daughter of a gentleman of good Scottish family who had settled in Cork. The society is on the same lines as that of St Vincent de Paul, but entirely distinct from it. They have now nearly 500 sisters, with twenty-three houses in Ireland, and one in England, besides four houses in Australia not depending on the mother-house. They are occupied in almost every kind of charitable work— orphanages, hospitals, penitentiaries, schools, convalescent homes, blind asylums, and certified industrial schools for girls under government, of which 4121 girls were inmates in 1890. A hospice for the dying at Harold's Cross near Dublin, with 200 beds, open to all denominations and perfectly free, must be visited in order to gain any notion of the beauty and comfort with which the dying are surrounded, and the perfection of every arrangement.
The other great sisterhood in Ireland is that of the Sisters of Mercy, founded in 1831 in Dublin by Catharine M'Auley. The object of this institute is 'all works of mercy, corporal and spiritual, especially education.' There are now at least 500 houses of these sisters in existence in all parts of the world. In their jubilee year, 1881, 168 houses had been founded in Ireland alone. This is quite the most remarkable development of an order of sisters in the world, considering that the whole population of Ireland is less than that of London.
Of sisterhoods belonging to the Anglican communion the first foundation was made in 1845 by Dr Pusey and Lord John Manners (afterwards Duke of Rutland), who, assisted by a few friends, opened a small house in Albany Street, Regent's Park, to receive a few women desiring to devote themselves to charitable works. Since then the spread of English sisterhoods has been scarcely less rapid than that of their Roman sisters in Ireland. The most powerful impulse to the movement was given by an Irish lady, the Hon. Harriet O'Brien, sister of Lord Inchiquin, who, having married the Rev. C. Monsell, and being early left a widow, undertook the charge of an infant community which had opened a House of Mercy for the reception of penitent women at Clewer, near Windsor, under the care of the rector of Clewer, the Rev. T. T. Carter, the venerable warden that was to be of the immense community numbering hundreds of sisters which has grown up under his fostering care. The sisters are engaged in all kinds of charitable works—missions in the worst parts of London, schools both for the poor and those of a higher class, and have built splendid convalescent hospitals, receiving both men and women, at Clewer, at Folkestone, and at Torquay. They have now five houses for different objects at Clewer, fourteen in London, and fourteen in other parts of England. They have also a branch in America, of which the mother-house is at New York; and in Calcutta they have charge of the Lady Canning Home, the nursing of the European General Hospital and of the Medical College and Eden Hospitals; also of the Pratt Memorial School, the European Orphan Asylum, and the hospital at Darjeeling, &c.
St Peter's Home, Mortimer Road, N.W., rivals the hospice for the dying near Dublin in the beauty and comfort of all arrangements that may cheer and comfort the dying. It is in England a unique home in this respect, and receives, besides the dying, patients needing long and tender care, incurables, infirm old women, ladies, especially for operations, &c. The sisterhood of St Peter's was founded in 1861 by the late Benjamin Lancaster, Esq., and his wife. The sisters have several other houses, including a convalescent hospital on the high heath and pinewood grounds above Woking Station. They also have mission houses under the parochial clergy in three parishes in the east of London and at Sydenham.
The first sisterhood in England, that founded by Dr Pusey, was broken up in 1855, after the war in the Crimea, where some of the sisters had worked under Florence Nightingale. A few of the original members of this first English sisterhood joined a small community which had been founded by Miss Lydia Sellon in 1849, called the Society of the Holy Trinity. The sisters have a house at Plymouth for lower and middle class schools, and a penitentiary; also a fine convalescent hospital and orphanage near Ascot, and a school at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. They also work amongst the poor in Spitalfields.
One of the largest and most important sisterhoods in England was founded in 1851 under the title of 'Sisters of the Poor,' by the late Miss Harriet Byron. Their headquarters is All Saints' Home, in Margaret Street, but they have now eleven houses in London, besides the entire nursing of University College Hospital; thirteen all over England, including a splendid convalescent home at Eastbourne; one at Edinburgh; six in America; five at Capetown, besides the charge of New Somerset Hospital; and at Bombay the nursing of three hospitals and the care of two government schools.
St Margaret's Sisterhood was founded at East Grinstead in 1854 by the Rev. Dr J. M. Neale (q.v.) for the purpose of nursing the sick poor or rich in their own homes. They have fulfilled this object in all parts of England, and in the poorest cottages, and have also undertaken almost every other charitable work. They have, including daughter-houses depending on their own resources, thirty-two houses in England and Scotland; one at Boston, U.S., with sixteen branch houses; and an orphanage and mission-work at Colombo. They also work under the clergy in five London parishes.
The Holy Cross sisterhood, whose headquarters are at Holy Cross Home, Hayward's Heath, was formed in 1857 to aid in the St George's Mission-work, under the Rev. Charles Lowder, a task in which they persevered during twenty years of hand-to-hand fight with the heathenism of Ratcliffe Highway. They have still a branch house at St Peter's, London Docks, and others at Charlton, Dover, Winchester, and York, besides an orphanage and large training-school at Hayward's Heath, Sussex. One of the most flourishing sisterhoods in England—that of St Mary's, Wantage—was founded by the Rev. Dr Butler, afterwards Dean of Lincoln, primarily for penitentiary work. Like other societies, its objects have multiplied, and now embrace hospital-nursing, schools, mission-work, &c. Seventeen houses in London and various parts of England, a mission at Poona, India, with the government high school, the Sassoon Hospital, an orphanage for natives, a government native school, and a high-caste native school, are under the Wantage Sisters' care. The 'Sisters of Bethany,' founded in 1866, have their headquarters in Clerkenwell, and are chiefly devoted to education and to mission-work in poor parishes. They have six houses in London, two at Brighton, one at Shirebrook, Derbyshire, and an orphanage for a hundred children at Bonnmouth. St Raphael's Sisterhood, Bristol, founded in 1867, follows, as far as possible, the rule of St Vincent de Paul, and is devoted entirely to the service of the poor; middle-class education and penitentiary work being excluded. Nine mission-houses, convalescent homes, &c. are under the care of the forty sisters and novices, of which five are in or near Bristol, one at Leeds, and one at Magila, Central Africa, in connection with the Universities Mission.
The 'Sisters of the Church,' Randolph Gardens, Kilburn, founded in 1870 by Miss Emily Ayckbourn, developed with extraordinary rapidity, as regards the number of sisters, now nearly 150, the immense number and variety of its work, and the large scale upon which each separate branch is carried on. Their prime object was to rescue girls from workhouse upbringing; and beginning with two little orphans in 1875, they have now 500 girls under their care, admitted without vote or payment, their only passport being entire friendliness and destitution. In 1884 they opened an orphanage for forty boys at Brondesbury, and in 1886 a convalescent home for 300 children at Broadstairs. Their houses are spread over all parts of London and over England, education and mission-work being amongst their chief objects. They have a large publishing establishment in Paternoster Row; and one of their monthly publications—the Banner of Faith, begun in 1882—has a circulation of 320,000. They have immense schools, teaching many thousands of children, and training-homes for teachers. It would be impossible to enumerate all their works in connection with mission-work: restaurants for working-men, a night refuge for men, food-trucks for the unemployed, depôts for the sale of second-hand clothing, and an accident hospital at Rotherhithe. Two houses and schools have been founded by these sisters in Canada, and one at Madras.
Besides these large communities there are many smaller sisterhoods in England: (1) All Hallows, at Ditchingham, the sisters' chief work being amongst fallen women. They have a rescue hospital and another house at Norwich, and an orphanage, county hospital, and training-school at Ditchingham; also a branch in British Columbia. (2) Sisters of the Holy Name, founded 1865, working in the parish of St Peter's, Vauxhall, and with houses at Wednesbury, Malvern Link, Birmingham, and Worcester. (3) St Katharine's, at Fulham, founded 1879, their special object being prison rescue work. (4) St Laurence's Sisterhood, Belper, for the care of the helpless, and to nurse the sick. The sisters have a middle-class school, cottage hospital, and mixed school; also houses at Derby and Scarborough. (5) St Agnes' Sisters, Birmingham. (6) St Mary's Sisters, Brighton, in charge of penitentiary, industrial school, orphans, schools, &c. (7) St Michael's Sisters, Bussage, who have charge of the Diocesan House of Mercy. (8) St Peter's Sisterhood, Horbury, in charge of a penitentiary for seventy-five inmates, and with branch houses near Boston and Manchester. (9) Sisters of the Holy Rood, at North Ormesby, in charge of a cottage hospital for accidents, and two other small hospitals in the mining districts; also of a home for girls. (10) St Thomas' Sisterhood, Oxford, in charge of three schools of different grades, a penitentiary at Basingstoke, and an orphanage at Southsea. (11) St Denys' Sisterhood,
Warminster, formed to train women for foreign missionary work. The sisters have a cottage hospital and ladies' school, and a school at Murree in the Punjab.
The first Protestant sisterhood in America was organised in 1852 by the Rev. W. A. Muhlenberg, rector of the church of the Holy Communion, New York, and author of the hymn 'I would not live alway.' The sisters took charge of St Luke's Hospital, which he founded in 1859.
Of most of the Anglican sisterhoods an accurate list will be found yearly in the Calendar of the English Church (Burleigh Street, Strand). St Margaret's Magazine (Skeffington & Son), published every January and July, gives an account of the increasing works of the East Grinstead Sisterhood; and a monthly record is given by the 'Sisters of the Church' in Our Work (3 Pater-noster Row). From the Catholic Directory information can be obtained as to Roman Catholic sisterhoods; and see Mrs Abel Ram, The Little Sisters of the Poor (1894). For Protestant deaconesses, see DEACON.