The Institute Develops Roots
Helene’s aim for the Institute was that it not to be tied down to one particular work. This
would leave the Sisters free to respond to any need they encountered anywhere in the world. Helene understood her missionary responsibility, like many other religious women of her era, was to respond to the needs as she discovered them:
Women religious were at one with the many other socially committed 19th century women who sought, with a new public visibility and more effective avenues of outreach, to serve social needs and bring alleviation to crying forms of distress. At the heart of their service, for many of these women of whatever religious denomination, was a sense of Christian dedication and commitment to the relief of suffering and injustice.1
Helene’s motivation was the Franciscan Gospel way of life as seen in Saints Francis and Clare. The ministries Helene established generally corresponded to those accepted for religious women of the day; for instance, nursing, teaching and caring for needy women and children. However, when the need arose, the Sisters responded, such as nursing smallpox patients, those with the plague and leprosy sufferers, regardless of their gender or religion. The Sisters set up sewing schools for young girls who were on the streets, took in refugees, and visited prisoners. In all of these works, the Sisters sought the co-operation of lay people. Lay persons were also encouraged to take up their responsibility as Christians. In this way the Sisters were able to work beside them in the various ministries. The movement for lay
involvement goes back to 1874, as Duncan writes: “The Catholic mass organisations grew
out of the Catholic Congresses held from 1874 to aid the Vatican in its struggle with the Italian State, and were firmly under clerical control.”2 These movements were directly involved in political activities, but later split into two groups: one mainly for university students with a focus on temporal and spiritual ends. The other remained political in its direction.3 Helene became involved, encouraging women to learn a trade and to teach other
1 MacGinley, A Dynamic of Hope, 336.
2 Duncan, The Church’s Social Teaching, 114-115. 3 Ibid., 115.
women.4This recognition of the importance of lay persons’ involvement in the mission of the Church was later stressed by Pope Pius XI in his Encyclical praising Catholic Action in Italy,
Non Abbiamo Bisogno.5
After arriving in Rome, Helene was introduced to a number of chaplains and members of
religious Orders, many of whom became frequent visitors to the Sisters’ community in Rome.
Amongst the various visitors was the private secretary of Leo XIII, Mgr. Gabriele Boccali. On a number of occasions he had facilitated audiences for Helene and the Sisters with the Pope.6
The Sisters set about learning Italian as quickly as they could. Helene and the Sisters soon became aware of the numerous very poor inhabitants in the city. Seeing the great need of so many people, they were able to take some action on behalf of them. The cause of the desperate plight of many people in nineteenth century Italy has been explained as follows:
The land, the food and the people were all shaped by warfare, struggle and the desire for independence. Most of the men who fought for freedom during this period were peasants, seeking a chance for something better. Northern Italy, mostly under direct influence of Austria and the House of Savoy saw the emergence of industry; however life was hard for most Italians, who remained poor. Southern Italy fared worse than the North: neglect and the oppression of wealthy European landlords who exploited local peasants to tend their lands, created the basis for the later Mafia organizations.7
The Sisters, then, went beyond the bounds of Rome itself, going to other needy towns in Italy, such as Grottaferrata, Assisi, Florence and in the mountain area of Tyrol, all by 1891, within fourteen years of their founding.8
Despite the various activities of the Sisters, Helene continued to keep them up to date with world and local events through her reading of the various newspapers available in Rome. Her
4 Cf. below, Emphasis on Education.
5 Pope Pius XI, Encyclical, Non Abbiamo Bisogno (on Catholic Action in Italy). http://www.papalencyclicals.
net/Pius11/P11FAC.HTM (accessed 18 May, 2014).
6From the house journal of St Helen’s convent, in Rome, My Spiritual Homeland, 74. Some of the visitors
within the first three months were Hoy Spirit Fathers, Capuchin Franciscans and Franciscans of the Observance (OFM), Passionist Fathers, Christian Brothers, and Canons Regular of St John Lateran.
7 Ancos: “Life in Italy During The 19th Century.” http://www.lifeinitaly.com/history/life-italy-
during-19th-century (accessed 4 May, 20
spiritual director, Fr Raphael, forwarded to Helene any items of news and papal writings he himself received from the Vatican. Evidence of the knowledge of recent Encyclicals can be
seen in Helene’s warnings against “Protestants, Jews and Masons.”9 Helene is repeating what she has read of the popes condemnations in their Encyclicals.10
When able to do so, Helene wrote a daily Journal for the Sisters spread throughout the world using the documents and various snippets of information. She included such items as she
considered important: “She formed herself and others to be open, taking inspiration from the
Bible and from St. Francis, analyzing the events of the day in this light.”11 This was so that the Sisters would be aware of what was happening in the world and could pray for the needs of others.12
With the improvement in transportation at the end of the nineteenth century due especially to the steam engine, there came an increase in the number of pilgrims to Rome. Helene was very intent on encouraging the spirituality of the laity at every opportunity. She opened the doors of the convent in Rome to accommodate as many pilgrims as possible. When the convent was not able to provide enough room for them, Helene rented vacant houses nearby. The Sisters prepared the beds and fed the pilgrims:
...the community had begun another type of apostolate, which would develop, that
of welcoming pilgrims...in that first little house where they were ‘as poor as Job’
...the Journal (of the house) does not say where the Sisters of the community slept.13
At one time a group of 200 pilgrims came from France, and more than 500 from Portugal.14 As seen previously, many of the pilgrims were workers.15 Besides pilgrims, Helene was also
9 Helene de Chappotin, letter of 25 January, 1895, in Mary of the Passion, 510.
10 Cf. For instance, Pius IX, “The Syllabus of Errors. Condemnation by Pius IX.” http://www.papalencyclicals.
net/Pius09/p9syll.htm (accessed 25 August 2008) - this document contains condemnations of all three groups; and Leo XIII, Encyclicals "Humanum genus" of 1884, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_ xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_18840420_humanum-genus_en.html (accessed 1 May, 2012);"Præclara",1894; "Annum ingressi", 1902; "Etsí nos"of 1882; http://www.vatican.va/holy_father /leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15021882_etsi-nos_en.html (accessed 2 April, 2013).
11Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, “Marks of FMM Mission.” Document Commemorating the Constitutions
1978–2008.
12 Cf. Alini and Foujols, FMM, An Apostle Sent by God, 58.
13 Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Rome, My Spiritual Homeland, 75. 14From Sr Marie de Sainte Catherine de Sienne’s memoirs, in Rome, My Spiritual Homeland, 307, and Letter
dated 10May, 1900, in A Mother’s Journal to Her Daughters Years 1900-1901, 26.
very concerned for refugees and had many housed in the convent in Rome. Following
Helene’s example, for some time a number of Armenians who had survived the 1915 massacre in Turkey stayed in the house in Rome.16 Helene had deemed the urgency to assist these people to temporarily relax the requirement of the Enclosure.
Helene arranged for the Sisters to provide soup and bread for the poor and hungry through their house in Rome. This practice is still being continued today.17 The community also began working for the rehabilitation of women prisoners.18 Another work which Helene enthusiastically accepted was for the promotion of young working women within the organisation, the Laboratorio Fides: “the Preservation of the Faith”:19
The Preservation of the Faith is an association founded to combat Protestant proselytism in the Eternal City, and to preserve from its attacks and their own weakness the poor, wavering souls whom the lure of gain or the daily temptations of extreme poverty make easy prey. This crusading work to preserve the faith among our Catholics enjoyed the full encouragement of the Sovereign Pontiffs.20 The president of this work in 1902 was Mgr Adami. At that time he asked Helene if the Sisters would take charge of one of the workrooms which employed twenty young women. Under
the Sisters’ direction, this workroom evolved to provide employment for 75 young women, and expanded to care of their families as well.21Helene had based the Sisters’ participation on her practice of programs she used in her other workrooms for women in other parts of Europe.22
Whilst many of the services provided by the Sisters in Italy and other European nations were
not specifically ‘missionary’ in the understanding of the time, Helene did not hesitate to respond to whatever need she encountered. For Helene ‘mission’ was wherever there was a
need. As one of her Sisters explained:
16 Quoted in Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Mary of the Passion, 357-359. 17 Cf. Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Mary of the Passion, 333.
18 Cf. Helene de Chappotin, A Mother’s Journal to Her Daughters, 1901-1904 Rome, 19 March, 1901. 19 Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Mary of the Passion, 470.
20 Ibid.
21 Cf. Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Mary of the Passion, 470. 22 Cf. below, Professional Formation.
The Institute, according to the orientation given by the Pope himself, being
destined for missionary activity “ad extra”, could not specialise in the ministry
for migrants who, at that time, did not come from the so-called missionary territories; but that did not prevent Mary of the Passion from being deeply interested in their lot and seizing every opportunity possible to come to their help.23
Orphanages were a service Helene was very keen to provide. She saw the rights of children as paramount. These rights were basic, and not only children without parents were in the
Sisters’ care. Helene wrote of “a frightening moral disorder…”24 the result of the changes with societies which disrupted family life and seriously affected the children. As explained
by one of the Sisters: “The purpose of orphanages was to welcome children whose families, for various reasons, could not accomplish their task of formation.”25
The ability to assist those in need depended upon the formation of the Sisters in the required fields. Helene ensured the education of the Sisters in various professions.
Professional Formation
Besides the spiritual formation of the Sisters,26 Helene also saw to it that the Sisters were trained professionally at all levels for whatever works with which they were involved. She
believed that the Sisters’ talents should be developed, such as in music, drawing and
languages, which could render valuable service in the mission areas. She set up houses where these gifts could be developed as well as other basic subjects such as management and mathematics. Some of such houses were founded in Paris (1886), in Gooreind in Belgium (1895), Lyon (1900) in France, and in Fribourg in Switzerland (1902).27 Helene also accepted foundations in England so that the Sisters could learn English for the apostolate in English speaking countries such as the British Isles and India.28 When planning to have a house in Budapest, Hungary, Helene first of all found an apartment for four Sisters so that they could
23Cf. Anne de la Bouliere, FMM, article quoting Helene de Chappotin, “I would wish to help all those who
suffer.”
24 Helene de Chappotin, in a letter to G Decurtins of December, 1903, in An Apostle Sent by God, 142. Helene
encouraged Decurtins in his work for the betterment of the whole family. Cf. below, Support for Workers.
25 Alini and Foujols, FMM, An Apostle Sent by God, 142, 143. 26Cf. Chapter Four, “Missionary Spirituality.”
27 Cf. Doc. XI: Organisation et Expansion de l’Institut, in Positio Super Virtutibus, Vol II, 879-890. 28 Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Mary of the Passion, 204.
learn the local language before they began any ministry.29 When it was appropriate, the Sisters were to take the official examinations in their particular fields, such as teaching and nursing.30 In this way the Sisters could obtain permission to enter various countries.
Besides Helene, other foundresses also stressed the importance of an adequate professional formation. For instance, Mary Josephine Rogers [1882-1995] who founded the Maryknoll Sisters in 1912 also established an institution for the academic formation of her sisters. Initially the Maryknoll Sisters were the cooks and cleaners for the Maryknoll Fathers. The Maryknoll Sisters eventually undertook their own missionary ventures.31
In order to facilitate good communication between the Sisters, Helene asked that they learn English, French and Italian, and the language of the people to whom they were sent.32 She emphasised the importance of speaking the local language during prayer so that the local people could participate, and expressed her delight when she learnt that “a sermon had been preached in Chinese in the Sisters’ chapel at Chefoo [China] and in good Sauteux of Manitoba, Canada.”33
The Sisters were encouraged to study the aspects of the local cultures and conform themselves wherever possible to the local customs. For instance, when thinking of the orphans for whom the Sisters cared, Helene asked the Sisters to act with great kindness and consideration for their specific lifestyles:
…the atmosphere, the style of life, the formation to agricultural work, cottage industry and work in the house, in a word everything, should conform to local customs in such a way that no young person would feel disoriented when she returned to her own home, as if the fact of being a Christian or of being educated in a Christian milieu had obliged her to renounce the customs of her people.34
29 Cf. Alini and Foujols, FMM, An Apostle Sent by God, 113. 30 Cf. Ibid., 103.
31 Cf. Smith, Women in Mission, 141, 143. 32First Constitutions, #17.
33 Alini and Foujols, FMM, An Apostle Sent by God, 113. (Saulteaux is the correct spelling of this name
today.) The Saulteaux peoples are located on the southern rim of the Subarctic of Canada. They prefer
the names Ojibway or Anishinabe, because ‘Saulteaux’ was the name given to them by Europeans. Cf. “Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples.” http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/encyclopedia/a-z/a4/7 (accessed 27 April, 2014).
Besides the Sisters learning the local languages, they also set up printing presses in many countries so that bible stories and catechisms would be available in the local dialects. Grammars and lexicons were printed as a means of allowing newcomers to learn the languages with greater ease. The printing presses became also a means of preserving the local languages. This also allowed for safeguarding manyof the cultures which would otherwise have been lost forever. Helene established printing presses in France and Belgium so that the Sisters could learn the trade. Later, they built printing presses in the Congo, China and Canada, and then taught the people how to build them themselves. They also trained the local people to print and bind, thus giving employment as well as education to them.35 As the
current website of the Indian Sisters states, Helene “…set the trend for us to utilize the potent
means of the media to communicate the compassionate face of God to all peoples thereby
promoting communion and human relationships.”36
Helene’s reputation became so widespread that in 1902 she was approached by the President
of the Council of Fribourg who asked if she would take over the responsibility for the direction of the technical college, a professional branch of the University of Fribourg. Helene
was delighted. She saw this as a benefit for their future mission work. She wrote: “When in
each house we have a graduate from the Technicum, or at least one of her pupils, we shall
have a unique situation in the missions for orphanages, technical schools, and workrooms.”37 In 1903 the Sisters went to Ireland following a request to assist the poor in their desperate situation. Bishop Clancy of Sligo in Ireland had met the FMM Sisters in Antwerp and saw how they were training women in various crafts. He asked Helene for Sisters for his diocese so that the women would not be forced to seek employment overseas. Helene shared the
bishop’s aim:
…to open…a modern Agricultural Centre together with a rural Domestic
Economy School, carpet-weaving and lace-making workrooms aimed at helping the young Irish women to remain in their homes which poverty was forcing them to leave, and so to prevent them from emigrating to America.38
35 Launay, Helene de Chappotin, 205.
36 Cf. http://fmmindia.org/cms/pages/our-services.html. (accessed 31 March, 2015). Sisters continued to study
means of mass media and technology as part of their missionary vocation. Cf. Kerry Scanlon FMM,
The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Volume 1, 1941-1987.
Sydney, Australia: Printed Matter, 2012), 217.
37 de Maleissye, Century of Mary of the Passion, 163.
The Agricultural Board established by the bishop to oversee the work provided more than the
Sisters hoped for: “Embroidery frames, sewing machines, agricultural machinery, horses, cows, pigs, hens…soon 130 girls were at work...”39
Initial Foundations Care of Lepers
Leprosy was a common affliction in Helene’s time, and the only treatment was isolation and
management of the wounds and disabilities of the sufferers. Helene received almost daily requests for foundations, which necessitated the refusal of many appeals for help due to the lack of Sisters. Yet proposals which Helene called too beautiful to refuse were those which were for the most dangerous or distant missions, or requests for Sisters to care for lepers. Helene wrote regarding care of those suffering from leprosy: “It seems to be that this ministry will be special to our Institute...”40 She added that she would never refuse a request to go to a leprosarium, no matter what trouble it would cause her.41 Helene saw this calling as imitating
the “respectful tenderness of St Francis for the lepers…”42
Many other Christian denominations were also responding to the needs of the sufferers of