Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
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| Formation | 1849 |
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| Type | religious institute |
| Headquarters | La Crosse, Wisconsin |
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President
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Sister Linda Mershon |
| Website | fspa.org |
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women whose motherhouse, St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, is in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of La Crosse. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded Viterbo University and staffed Aquinas High School in La Crosse. The congregation traces its roots to 1849.
In March 13, 1849, six women and five men, lay people, along with Father Francis Anthony Keppeler and his assistant, Father Mathias Steiger, of the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, Ettenbeuren, Bavaria, set sail for America with eleven Third Order Secular Franciscans, to assist Bishop J. Martin Henni in the newly organized diocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Arriving at the diocese on May 18, 1849, the six women in the group, with Mother Aemiliana Dirr as their leader, committed themselves to founding a religious community to spread the gospel among German immigrants, especially through educating children, caring for the disadvantaged, and, when possible, establishing perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
In 1855 the sisters assumed care and education of orphaned boys at St. Aemilian’s Orphanage for Boys, built by the Milwaukee diocese.
Diverted from education to household duties at the newly built diocesan St. Francis Seminary in 1856; and overwhelmed with physical labor, and finding themselves unable to develop a truly religious life, in 1860 the founders left the community. In 1864 the sisters and their newly elected leader, Mother Antonia Herb, established the motherhouse at St. Coletta Convent in Jefferson, Wisconsin. In 1871 the motherhouse was re-located to St. Rose of Viterbo Convent in La Cross at the request of Bishop Michael Heiss of La Crosse. The Maria Angelorum Chapel is on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1873, Mother Antonia, believing that Seminary work was not an appropriate ministry for her sisters, asked the sisters in Milwaukee to discontinue that work. Thirty-seven sisters chose to remain in Seminary ministry. They became the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. The community in LaCrosse became known as the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
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Wikipedia