Sisters of the Holy Cross Menzingen

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The Sisters of Holy Cross Menzingen is a Catholic congregation of nuns. It was founded in 1844 in Menzingen, Canton Zug, Switzerland by Mother Bernarda Heimgartner, now listed as "Venerable" by the Catholic Church. [1] The order is now international with about 1700 sisters.

Catholic Church Largest Christian church, led by the Bishop of Rome

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.

A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders — the other major type of religious institute — in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religious orders take solemn vows.

Nun Member of a religious community of women

A nun is a member of a religious community of women, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery. Communities of nuns exist in numerous religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism, and Taoism.

Contents

History

Theodosius Florentini

Rev. Fr. Theodosius Florentini OFM Cap. envisaged a religious congregation of teachers who would educate children, especially girls, who as future mothers would preserve the faith in their families. Thus, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in October 1844 with three young ladies, Maria Anna Heimgartner, (later Mother Bernarda), Cornelia Mader, and Feliciana Cramer. Before long, more young women joined them, and the sisters took up education in many church-run as well as Govt. Schools in Switzerland. Mother Bernarda is honored as the Co-foundress of the Congregation.

Mother Bernarda Heimgartner

Maria Anna Heimgartner was born in Fislisbach, Canton Aargau on November 26, 1822. Her father died when she was fourteen. After her education, she worked as a children's nurse between 1838 and 1840. Feeling called to religious life, she began studies with the canonesses in Baden. She joined the 'Sisters of Divine Providence' in Ribeauville, Alsace between 1843 and 1844. [2]

From the village of Menzingen the congregation grew and spread mainly to the poorer central parts of Switzerland.

In July 1883 the first five Holy Cross Sisters arrived in Durban in answer to a call for missionaries in Southern Africa. They travelled by steamship from Southampton. Upon arriving they up the St John's River and continued their journey by ox wagon to Umtata, where they established their first school and a hospital. [3]

Nine sisters travelled from Menzingen to nurse the sick in government hospitals at Trivandrum and Quilon, India. [4]

Location

Switzerland federal republic in Central Europe

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a sovereign state situated in the confluence of western, central, and southern Europe. It is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities seated in Bern. Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. It is geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi), and land area of 39,997 km2 (15,443 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are located, among them the two global cities and economic centres of Zürich and Geneva.

Sri Lanka Island country in South Asia

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea. The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo.

Belfast City in the United Kingdom, capital of Northern Ireland

Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast of Ireland. It is the second-largest city on the island of Ireland, after Dublin. It had a population of 333,871 as of 2015.

Institutions

Schools

The Holy Cross School is a Roman Catholic secondary school with academy status for girls located in New Malden, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, England. The school specialises in science, and converted to academy status on 1 August 2012.

Holy Cross Preparatory School is an independent preparatory school for girls aged 4–11 in Coombe, London, England.

Hospitals

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References

  1. ↑ "Venerable Bernarda Heimgartner". CatholicSaints.Info. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Our Foundress Mother Bernarda". holycross-menzingen.org.
  3. ↑ "Holy Cross George celebrates 120 years", George Herald
  4. ↑ Hull, Ernest. "Diocese of Quilon." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 18 June 2016
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