Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament

The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament is a Roman Catholic order of nuns. It was founded in 1891 by Saint Katharine Drexel under the name Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. It is a Catholic religious institute.

The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884), which at the time was the meeting of all Roman Catholic bishops in the United States, renewed the vigor for missionary work among the "Colored and Indian races". Archbishop James O'Connor of Omaha, acting alongside Katharine Drexel, decided, with the approval of Archbishop P. J. Ryan of Philadelphia, to form a new congregation on behalf of Native Americans and African Americans.

The first sisters, including foundress Katharine Drexel, entered religious life under the tutelage of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were also inspired by O'Connor, who served as Drexel's spiritual director until his death. After completing a two-year novitiate to learn the foundations of religious life and upon first profession of vows, these sisters were clothed in the habit of the new congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament of the Indians and Colored People. Mother Katharine Drexel (now Saint Katharine Drexel) was installed as superior. Since then, the sisters have staffed a number of Catholic schools for Native American and African American children, which involved collaboration with the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, the Commission for the Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians and other Catholic institutions. Since its founding, the order has been headquartered at St. Elizabeth's Convent in Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania. Saint Katherine is entombed there in a crypt in the chapel. The Cornwells Heights location is currently made up of the motherhouse of retired nuns and the location of Saint Katharine Drexel Mission Center and National Shrine. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

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