Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at 206 Ellis Street, Glassboro, NJ 08028 US - Brief History

Mother M. Catherine was born in Giuliano di Roma on January 19, 1813. At five years of age, after a tragic incident at home, she was entrusted to the care of the Cloistered Sisters at Ferentino. Here she grew in age and virtue. When she was 15 years old, she received the habit of the same religious community with whom she spent her life. In 1829 she made her Solemn Profession while harboring in her heart a great desire to go to mission lands. This dream of her youth became a reality when, in 1859, at the request of the Apostolic Delegate to Egypt, and after overcoming numerous difficulties, Mother M. Catherine left for Egypt together with five other Sisters. It was on September 14, 1859, feast of the Triumph of the Cross, that the first female Italian missionaries landed in the land of Pharaoh. Cairo was the field of Mother Catherine's apostolate and the radiant center of her zeal. Very quickly, man other Egyptian villages experienced the good effects of the "White Mother" as she was called. In this way, the first female Italian Missionary Congregation in Egypt was born. Soon it spread to other countries and continents. Mother M. Catherine died in Cairo, Egypt, on May 6, 1887. Mother M. Catherine was beatified by Pope John Paul 11 on April 14, 1985 Her memory and charisma are alive in the Congregation which Mother M. Catherine founded and which today number 900 Sisters spread in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America.

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