HOLY FAMILY OF NAZARETH, SISTERS OF THE

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (CSFN, Official Catholic Directory #1970) is an international apostolic congregation dedicated to the moral and spiritual renewal of family life that was founded in Rome in 1875 by Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Frances Siedliska. Responding to the needs of the vast immigrant population in the United States, she arrived in Chicago with 11 sisters in 1885 to launch the first American province. By the time of her death in 1902, Blessed Frances Siedliska had established 29 foundations throughout Europe and the United States. The congregation has four provinces in the United States. Three provinces were formed in 1918: Sacred Heart Province (headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill.), Immaculate Conception Province (headquartered in Philadelphia) and Saint Joseph Province (headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa.). The fourth province, the Blessed Frances Siedliska Province, headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas, was established in 1993. The elected superior general governs the international congregation from the Generalate in Rome. Internationally, the congregation operates in Italy, France, Germany, England, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Australia, and the Philippines. Pope John Paul II beatified Blessed Frances Siedliska on April 23, 1989. On March 5, 2000, Pope John Paul II also beatified 11 sisters of the congregation,

the Martyrs of Nowogródek, who were summarily executed by Nazi soldiers on Aug. 1, 1943.

Bibliography: m. dechantal, Out of Nazareth: A Centenary of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Service of the Church (New York 1974).

[l. v. mikolajek]