The Oblate Sisters of Providence is the first successful Roman Catholic sisterhood in the world established by women of African descent. It was the work of a French-born Sulpician priest and four women, who were part of the Caribbean refugee colony which began arriving in Baltimore, Maryland in the late eighteenth century. Father James Hector Nicholas Joubert, SS, heard of two devout religious Caribbean women who were already conducting a school for black children in their home in Baltimore. In 1828 those two women, Elizabeth Lange (later Mother Mary Lange ) and Maria Balas accepted his proposal to start a sisterhood with the primary mission of teaching and caring for African American children. They opened a Catholic school for girls in their convent at 5 St. Mary's Ct. in Baltimore. Thus began St. Frances Academy. It is the oldest continuously operating school for black Catholic children in the United States and is still educating children in Baltimore. For more information on Mother Mary Lange and the Oblate Sisters of Providence, or to make a donation, please go to their website at www.oblatesisters.com.
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The Sisters of the Holy Family is an African-American, Roman Catholic Pontefical Congregation founded in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Henriette Delille in 1842. Mere Henriette was assisted by Juliette Gaudin and Josephine Charles. Twenty years before the Civil War, this African American religious community was founded by free women of color. They taught slaves, cared for the elderly, and shared what they had with the poor and the needy. For 166 years, the Sisters of the Holy Family have continued to serve the youth, the elderly, and the needy members of society. The Sisters have not only served the New Orleans community, but many cities throughout Louisiana, Texas, California, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Belize and Panama Central America. The Sisters of the Holy Family have also served the underprivileged in Washington, D.C. and Benin City, Nigeria.
On March 29, 2010, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI declared that Mother Henriette Delille, a freeborn woman of African descent, lived a life of "heroic virtures." The promulgation of the decree of venerability was signed on March 27, 2010. For more information on the "Servant of God," Henriette Delille, and the Sisters of the Holy Family, or to make a donation, go to their website at www.sistersoftheholyfamily.com.
