Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in Polish Zgromadzenie Sióstr Niepokalanego Poczęcia Najświętszej Marii Panny) are a female religious congregation di diritto pontificio: the members of this congregation add the initials CSIC to their name[1]

Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
AbbreviationCSIC (post-nominal letters)
EstablishedNovember 25, 1857; 166 years ago (November 25, 1857)
FoundersJózefa Karska
Marcelina Darowska
Founded atRome
TypeCentralized Religious Institute of Consecrated Life of Pontifical Right (for Women)
HeadquartersMotherhouse
Szymanów, Sochaczew County, Poland
Region served
Poland, Belarus, Ukraine
LeaderMatka Maria Wawrzyna od Ducha Świętego, Wiesława Chwedoruk
Parent organization
Roman Catholic Church
Websitehttp://www.niepokalanki.pl/

History

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The congregation was founded in Rome on November 25, 1857, by Józefa Karska with the collaboration of Marcelina Darowska (1827–1911). The widow Darowska was yet to make her solemn vows. Referred by Aleksander Jełowicki to Hieronim Kajsiewicz, co-founder of the Resurrectionist Congregation, the latter drafted the first rule for the sisters, inspired by that of the Resurrectionist Congregation. Further to the untimely death of the sickly first Mother General, Karska, in 1860, on January 17, 1863, Pope Pius IX granted her successor, Darowska, the right to move the headquarters of the congregation to Jazłowiec, in the Western Austrian-occupied part of her native Podolian region of Poland, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv, where she received the charitable gift of an estate.[2]

The original rule was revised in 1872 by Darowska, which highlighted the specificities of the congregation. Pius IX granted the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception a decretum laudis on May 22, 1863, and approved the congregation on July 29, 1874.[2] During her generalate, Darowska organised the following houses:

The co-founder, Marcelina Darowska was beatified by John Paul II in 1996.

 
Józefa Karska, cofounder and first Mother General

Activity and diffusion

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The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception dedicate themselves to the Christian education of youth, especially girls and young women, and to parish work.[2]

In addition to Poland, the order is present in Belarus and Ukraine.[3] The order is headquartered in Szymanów, where the sisters are custodians of the shrine to Our Lady of Jazłowiec.[1]

As of December 31, 2005, the congregation had 225 nuns in 13 houses.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Ann. Pont. 2007, p. 1616.
  2. ^ a b c DIP, vol. IV (1977), coll. 1648–1650, voce a cura di C. Zambelli.
  3. ^ "Siostry Niepokalanki". Retrieved July 6, 2009.
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