Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are a Congregation of Roman Catholic apostolic religious women. The congregation was founded in 1869 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, later part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. They follow St. Francis of Assisi’s Gospel way of life and declared their aspiration to live the Gospel in simplicity, built on faith in a loving God, joyful acceptance of poverty, love for the Church and selfless dedication to the service of others.

The history of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity can be traced back to Germany. It was from there that Fr. Ambrose Oschwald described as “somewhat of a mystic” departed with a band of 133 others for the United States, setting sail on the feast of Corpus Christi – June 15, 1854. He had been inspired by Acts 4 and its description of Gospel communal living amongst the disciples. It was on this Gospel foundation that he intended to found a Catholic community in the United States. The group arrived in Wisconsin and purchased 3,840 acres which they named St. Nazianz after St. Gregory Nazianzen. Their pioneer spirits were forged through the back-breaking and heart-testing labor of building the village by hand from nothing. The spirit of poverty was alive in the community from the beginning. Only three years after their arrival, Fr. Oschwald accomplished his dream of establishing religious communities within the group – he founded two Third Order Regular Franciscan communities – one for men and one for women. But the first priest-son of the community did not come from either of these two communities. Joseph Fessler, one of the original members of the community from Baden, Germany studied for the priesthood in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, finally being ordained in Milwaukee on November 5, 1865, and celebrating his first Mass in St. Nazianz on November 12, 1865. He was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarks Mills, and immediately asked Fr. Oschwald to send a Sister from the community to teach catechism; but when none were available he decided to look for one himself. He found his ideal candidate in 23-year-old Teresa Gramlich, a member of the colony, though not a member of the Sisterhood. When asked by Fr. Fessler to come to Clarks Mills to teach she replied simply, “If Fr. Oschwald wants me to go, I will.” And so it was that on June 5, 1866, the feast of the Sacred Heart, Teresa came to Clarks Mills, and took up residence in an old chicken coop across from the church, in whose choir loft she taught her pupils. By Christmas time she was joined by two others – twelve-year-old Mary Doyle, one of her students, and Magdalen Derler, who served as house-keeper. Meanwhile, in October of that same year (1866) travelers from Ohio had come to the St. Nazianz colony led by Fr. Joseph Albrecht, a Precious Blood Priest from Germany. He himself was the leader of a communal group similar to Fr. Oschwald’s, though with a different history. In fact, Fr. Albrecht had at one time been married, and even had a daughter. But he and his wife separated so that she could join the Precious Blood Sisters in Europe, with their eight-year-old daughter following her, and eventually joining herself. Joseph Albrecht, for his part, joined a Fr. Francis De Sales Brunner, the founder of the Precious Blood Order in America and together they came with their band of followers and settled in Ohio. But after the death of Fr. Brunner, and following some controversy caused by Fr. Albrecht’s fiery personality, he brought his community from Ohio to St. Nazianz on October 4, 1866. One of the Precious Blood Sisters who accompanied Fr. Albrecht was a Mary Ann Graf. For various reasons she decided to break with Fr. Albrecht’s group, and was advised to meet Teresa Gramlich. After their visit, Mary Ann returned to St. Nazianz and convinced two of her fellow Precious Blood Sisters, Josepha Thoenig and Rosa Wahl, to join her. So when Fr. Albrecht’s group moved on to Minnesota on September 8, 1867 Mary Ann, Josepha, and Rosa remained behind; and together with Teresa the four of them began their postulancy for the new religious community forming under the direction of Fr. Joseph Fessler. Fr. Fessler sent Mary Ann, Teresa, and Rosa to Milwaukee to study with the School Sisters of Notre Dame under the direction of Mother Caroline, the founder of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in America. Upon their return to the “Little Nazareth” of St. Nazianz they received news of Fr. Fessler’s transfer to St. Boniface in Manitowoc. So the group followed him there, and it was there on November 4, 1869 that they began their pre-novitiate retreat and were joined by Sophia Fessler, Fr. Fessler’s younger sister. November 9, 1869 those five women were received into the Third Order Regular of St. Francis – the Founders’ Day of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. They received their religious names: Josepha Theonig became Sr. Maria Coletta; Mary Ann Graf became Sr. Mary Hyacintha; Teresa Gramlich became Sr. Maria Gabriela; Sophia Fessler became Sr. Mary Seraphica; and Rosa Wahl became Sr. Mary Odelia, and it was she who was the first superior of the little community.

...
Wikipedia