Company of the Blessed Virgin Mary

COMPAGNIA DELLA BEATA VERGINE MARIA. – In 1664, in Manila, in the Philippine Islands, near the Jesuit residence, a house for pious women was opened, known as the Devote (Beatas) della C., under the guidance of Ignazia dello Spirito Santo, a 22-year-old mestiza. They lived by manual labor. In 1872 the Jesuit missionaries founded two orphanages on the island of Mindanao, appointing the Devote of Manila to direct them. Other houses and schools were subsequently opened, which created the need to group them into a religious congregation under a superior general and with its own constitutions, since previously each house had been independent. Following the approval of the apostolic delegate came that of the Holy See, and today the C. numbers 33 houses with more than 250 sisters.

Silverio Mattei