FRANCESCANE DELLA S. FAMIGLIA DI TREVINI. – They were founded by Mother Elisabetta Koch (1815–99) at Eupen in 1839, but the first house was established at Aachen on 13 June 1857, and this date is regarded as the Institute’s date of origin. Since 1923 the motherhouse has been at Mayen.
In addition to perpetual adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the sisters also devote themselves to caring for the sick in hospitals and in their homes. They have been in Belgium since 1875 and in the Netherlands since 1884. Divided into three provinces (Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands), the Institute currently has 43 houses with 805 religious.
BIBL.: A. Sinnigen, Katholische Frauenprozeßinitiative Deutschlands, 2nd ed., Düsseldorf 1933, pp. 130–33; M. Heimbucher, Die Orden und Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche, II, 3rd ed., Paderborn 1934, pp. 25–26. Cesario van Hulst