Bon Secours Sisters
Encyclopedia
Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours is a Roman Catholic religious congregation
Congregation (catholic)
The term "congregation" has three usages specific to the Roman Catholic Church. One concerns the Roman Curia, the other two concern religious institutes.- Roman Curia :...

 for nursing
Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....

 (gardes malades), whose object is to care for patients from all socio-economic groups. Reflecting their name ("bon secours" means "good help" in French), the congregation's motto is "Good Help to Those in Need."

History

The congregation was begun by Archbishop de Quélen of Paris in 1822, and was formally approved by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

 in 1875. While patients pay what they can afford, the congregation's members provide nursing free of charge to the poor
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

. According to their founding constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

, "After the personal sanctification of its members, the principal aim of this pious society is the care of the sick in their own homes". Sisters
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 traditionally wear a black habit
Religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...

 and a white cap with a frilled border and black veil.

By 1913, there were sixteen houses of the congregation in France, four in Ireland, one in England, two in the United States, and one in Belgium.
Though founded with governmental approval, the congregation suffered religious persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....

 during the early 20th century. For example, in northern France, four large schools which had been started in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

 and Lens
Lens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...

 to serve the local mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 population were closed, based on accusations that they were not in compliance with the institute's approved charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

. In addition, the Sisters' treatment of sick and wounded miners was suppressed, as was a program called "la goutte de lait", or "the drop of milk", a dispensary
Dispensary
A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital or other organization that dispenses medications and medical supplies. In a traditional dispensary set-up a pharmacist dispenses medication as per prescription or order form....

-like initiative which supplemented the food available to miners' infant children.

The Foundress

The congregation's foundress, Josephine Potel, was born on March 14, 1799 in the small rural village of Becordel, France. At the age of 22, she traveled to Paris, and was moved by the suffering she observed. At that time, France had been shaken by centuries of political, social, and religious upheaval - including, most recently, the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. The violence of the Revolution - particularly the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...

 - had taken a number of lives and left psychological scars. With the rise of philosophers including Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

 and Rousseau, who both railed against organized religion and the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

, faith in religion and the Catholic Church had decreased significantly among many of the French people.

With rampant poverty among France's lower class, healthcare for the poor was scarce and low-quality. When people fell ill or were injured, they avoided the hospitals, which were seen as death traps and often had filthy, prison-like conditions. Care, if available at all, was usually provided by a family member with little or no experience caring for the sick. With overcrowding and a lack of sanitation, diseases spread quickly through the city streets, afflicting rich and poor alike.

Wanting to combine her strong Catholic faith with her desire to serve those in need, Josephine joined a group of women involved in caring for the sick and poor. However, the group was a secular organization, and its members did not wish to take religious vows
Religious vows
Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices and views.In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by...

 or incorporate spirituality into their work. In order to create a similar organization rooted in Catholicism, Josephine and eleven other women formed the group that would become the Sisters of Bon Secours, choosing Josephine as their leader.

The original twelve Sisters dedicated themselves to going into homes in the community and staying with the sick and dying, offering care and religious messages regarding God's love and redemption. The idea of religious women going out into the world to perform such work was then unheard of. Contemporary norms held that Sisters were supposed to return to the world behind convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

 walls by nightfall - if they left the convent at all. Consequently, when the Sisters applied for acceptance of their new congregation by the Catholic Church, the Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 of Paris was skeptical. The Sisters also met with some suspicion from the Church due to their willingness to care for all in need, regardless of religious affiliation or social status, which was a radical approach at the time. Nevertheless, after persistent efforts by Mother Potel, the Archbishop eventually granted the Sisters a one-year probationary period.

The early days

In the beginning of the order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...

, the Sisters’ living conditions were harsh. With little funding, they shared all possessions, including clothes. Meals were minimal and the Sisters often slept on mattresses laid on the floor. However, the group persisted, fueled by their central beliefs, including their conviction that by serving the needy, they were doing God's work.

Despite the divisions between social classes in French society at the time, the Sisters cared for rich patients in large estates as well as the poor, avoiding distinctions based on socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation...

. In addition to providing care to the sick, among hungry families, the Sisters would also share their food with patients' hungry family members, striving to help bring health to everyone in their patients' homes, not just the actively ill. Furthermore, among the ill, the Sisters took a holistic view, considering not just the body but also the mind and spirit of each patient, and aiming to bring healing to the whole person. Another radical view at the time, this approach, along with the group's extension of care to the patient's family, distinguished them from traditional religious congregations operating at the time. Also a unique element of their work was the Sisters' practice of remaining with the terminally ill throughout the dying process, reflecting parallels with modern-day 24/7 home care
Home care
Home Care, , is health care or supportive care provided in the patient's home by healthcare professionals Home Care, (also referred to as domiciliary care or social care), is health care or supportive care provided in the patient's home by healthcare professionals Home Care, (also referred to as...

 and hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...

 care.

Word of the Sisters' work spread quickly throughout Paris and the surrounding countryside, and the Sisters were sought out by other women who, inspired by their work, wanted to join the order. By the end of its first year, eighteen new members had joined the order, bringing its numbers to thirty.

Impressed by the order's success, Archbishop de Quelen officially recognized the Congregation of Bon Secours on January 24, 1824.

New leadership

Although the group's official recognition was a major success, the Sisters were, at the same time, facing an impending crisis of leadership. Having contracted tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

, the order's leader and founder, Josephine Potel (now known as Mother Mary Joseph), was terminally ill. Attempting to identify a successor
Successor
A successor can refer to* Someone who, or something which succeeds or comes after * Successor , an American Thoroughbred racehorseIn history:* The Diadochi, or Successors to Alexander the GreatIn mathematics:...

 before her death, Mother Josephine selected Angelique Geay, a 33-year-old sister who, as the eldest of six children, had spent most of her youth helping her mother raise and care for her brothers and sisters in the French countryside. Josephine's spiritual advisor, a priest called Father Desjardins, agreed with the selection, instructing Geay: "Sister, you will begin your retreat because you will pronounce your vows in eight days. Prepare yourself to be named Superior
Mother Superior
A mother superior is an abbess or other nun in charge of a Christian religious order or congregation, a convent or house of women under vows.Mother superior may also refer to:*Mother Superior , a rock band who became ¾ of Rollins Band circa 2000...

."

On May 5, 1826, Angelique pronounced her vows, and the following day Mother Josephine died. Three days later, on May 9, the congregation's first leader was buried and Angelique was appointed Superior General, taking her predecessor's name, Mother Mary Joseph, as all subsequent heads of the Congregation have.

"Sharing God's love in action"

Under the new Mother Superior's leadership, the Bon Secours Sisters continued to grow throughout France. The organization's success was bolstered by the Sisters' policy of providing care without initiating discussions about believing in God or needing to pray for forgiveness. This policy recognized the historical context of the time - during which scorn and skepticism for clergy and religious organizations was high - while also reflecting the Sisters' belief in "sharing God's love in action", or through their actions, rather than words.

The Sisters reached a major milestone in 1827, when the French government legally recognized them as the first association of nursing religious individuals in the country. Following this milestone, the demand for the organization's services continued to grow. In 1829, Mere Geay established a new group of twelve sisters in Lille, and the following year the Sisters began a ministry in Boulogne. Three years later, at the Archbishop's request, the congregation took over an orphanage in Paris.

As the Sisters’ numbers continued to grow, they moved in 1833 into a larger home in Paris, which remains the Mother House headquarters to this day. Meanwhile, France continued to be plagued by epidemics, wars, and social upheaval. After the King of France was exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...

d during the Revolution of 1848
French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...

, the former King's palace became a hospital where the Sisters cared for the wounded; they also tended to the injured on the streets of Paris. Similarly, during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

 of 1870, the Sisters cared for the wounded and dying on the battlefield and brought them into their convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

s to convalesce. The following year, while the Paris Commune of 1871 brought new restrictions on religious organizations and increased anti-religious sentiment, the Sisters' popularity continued because of their reputation for risking their lives to care for those in need, regardless of their patients' belief systems or stations in life.

Moving into a wider world

Europe

In addition to extending their work around France, the Sisters of Bon Secours began to expand beyond the country's borders due to international demand for their services. In 1861, Ireland - which was still reeling with widespread starvation
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

 and poverty following the devastating Irish Potato Famine  - became the Sisters' first foreign foundation. Nine years later, the congregation was invited to establish themselves in London. The Sisters would also be asked in 1948 to bring their home nursing services to the people of Scotland, and also to open a home for the elderly in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

.

The United States

The Sisters of Bon Secours’ arrival in America came about because of a honeymoon gone awry in the late 1800s. A newlywed couple, the Whedbys, were on their wedding trip in Paris when the bride fell ill. An English-speaking Bon Secours Sister nursed her back to health, and the couple was deeply impressed with the care she provided. Upon returning to the States, the couple spoke to some prominent area physicians, who contacted Archbishop Gibbons of Baltimore to request that the Sisters be asked to practice their ministry in the United States.

Approving of the request, while on his way to Rome to become a cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

, Archbishop Gibbons stopped in Paris to ask the Sisters if they would be willing to provide their home care services in Baltimore. In 1881, three Sisters sailed to the United States, and in the following year they opened a convent in Baltimore on the site of the present Bon Secours Hospital
Bon Secours Hospital
Bon Secours Hospital is a hospital in Baltimore. The hospital has the largest renal dialysis center in the city of Baltimore.The name Bon Secours is French for "good help." The hospital is part of the Marriottsville, Maryland-based Bon Secours Health System, a $2.9 billion not-for-profit Catholic...

.

South America and Africa

By the 1950s and '60s, the Sisters would begin to expand into the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

 with work in South America and Africa. In 1957, at the request of an African bishop, the Sisters opened a home for sick children in Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...

, working also to educate mothers and reduce the infant mortality rate. Nine years later, the Irish Sisters of Bon Secours began the order's first work in South America after the Bishop of Cork and Ross
Bishop of Cork and Ross
The Bishop of Cork and Ross is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Cork and the town of Rosscarbery in Ireland. The title was first used by the Church of Ireland from 1638 to 1660 and again from 1679 to 1835...

 took responsibility for a shantytown on the Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian coastline and invited the Sisters to minister to the impoverished populace there.

The very beginnings of Home Healthcare

The Sisters' work reflected the beginnings of home healthcare in a number of the countries to which they expanded, including the United States. For example, the Sisters were the first congregation to provide overnight home nursing care in the United States. In 1907, they were also the first to open a day-care facility to assist working mothers, an innovative idea for the time. With convents opened in Washington, D.C. in 1905 and Detroit in 1909 the sisters’ reputation for devoted home nursing care spread. Our numbers continued to grow as well, and we opened a novitiate in Baltimore in 1912 to form young women who wanted to become sisters and join in our work.

As hospitals became the preferred place of treatment, the sisters broadened where they cared for the sick and dying. Soon the sister were building their own health care facilities. By 1916 the Sisters were staffing a home for crippled children in Philadelphia, the first Catholic home for the physically challenged. In 1919, they opened the doors of Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore, the first Bon Secours hospital in the U.S. They began formally training young women at the Bon Secours School of Nursing in 1921.

A United States Province: additional services

In 1958 the Congregation of Bon Secours in the United States became a separate Province. As the twentieth century progressed, the sisters responded to people's changing needs, opening convalescent homes, running clinics and mobile health care vans, caring for the sick in rural areas and those struggling with addictions in inner cities.

They also broadened the scope of their work, bringing spiritual healing and nourishment to people through the Spiritual Center at our provincial headquarters in Marriottsville, Maryland which was opened in 1968. Expanding the way they cared for people in need, they built safe, affordable housing for low-income families and opened several assisted living facilities in Virginia and Florida. The sisters took on experimental health and community support apostolates in Harlem and Appalachia during the 1960s and '70s in an effort to serve the poorest and most forgotten of God's people.

Throughout the '80s, the Bon Secours Health System grew rapidly, opening a number of hospitals, community health clinics, nursing care facilities for the elderly, alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation centers, affordable housing units, and medical office facilities in Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and Michigan in response to the needs of the communities they served. To ensure the system remained true to its essential mission of providing care for the whole person to all people in face of such growth, the sisters developed new processes and positions within the system focused on mission and core values.

The 1990s saw the birth of a number of outreach projects designed to help the poor elderly, disadvantaged elementary school students, and families in crisis as the sisters again reaffirmed our commitment to caring for the most forgotten people in our society. We also reached out to people in need outside of the U.S., opening a mission in Riobamba, Ecuador. Like the previous decade, the '90s were a period of tremendous growth within the health system, adding more than 15 new hospitals and nursing care facilities, many joint ventures with other religious congregations dedicated to health care.

Present time

Today, the Sisters of Bon Secours have grown from a group of twelve devout women to a community that includes more than 20,000 lay co-workers. In all their works the sisters and those who work with us stress compassion for every person, care for body, mind and spirit, and the redemptive power of God's love for those who suffer. The sisters reach out to those in need, serving as nurses, doctors, chaplains, administrators, advocates – demonstrating God's love each day as we care for others.

No matter where they serve, the Sisters of Bon Secours continue to bring their charism of healing, liberation and compassion to all, especially the poor and suffering, and share the Gospel's message of hope and salvation. Though the means of reaching out have evolved, the heart of the mission and charism remain strong and unchanged.

At present the congregation works in the United States, Ireland, Peru, France, and Great Britain.

Within the U.S., the sisters live and serve in nine states: Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.

External links

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