Daughters of Wisdom

Under Napoleon the Daughters of Wisdom recovered most of their former houses, were granted 30,000 francs for building purposes, and an annuity of 12,000 francs. This was faithfully paid until 1848. It was in 1810, when Napoleon was temporarily the master of Europe, that, at his call, the Sisters of Wisdom left French soil for the first time to nurse the wounded soldiers at Antwerp. Numerous medals were bestowed on the congregation by Napoleon, and by every French Government since; Spain, Prussia, and Belgium have honoured them for nursing the wounded or plague-stricken soldiers of those countries; as a congregation they have been acknowledged in the Apostolic Brief of Leo XII in 1825; they were canonically approved, together with the Fathers of the Company of Mary, in 1853; they were placed under Cardinal Vincenze Vanntuelli as protector, and favoured by two important decrees in 1893 and 1898 securing the integrity of Montfort's institution; and they received the definitive approbation of the constitutions of Montfort's double foundation in 1904.

In 1800 the membership of the community was 260; in 1810, 509; in 1830, 710; in 1840, 1400. Today there are 5400, distributed among 430 houses. Their principal novitiate is the mother-house. The present French Government has replaced them by lay nurses in the important naval and military hospitals of Toulon, Brest, Cherbourg, Boulogne, and others, in the state prisons, in the Maisons Centrales (prisons for women) of Cadillac and Clermont. Not less than 250 of their educational establishments have been closed. They are in charge of hospitals, insane asylums, orthopaedic institutes, orphan homes, training schools, apprentice shops, protectories, poor-houses, magdalen institutions, kindergartens, day nurseries, boarding-schools, day-schools, and parochial schools. The Asile des Vieillards, founded at Clamart (Paris) by Duchess Galiera, deserves a special mention for the uniqueness of its purpose. It is a home for aged and indigent artists, literary and scientific men, or noblemen.

In 1812 the Daughters of Wisdom took charge of the institution for deaf-mutes at La Chartreuse d'Auray. Trained by Miss Duler and by the Abbé Sicard, the sisters made rapid progress in this new field of usefulness. They improved the methods of their masters, and, in turn, became the teachers of several other religious communities. Today the Daughters of Wisdom direct the institutes of the blind and deaf-mutes in seven departments; at La Chartreuse, Larnay, Orléans, Lille, Laon, Besançon, and Toulouse. Larnay gained world-wide renown after the publication of Louis Arnould's "Une ame en prison", in which he graphically describes the method pursued by Sister Marguerite for the education of Marie Heurtin, deaf-mute and blind from her birth. Before Sister Marguerite, Sister St. Médulle had worked on similar lines, in instructing Germaine Cambon and Marthe Obrecht. What the famous Abbé de l'Epée considered almost impossible has been successfully accomplished by Sisters St. Medulle and Marguerite, and is zealously continued by the Daughters of Wisdom. Marie Herutin herself has been very serviceable in teaching her similarly afflicted companions. The deaf-mutes of Larnay manufacture, under the direction of their teachers, church vestments which experts have declared to rival the products of the ateliers of Paris and Toulouse. A unique religious congregation, "the Little Religious of Our Lady of the Seven Dolours", sprang from the Larnay Institute. It was founded in 1849 for the deaf-mutes of Larnay by Canon de Larnay, and approved by Cardinal Pie. Since 1898 it has been affiliated to the Daughters of Wisdom. Their rule has been approved by Pius X.

In 1846 the Daughters of Wisdom crossed the French frontier and settled at Tournai. Of the establishments of the congregation on Belgian soil, the principal ones are located at Tournai, Antwerp, Brussels, and Malines. Holland.-In 1880 the Daughters of Wisdom made their first foundation at Schimmert, Limburg, in the Netherlands, where they have since opened a boarding-school, a novitiate for the Dutch Province, and a kindergarten. Among their other establishments in Holland are schools at Rotterdam (in 1905) and an institute for defective children at Druten.

The Hospital Sant'Andrea, Genoa, with its branches San Filippo and Coronata; houses in Rome, Turin, Gorno, Nettuno, and San Remo. The novitiate of the Italian Province at San Giorgio (Monferrato).

Establishments at Sonnenwyl and Bonnefontaine.

Establishment at Roskilde, Hayti.-1871, the number of establishments today is 45, with 250 teachers and nurses.

Houses at Villavicencio (1905), Medina (1906), and Gachala (1911).

In the Vicariate Apostolic of Shire, houses at Nugludi and Utale.

(1) Abbey House, Romsey, Hampshire (1891), 17 sisters, 80 orphan boys. (2) La Sagesse Convent, Golder's Green, London, N.W., boarding-school and day-school. (3) La Sagesse Convent, Grassendale, Liverpool, a juniorate destined to recruit English-speaking members for the congregation. The Sisters also visit the poor and take care of them in their homes. Evening school for girls; 15 sisters. (4) Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Moorfield Convent, Preston (1905), an orphan home for girls, who are taught domestic science; also a home of retreat for ladies (21 sisters). (5) Our Lady's Convent, Gateshead-on-Tyne (1906), boarding-school and day-school, 14 sisters, 80 pupils. (6) Romsey, near de Montfort College, of the Company of Mary, one house; the sisters have charge of the kitchen, laundry, linen-room, and infirmary of the college.

(1) In Ontario: Cumming's Bridge, near Ottawa, the provincial house of the Canadian province, and a novitiate for English and French-speaking young ladies. Also, a boarding-school and the parochial schools. Other houses: Sturgeon Falls, Blind River, Cyrville, Alfred and St. Thomas Lefaivre. (2) In Quebec: Montfort (1884), Huberdeau, St. Jovite, St. Agathe des Monts, Papineauville (2 houses), Cheneville, Grenville, and two hospitals in Montreal; St. Justine, for children; St. Hélène. Also domiciliary visiting of the poor. (3) New Brunswick: Edmundston, a boarding-school and a day-school. (4) Alberta: Red Deer, Castor, and Calgary.

Maine: St. Agatha, a high school, a boarding-school and day-school, and a hospital at Grand Isle; parochial schools. New York: Ozone Park, Long Island, Our Lady of Wisdom Academy, boarding-school, day school, and parochial school; 27 sisters, 80 boarders. There they admit little boys up to the age of ten. Port Jefferson, St. Charles' Home for blind, crippled, and defective children; 30 sisters, 250 inmates.