Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales

Oblate Sisters
of St. Francis de Sales
Abbreviation	O.S.F.S.
Formation	30 October 1868;155 years ago
Type	Roman Catholic religious order
Headquarters	Maison-Mère des Soeurs de St. Francis de Sales, (Motherhouse)
Location	Troyes, France ;
Key people	Father Louis Brisson—founder; Mother Frances de Sales Aviat—founder
Website	Oblate Sisters of St Francis de Sales

Last updated December 18, 2023

The Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales (Latin: Oblati Sancti Francisci Salesii, O.S.F.S.) are a congregation of Roman Catholic Religious Sisters who base their spirituality on the teachings of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. (The Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales are affiliated with the Oblate Priests and Brothers of St. Francis de Sales)

Foundation

In nineteenth century, it was not uncommon to find child labor and unfair labor practices in industrialized France. There were many altercations between workers and government, such as the Paris Commune and the Canut Revolts. Maurice Maignen, one of the founders of the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul, also found the “Circle of Young Workers", better known as "Catholic Circle of Montparnasse" in 1855.^[1] There were very similar Social movements throughout France during this time. Troyes was no exception. This “Industrial Revolution” flocked young country boys and girls to Troyes for work in the factories and textile mills. Many of these young workers were on their own and exposed to the dangers of the city. Father Louis Brisson was concerned about these young workers. In 1858, he began to set up clubs, workshops and houses to help the young girls organising their new lives.^[2] Assisting Fr Brisson in the “Oeuvres Ouvrières”, were lay women, such as the young lady, Léonie Aviat, whom he met when she was a boarder at the Convent School of the Visitation.

Léonie seemed to Father Brisson, to possess the spirit of service and the necessary qualities of organization requested for this ambitious project. At 21 years of age, Leonie she took on the direction of the working girls’ apostolate on April 18, 1866. As this apostolate developed, Father Brisson gave it greater stability by founding a female religious congregation, the Oblate Sisters of Saint Francis de Sales, whose purpose was to help the working girls to keep their dignity and to become women of conscience and faith.^[2]

On October 30, 1868, Léonie, along with Lucie Canuet, received the habit of the new congregation from Bishop Gaspard Mermillod of Geneva. At this time, she received her new name: Sister Françoise de Sales Aviat.^[3] She became the first Superior General of this congregation.

The purpose of the new congregation was an apostolate among the working class according to the spirit of Saint Francis de Sales. The congregation of sisters grew and this working class apostolate spread rapidly. The Sisters also ran Sunday clubs, boarding houses and primary schools.^[2] Their Social Apostolate flourished throughout France.

The anti-clerical laws and complete secularization of France at the beginning of the 20th century began with the secularization of the religious houses and exiling of the occupants. In 1904, Mother Aviat, along with her Oblate Sisters, transferred their Motherhouse to Perugia, Italy. Fr Brisson, died on February 2, 1908, in Plancy In 1911, Pope Pius X approved the constitutions of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales. Mother Aviat died on 10 January 1914, while still exiled in Perugia. The Motherhouse returned to Troyes in the Spring of 1948. They remains of the founders, Saint Léonie Aviat and Blessed Louis Brisson are buried in the crypt chapel of the Oblate Sisters’ Motherhouse in Troyes.

Apostolate

Oblate Sisters serve the in education, social work, youth ministry, parish ministries, and missionary activity in South America and Africa.^[4]

Oblate refers to persons, especially in the Middle Ages, who offered themselves and their property to a monastery.

Oblate Sisters in Africa

When the Vicar Apostolic of Cape of Good Hope, Bishop John Leonard, heard that the Society of African Missions of Lyons had decided to recall its subjects from Namaqualand and the North Western Cape, he made a trip to Europe in 1880 in hopes of finding a Congregation willing to assume the responsibility of evangelizing these districts. Fr. Brisson sent five missionary priests in 1882, to fulfill Bishop Leonard's request. Soon after, three Oblate Sisters left Troyes and supported the Oblate Priests in South Africa. Republic of South Africa Missions were founded in Matjieskloof in 1885, Nababeep in 1900, O’kiep in 1904, and Port Nolloth in 1904. Republic of Namibia Missions were founded in Heirachabies in 1896, Warmbad in 1907, and Gabis in 1907.

Oblate Sisters in South America

The Oblate Sisters arrived in Riobamba, Ecuador in 1888, from Europe. In May 1910, a convent was found in Manta and in 1930, after long hard efforts and expectations, the sisters opened a school for girls. The sisters began working at the Leonie Aviat school in the Tarqui administrative district in Manta Canton, Ecuador, in 1960. In 2016 the school an enrollment of more than 900 students.

In 1955, the sisters extended their apostolate and opened another school in Quito. The sisters have spread their works throughout Ecuador and Colombia.

Oblate Sisters in North America

In 1893, the first Oblates priests came to the United States, serving chaplaincies in the New York City area. In 1906, the first English speaking province was established in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1950, Mother Jeanne de Sales visited the Manta convent and school in South America and stopped in the United States to see the Oblate Provincial, Fr. William Buckley, who was asking for the Sisters to establish itself in the USA. Within a year, Sister Bertha Gonzaga and her companions arrived from France and were living in a small house on the property of the Oblate Fathers’ novitiate in Childs, Maryland. Initially, some of the sisters worked in the seminary kitchen.^[5]

In 1952, the sisters converted the Cecil County Almshouse and established their convent, naming it “Villa Aviat”. In 1954, the Oblate Sisters’ Kindergarten opened.^[6]

In 1960, their apostolate of education expanded when they opened Mount Aviat Academy, .^[5] From 1983 to 2010, they operated St. Bernadette of Lourdes in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. From 1998 to 2019, the Sisters’ staffed Holy Cross Academy in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 2019, the Sisters' arrived in Towson, Maryland to further their apostolate work at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parochial School. They also have a presence at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, as of 2010.

Related Research Articles

Francis de Sales, C.O., O.M. was a Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.

The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales are a congregation of Catholic priests and brothers who follow the teachings of Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal. The community was founded in Troyes in 1875 by Louis Brisson and are affiliated with the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales.

The Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration is a papal congregation of the Roman Catholic Church, founded on July 20, 1863, by Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel in Olpe, Germany. In 1875, they opened St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette, Indiana; now part of the Franciscan Health healthcare system. In 1890 they founded Saint Francis Normal School, a teacher training school; which is now the University of Saint Francis (Indiana).

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The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi.

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The Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) is a Catholic women's religious institute founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, and James Nicholas Joubert in 1829 in Baltimore, Maryland for the education of girls of African descent. It was the first permanent community of Black Catholic sisters in the United States.

Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP was an American religious sister who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first African-American religious congregation. She was also, via the Oblates, the first-ever African-American superior general.

James Mary Hector Nicholas Joubert de la Muraille, PSS was a French Catholic priest in the United States. A teacher at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, he co-founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence along with Mary Lange.

The Congrégation de Notre Dame (CND) is a religious community for women founded in 1658 in Ville Marie (Montreal), in the colony of New France, now part of Canada. It was established by Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was recruited in France to create a religious community in Ville Marie. She developed a congregation for women that was not cloistered; the sisters were allowed to live and work outside the convent. The congregation held an important role in the development of New France, as it supported women and girls in the colony and offered roles for them outside the home.

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Marie de Sales Chappuis, VHM was a Catholic nun and a spiritual leader in the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. She also co-founded the congregation of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales along with Fr Louis Brisson.

Gaspard Mermillod was a Swiss Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Despite a lengthy investiture conflict with the Calvinist Canton of Geneva, he served as Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva from 1883 to 1891, having previously served as Titular Bishop of Hebron. He was made a cardinal in 1890.

Louis Brisson, OSFS was a French Roman Catholic priest and the founder of both the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. He founded the female branch alongside Léonie Aviat and the male branch alongside the Servant of God Thérèse Chappuis. Brisson's founding of the congregations stemmed from his desire to improve the working conditions of middle-class girls and to ensure their protection and the promotion of their faith.

Léonie Aviat, her religious name Françoise de Sales, was a Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-founder along with Louis Brisson of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales.

Maurice Maignen, (1822–1890), was a French Social Reformer and a Roman Catholic Religious Brother during the nineteenth century. He was the founder of the Catholic Circle of Montparnasse to prevent future tragedies from happening, like the Paris Commune.

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Mary Theodore Williams, F.H.M. was an American Black Catholic nun who founded the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in 1916.

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