The Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, or simply Maryknoll Sisters, are a group of Roman

Roman Catholic (term)

The term Roman Catholic appeared in the English language at the beginning of the 17th century, to differentiate specific groups of Christians in communion with the Pope from others; comparable terms in other languages already existed...

 Catholic women religious

Roman Catholic religious order

Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular ; monastics ; mendicants Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular...

 founded in the Village of Ossining, Westchester County, New York, in 1912, six months after the 1911 creation of the Maryknoll

Maryknoll

Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations that are part of the Roman Catholic Church and whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the Catholic Church in the United States...

 community of missionary brothers and fathers. Until 1954, when they became a pontifical institute

Pontifical university

A pontifical university is a Catholic University established by and directly under the authority of the Holy See. It is licensed to grant academic degrees in sacred faculties, the most important of which are Sacred Theology, Canon Law, Sacred Scripture and...

, the order was known as the Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic. The sisters use the suffix "M.M." after their names.

The order was founded by Mother Mary Joseph (née Mary Josephine Rogers), from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, a graduate of Smith College

Smith College

Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...

 (1905).

The Sisters profess the evangelical counsels

Evangelical counsels

The three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are chastity, poverty , and obedience . As Jesus of Nazareth stated in the Canonical gospels , they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect"...

 and devote their lives in service overseas. They currently number more than 500 members from diverse cultural backgrounds serving in a variety of fields including medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, communication

Communication

Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...

s, education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, social services and spiritual formation.

In the spirit of this "no two alike" diversity, the Sisters serve the needs of the people where they are missioned, in thirty different countries around the world.

Some of the schools the sisters founded are Maryknoll Convent School

Maryknoll Convent School

Maryknoll Convent School is a Roman Catholic girls' school with primary and secondary sections at Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded by the American Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong in 1925 at Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. MCS is well-known for its distinguished academic results and school traditions...

 in Kowloon

Kowloon

Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Holy Spirit School (later Maryknoll Sisters' School, now Marymount Secondary School

Marymount Secondary School

Marymount Secondary School is a prestigious Roman Catholic girls' secondary school in Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Her primary school is Marymount Primary School.-History:...

) in Happy Valley

Happy Valley, Hong Kong

Happy Valley is a mostly residential suburb of Hong Kong, located in the northern part of Hong Kong Island. Administratively, it is part of Wan Chai District....

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Maryknoll College (now Miriam College

Miriam College

Miriam College is a non-stock, non-profit Filipino Catholic educational institution for girls and young women in Quezon City, Philippines. It offers academic programs from pre-elementary to post-graduate and adult education levels that develop the learning and caring competencies of students and...

) in Quezon City

Quezon City

Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...

, and the Maryknoll Academy (now Maryhill College) in Lucena City

Lucena City

Metro Lucena has an estimated population of 700,000 which is mostly concentrated in the flat south-central portion of Quezon, which includes the cities of Lucena and Tayabas, Sariaya, Candelaria, Lucban & Pagbilao . The people are often characterized as friendly and hardworking...

 Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

External links

• Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, Inc. official website
• Maryknoll Convent School
• Rogers Hall, Colegio Peninsular—K–12 school founded by Maryknoll Sisters in Yucatán, México
• A Church Mary Could Love, By Nicholas D. Kristof, Published: April 17, 2010