Sisters of Providence of Holyoke
 |
|
| Formation | December 17, 1892 |
|---|---|
| Type | religious institute |
| Headquarters | Holyoke, Massachusetts |
|
President
|
Kathleen Popko, SP |
| Website | www.sisofprov.org |
The Sisters of Providence of Holyoke, Massachusetts, are a congregation of Roman Catholic religious sisters founded in 1892.
In November 1873, four Sisters of Charity from the House of Providence in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, (today’s Sisters of Providence of Saint Vincent de Paul), came to Holyoke in Western Massachusetts to care for the sick poor, most of whom were immigrants laboring in the city’s paper mills. At the time, Holyoke was a young, rapidly growing industrial city using the waters of the Connecticut River to power its numerous paper, cotton, satin and thread mills, and giving employment to hundreds of immigrants, especially those from Ireland and Scotland. A great dam was being built across the Connecticut at Holyoke and hundreds of laborers were employed in its construction. The immigrants and mill employees were lodged in company houses, badly constructed, unsanitary and overcrowded. Disease, especially typhoid fever, was rampant. Since the city had neither hospital nor an almshouse, during illness these poor people received little or no care. There were no homes for the aged or infirm, or an orphanage for homeless children. The poor had one staunch friend in the Rev. Patrick J. Harkins, pastor of St. Jerome’s Church, the only Catholic Church in the city at the time. This zealous pastor was keenly aware of the needs of his poor parishioners especially the young Irish and Scottish girls working in the mills. He sought a remedy for the existing social and health conditions, but had few hopes of bettering them. His prayers seemed to be answered, when in September 1873 two Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence arrived on his doorstep from their Mother House in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The two, Sister Mary de Chantal and Sister Mary Elizabeth were on a begging trip and seeking his permission to solicit funds from his parish for their poor back home. Granting their petition, Father Harkins required, that in return, they petition their superiors in Kingston to establish a mission in Holyoke to meet the charitable needs of his parish.
The sisters’ Reverend Mother Mary John and Mother Mary Edward, first assistant, visited Holyoke on September 23, 1873 and after careful consideration of the situation decided to accept Holyoke as their first mission. On November 7, 1873, four sisters arrived to establish the Holyoke mission, settling in their first House of Providence, located on the other side of the Connecticut River in South Hadley Falls. Within one week, Sisters Mary Edward, Mart Mount Carmel, Mary of the Cross and Mary Patrick welcomed their first orphan, 11-year old Edward Reilly. It was not long after that before the city almoner was sending the city’s needy and the infirm to the sisters for care and shelter. Soon their house was filled to capacity and only the very sick and friendless could be admitted.
...
Wikipedia