MISSIONARY CANONESSES OF SAINT AUGUSTINE. - The Congregation was founded in 1897 by Mother Maria Luisa de Meester (d. 10 Oct. 1928) at Heverlé (Belgium) for the foreign missions. In June 1911 it obtained the decree of praise, and on 1 Oct. 1926 the definitive approval of its Constitutions.
The essential purpose of the Congregation is the apostolate through the primary and higher education and instruction of children and young women in the missions. Immediately after the foundation (Oct. 1897), Mother Maria Luisa and a companion began their activity by assuming direction of the orphanage at Mulagamudu in Travancore (India). The principal fields of the Congregation’s apostolate are India, China, West and Central Africa, Central America, and the Philippines.