The Franciscan Sisters of Mary is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women based in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 that founded hospitals throughout the Midwest.

The Congregation was founded in St. Louis 1872 by Mother Mary Odilia Berger

Mary Odilia Berger

Mother Mary Odilia Berger founded the Sisters of St. Mary which became the Franciscan Sisters of Mary which established hospitals throughout the Midwest.Her baptismal name was Anna Katherine Berger...

 who had emigrated from Germany. Its original name was the Sisters of St. Mary

Sisters of St. Mary

The Sisters of St. Mary was a former Roman Catholic religious congregation for women based in St. Louis, Missouri that founded hospitals throughout the Midwest...

(S.S.M.). Their house shared a door with St. Mary of Victories Church in downtown St. Louis.

Anna Katherine (later Mother Odilia) Berger was born in Regen

Regen

Regen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district of Regen.-Division of the town:Originally the town consisted of 4 districts, Bürgerholz, Grubhügel, Riedham and St...

, Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

. In 1858 she joined the Poor Franciscans of Pirmasens, founded by Father (Dr.) Paul Joseph Nardini

Paul Joseph Nardini

Paul Joseph Nardini was a diocesean priest and the founder of the religious order the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family.- Biography :...

  and was sent to beg in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

In 1866 she co-founded the Sister Servants of the Sacred Heart in Paris with Father Victor Braun (Catholic priest), but had to flee Paris when the city was sieged 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...

. After living several years in Elberfeld

Elberfeld

Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...

 in the Rhineland

Rhineland

Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....

, she emigrated to St. Louis in 1872. In St. Louis she founded the Sisters of St. Mary. In 1877 the Congregation borrowed $16,000 to open St. Mary's Infirmary in St. Louis. In 1878 a third of the members of the Congregation were sent to Canton, Mississippi

Canton, Mississippi

Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi. The population was 12,911 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of the metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson....

 and Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, during a Yellow fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

 outbreak. Five sisters were to die.

In 1894 Mother Mary Augustine Giesen

Mary Augustine Giesen

Mary Augustine Giesen , founded the Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville which founded and operated St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Missouri....

 led six other Sisters to Maryville, Missouri

Maryville, Missouri

Maryville is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2000 census. The town, organized on February 14, 1845, was named for Mrs. Mary Graham, wife of Amos Graham, then the county clerk. Mary was the first Caucasian woman to have lived within the boundaries...

 from St. Louis. After settling there, they eventually chose to separate from the founding congregation and they formed the Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville

Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville

The Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville was a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women based in Maryville, Missouri, which followed the Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis...

They established the first full-fledged hospital in the town.

In 1985 the two congregation merged back together to form the Franciscan Sisters of Mary.

Twenty hospitals founded by the Congregation are now are operated as SSM Health Care

SSM Health Care

SSM Health Care is a Catholic, not-for-profit health care system with an international reputation as a pioneer in the use of quality measures to improve care. With 5,400 physicians and 22,000 employees in four states, SSM is one of the largest employers in every community it serves. It is located...

(SSMHC) in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.