DAUGHTERS OF THE HOLY CROSS (Liège)
Religious institute founded in Liège, Belgium, in 1833, with the special purpose of educating poor girls, rehabilitating female prisoners and those who had served their sentences. In 1843 it received the decree of praise and final approval, and in 1851 the approval of its constitutions. In 1947 it was joined by the Association of “Lay Helpers of the Cross,” whose statutes and regulations were approved by the Holy See.
By decree of 30 Nov. 1943, the sisters of a local diocesan institute, known as the Sisters of St Joseph, founded in Liège in 1853 and approved in 1840, now reduced in number and unable to carry on their works, were united on equal terms with the choir sisters of the Daughters of the Holy Cross.
At present the sisters number 1,867 in 93 houses.
DAUGHTERS OF THE HOLY VIRGIN “SISTERS OF THE RETREAT” (Vannes)
After the religious wars there arose in Brittany evangelical men who worked strenuously for the spiritual rebirth of their land. A special initiative to bring about the religious awakening of the people was the popular missions which Fr Huby wished to perpetuate by suggesting, toward the end of the 17th century, to the Venerable Catherine de Francheville the work of retreats, which the vicar general of Vannes, Monsignor de Kerlivio, was to organize. Thus came into being a congregation of sisters with simple vows, approved on 21 Oct. 1675 by the bishop of Vannes, whose constitutions were later approved in 1703.
After the Revolution the work was resumed; in 1864 it returned to its original cradle, on 11 June 1866 it obtained the decree of praise, and on 17 Dec. 1887 definitive approval. The constitutions were revised after the publication of the Code and approved on 24 March 1931.
The sisters devote themselves to the sanctification of their neighbor not only by promoting retreats but also by providing sound education to young women and by engaging in other charitable and apostolic works. In 1937 they had 11 houses and numbered 140.