BASILIANE ŠŪWAJRITE. - A female congregation founded in 1732 by several unmarried Melkite women of Aleppo, who were already living a communal life in Aleppo, according to the constitutions of the Visitandines of S. Francesco di Sales, under the direction of Fr. Pietro Fromage.
Their customs were confirmed by Benedict XIV in the constitution Demandatam of 24 Dec. 1743. The constitutions of the Order were then approved by Clement XIII in the brief of 15 Nov. 1762 and printed in Rome in 1764 (cf. Mansi, XLVI, cols. 309-320, 330, 1225-30; Italian version of the constitutions, cols. 1303-46). The B. š. are devoted to the contemplative cloistered life, with strict enclosure and choral office. They have two monasteries with 45 religious in the diocese of Beirut.
From them originated, in 1832, when the Šūvajrite monks divided into two branches, the Aleppine B. nuns, who nevertheless retained the same constitutions and the same manner of life. They too have two monasteries with 30 religious in the diocese of Beirut.