Handmaids Of The Immaculate Conception Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

HANDMAIDS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. — A religious institute that originated in 1850 through the work of a pious and noble gentleman, Edmondo Bojanowski, with the approval of the bishop of Gnesna and Posnania. Despite the many difficulties imposed by the Russian Government, the institute developed considerably, and by 1860 it already had 18 houses. In 1877 its suppression was decreed, and the sisters were forced to wear secular dress. No longer able to devote themselves to the education of the young, they dedicated themselves to caring for the sick. After the founder’s death (1871), differences in the language, character, and political conditions of the nations in which the Institute had spread led to its division into four distinct branches. That of Gnesen-Posen retained the original title and became sui juris in 1897. It was approved by the Holy See in 1930 and has 70 houses with more than 400 religious. Silverio Mattei