SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN RETREAT (NIMES). – Founded in 1789 in the diocese of Besançon as a society without vows by the venerable Antonio Silvestro Receveur.
Approved by the Holy See on 23 July 1912, it was raised to a religious congregation with public vows and received its first approval of the Constitutions in 1929, and definitive approval in 1937. At present the sisters number 325 in 15 houses. Their special purpose is to carry out works of spiritual charity by promoting the Christian education of the young and the work of retreats for days of recollection and spiritual exercises.
BIBL.: Archive of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, R. 7.