DAUGHTERS OF THE MERCY OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARIA (Bayeux). — They were founded at Blon, in the diocese of Bayeux, in 1842, and received the decree of praise on 20 February 1861 and the decree of approval on 21 March 1864. The bishop of Bayeux provisionally approved the constitutions on 18 February 1862; they were subsequently definitively approved on 20 August 1872 and revised again and brought into harmony with the Code on 22 August 1946. They engage in works of charity for orphans and the sick and devote themselves to the Christian education of the young.
At present they number 105 sisters in 16 houses.
BIBL.: M. Heimbucher, Die Orden und Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche, II, Paderborn 1934, p. 501; Arch. S. Congr. dei Religiosi, B. 16. Agostino Pugliese