Poor Sisters of St. Francis

The Poor Sisters of St. Francis (Latin: Sorores Pauperae santi Francisci, abbreviated as S.P.S.F.) (German: Armen-Schwestern vom heiligen Franziskus), also known as the Aachener Franzikanerinnen, are a religious congregation founded by the Blessed Mary Frances Schervier in 1845 in Germany. Their distinguishing emblem is a red cross with the Instruments of the Passion on it, which was originally embroidered on the scapular of their religious habits.

Schervier, the daughter of a physician in the city of Aachen—then in the Kingdom of Prussia, who had lost her mother in her infancy, became drawn to care for the poor of the city as she grew into adulthood. A faithful Catholic, she became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, which provided an outlet for this interest. After serving in this field for several years, in 1845 she formed a small community with four companions, all drawn from the tertiary Franciscan fraternity of the city. They formed this community in response to a desire to help alleviate the desperate conditions of the poor in their region in that period, which resulted from the economic and political upheavals taking place then.

From 1845 until 1848, the Sisters cared for the sick in their homes and operated a soup kitchen. They also cared for some of the many prostitutes in a city which was at that time a major spa resort, especially for relief from syphilis. They housed these women in their own small convent and nursed those suffering from that disease. Relying entirely upon donations for support, the Sisters experienced extreme poverty. The potato and grain failures which occurred during that period and the refusal of some benefactors to continue their assistance once the Sisters began ministering to prostitutes intensified their difficulties.

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