Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception

The Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic religious order of consecrated women. Founded in Portugal in 1871, this international congregation is now represented in fifteen countries across the globe. As implied by their title, these sisters live as Franciscans of the third order who, as the term “hospitaller” indicates, focus their ministries on a spirit of hospitality. Their charism emphasizes both hospitality and service under the model of the Good Samaritan.

The sisters’ mission, which is taken from the lips of their foundress Sr. Maria Clara, is simply “to do good where good needs to be done.” These words have paved the way for a large variety of apostolates including, but not limited to, education, catechesis, healthcare, pastoral work, assisting the elderly, missionary work, running orphanages, assisting immigrants, and assisting the homeless. The local needs where each convent is located oftentimes determine the apostolates of the sisters who live there, although generally each sister is also able to choose her preferred field of ministry to carry out. Ordinarily the habits that the sisters wear are grey, but those sisters working in the healthcare field don white habits while they are working. The daily prayer life of the sisters in this order consists of Mass, an hour of Eucharistic adoration, Liturgy of the Hours, and Rosary.

United States

In the United States, the sisters are located only in the state of California, residing in the dioceses of San Jose, Fresno, and Monterey. The CONFHIC first came to the United States in 1953 in order to aid Portuguese immigrants. These sisters originally ran and taught in schools, but more recently their education and catechesis work has come to consist of teaching RCIA and Faith Formation, or CCD. The majority of the California sisters now are involved in healthcare. In Los Banos, where eleven of the CONFHIC sisters now live, the sisters run a non-profit house of residential care and skilled nursing for the elderly. This facility, called New Bethany after the village of Bethany that Jesus stayed in, was built in 1999 by the sisters from the ground up so that all residents can receive the physical, emotional, and spiritual support that they need. The sisters in all three California houses also visit the sick and bring them Holy Communion. The United States province is currently the smallest out of the fifteen CONFHIC provinces worldwide, but has recently seen a renewed interest in their lifestyle amongst young women who are discerning a religious vocation. The convent in San Jose is designated as the house of formation for American vocations.

The contact information for the province of the United States is as follows: Sr. Julia D. Fonseca / 1441 Berkeley Drive / Los Banos, CA 93635 / Tel: (209) 827-8933

Origins of the Order

On June 15, 1843 a child with the name Libânia do Carmo Galvão Mexia de Moura Telles e Albuquerque was born in Amadora, Portugal. This third child of seven in a noble Christian family had a very happy childhood until 1856 and 1857 when she suddenly lost both her parents to a terrible cholera and yellow fever epidemic. At age 14 she entering a boarding school for orphaned nobility until the sisters who taught her, the Daughters of Charity, were expelled from Portugal. For five years she then lived in the palace of the Marquis of Valada. In 1869 at the age of 26, she entered religious life as a Capuchin sister, receiving the name “Sister Maria Clara of the Infant Jesus.” She soon desired to form a new community that would serve the people of Portugal, wounded in a time of political unrest, as as the Good Samaritan did. Supported by Fr. Raimundo dos Anjos Beirão, she travels to Calais, France for her novitiate specifically to found a new community, after her novitiate has been completed. This is just what she does. After professing her vows in France on April 14, 1871, she founds the first community of her new order in Lisbon, Portugal on May 3, 1871. Only five years later, on March 27, 1876, the congregation is approved by the Holy See. Despite many trials, her order continued to grow rapidly with more and more CONFHIC houses being established. The large number of sick, poor, and orphaned people found relief in the houses which the sisters opened to shelter and care for them. Finally, on December 1, 1899, Mother Maria Clara completed her life of service. She now rests in the Crypt of the Chapel of the CONFHIC motherhouse in Lisbon where many people still come to pray and ask her intercession. Mother Maria Clara was beatified on May 21, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI, and and her canonization process continues today.

External links

http://www.confhic.com/