OUR
MISSION
In
accordance with the spirit of St. Dominic, the contemplation of
the mercy of God the Father and of His Word is at the heart of our vocation.
Through
several charitable and educational activities we want to make the mercy
of God the Father visible by bringing LIGHT and LOVE to children, to the
sick and the unfortunate.
Mindful
of the needs of the Church and of the signs of the times, we strive to
incarnate the service of the Word in the awakening, the education and the
fostering of the faith through collaboration with priests in their pastoral
ministry.
As
daughters of the Church and of St. Catherine of Siena, we have as ideal
the realization of the prophetic function of the religious life: to proclaim
everywhere, both by word and example, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
OUR FIRST MISSION ABROAD: THE PHILIPPINES
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January 25, 1948: On the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the names of
the five future missionaries were made known by Mo. Marie de la Paix. They
were Sisters Marie de St-Paul (Pauline Guilmette), Superior, Blanche- Marie
(Thérèse Naud), Marie de St-Pierre, (Cécile Denis),
Gabriel de l’Annonciation (Rita Blais) and Pauline- Thérèse
(Thérèse Corriveau). Three of them were nurses, the other
two in auxiliary services.
May 15, 1948 : Date set for the departure of the five missionaries. They
travelled by train thru Montréal, Chicago, finally arriving in San
Francisco, U.S.A where they boarded the “General Gordon” that
was to take them to Manila where they arrived on June 8, 1948.
June 9, 1948: Arrival in Davao. The Religious of the Virgin Mary gave them
hospitality until they could rent a home for themselves on Claveria street,
near the San Pedro Rectory.
October 1, 1948: The Sisters took possession of the “Hospital de San
Pedro” that they had bought from Dr. Alfredo Rivera.
November 1949: Construction of a new hospital building in Sta. Ana Parish.
May 1, 1950: Inauguration of the new hospital of 50 beds, to be known as
San Pedro Hospital. The Sisters had their own quarters on the first floor
of the hospital. In 1968, the present 4-storey building of the modern San
Pedro Hospital was constructed.
Christmas day 1950: The Canadian Sisters had another objective to attain.
It was the formation of young women who wished to follow them in the service
of God and of suffering humanity. The community opened its door to the
first postulant who took the Dominican habit on August 31, 1951. Sr. Cécile
Denis (Marie de St-Pierre) was the first Mother Mistress. Unfortunately,
this novice did not persevere. The first two Filipina Sisters to pronounce
their vows in our Congregation were Sr. Filipina Paña and Sr. Ofelia
Salomia who took the religious names of Sr. Catherine- Marie and Sr. Anne-Marie
respectively.
November 1951: The number of sisters increasing rapidly, a construction of
a three storey building was started. The new convent was inaugurated on
the eve of the feast of Christ the King in October 1954.
This convent was completely destroyed by fire in 1968. The community took
up quarters in the old hospital until the construction of a Regional House
and Novitiate in Bajada.
PERU
In 1989 two Filipina Sisters volunteered to go to the mission in Peru. Our
apostolate in Peru includes a retreat house for the poor and a training center
for spiritual leaders, pastoral works in the parish and in Hogar San Pedro,
a charity hospital.
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