BRIEF HISTORY

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres is an institute of apostolic life in the Church. Founded in 1696 in France by Father Louis Chauvet, parish priest of a small village, Levesville-la-Chenard, they were called to Chartres by the Bishop, Paul Godet des Marais, given the name Sisters of St. Paul, with St. Paul the Apostle as their Patron and the Blessed Virgin Mary as their Model and Protectress. Dedicated to education, care of the sick and ministry among the underprivileged, the Congregation of more than 4000 sisters today serve in 32 countries in six continents of the world. The Philippine Province is a hundred and six years old this year. Invited to the Philippines by Bishop Frederick Z. Rooker for the "protection of the faith" the Sisters of St. Paul were the first of the European Congregations to come to the Philippines at the onset of the American Regime. They arrived on 29 October 1904 in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. Instituto de San Pablo became the first of more than a hundred mission houses they would open in their first 100 years in the Philippines. Today, more than 500 Filipino Sisters of St. Paul run 60 houses in the country with 39 schools, 11 health care facilities, 10 pastoral centers and 9 houses under the Provincialate. Thirty-nine houses are in Luzon, 8 in the Visayas and 12 in Mindanao. Several Sisters serve the greater Church in various capacities as managers and organizers of Church Programs. Under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, they assist at the National Secretariat for Social Action, Family Life Ministry, Ministry among Migrant Workers, Religious Education, Catechetics, formation of campus ministers and catechists, advocacy work for indigenous groups, and communication media. With the Association of Major Religious, they look to the promotion of women, street children and other marginalized groups. Sixty-seven Filipino St. Paul Sisters serve in 18 mission countries which include Central Africa, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, France, England, Haiti, Ireland, Italy, Thailand, Hongkong, Japan, the United States, Hawaii, Indonesia, East Timor, and Israel.

ST. PAUL OF CHARTRES CONGREGATION IN THE PHILIPPINE PROVINCE In the small village of Levesville-la-Chenard in the diocese of Chartres, France, Father Louis Chauvet, the parish priest, founded the Daughters of the School in 1696, with the help of Mademoiselle Marie Anne de Tilly, who trained the first members: Mre Marie Micheau and Mre Barbe Foucault, to teach children and to care for the sick in their homes. The growing institution was entrusted in 1708 to Bishop Paul Godet des Marais of Chartres , who gave it his name. The death of the founder on June 21, 1710 did not impede the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres from spreading to different corners of the globe, to all the continents except Antarctica. Responding to the appeal of Bishop Frederick Rooker, seven Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, set sail from Saigon and arrived in Dumaguete, southern Philippines on October 29, 1904. The good Bishop counted on them to nurture the faith of the predominantly Catholic population recently freed from 377 years of Spanish rule but which was then prey to the intense proselytizing campaign of American Protestants as well as to the patriotic influences of the Philippine Independent Church. Starting their missionary work under extreme conditions of poverty and enormous cultural difficulties, they nevertheless proved to be excellent nurses and educators that other Bishops requested for them in other dioceses. The first Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in the Philippines opened the first Paulinian School in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental in 1904. In ten years, they have rapidly established 4 Schools and 3 Hospitals including the leper colony in the island of Culion. Within the same period, God blessed them with numerous vocations and a Novitiate was opened in 1913. By 1914, the SPC mission in the Philippines was granted status as a Province.

The first Novitiate in Malate, Manila, opened in 1911, was transferred to Quezon City in 1931. The First Filipina Provincial Superior, Mother Madeleine Denoga was appointed in 1965. The present Provincial Superior is Sr. Zeta Caridad Rivero. As educators, 249 Sisters serve more than 59,000 students in 35 schools; 85 Sisters in the Health Ministry serve 63,000 patients in 11 medical institutions; 59 Sisters are full-time pastoral workers, catechizing 78,000 children and adults, caring for street children, lepers, minority tribes, and the poor in the rural and urban areas; and the 91 retired Sisters support the active Sisters spiritually by their prayers and the offering of their pains. 62 Filipina Sisters are missionaries in 13 foreign countries. In October 2003, the Province has launched the opening of the year-long Centennial Celebration with the unveiling of the marker depicting the seven Sisters arrival in Dumaguete. The year 2004 marks the Congregations 100th year of presence and service to the Filipino people. Today, they have 55 houses in 29 dioceses and one house in Bethlehem, Israel. Vision: We, the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, are an apostolic religious community in the Church. We participate in her mission to proclaim Jesus Christ, as the Good News to all, with conscious preference for the most neglected. Impelled by the charity of Jesus Christ, we respond to the needs of people and of the times for integral evangelization as compassionate teachers, healers, and pastoral ministers. Mission: Guided by our vision, we endeavor to become a community deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, authentically living our religious commitments as women of prayer, solitude, communion, and service. Conscious of our prophetic role as servant-leaders, we will walk in the truth as we pursue justice, peace, social transformation, and integrity of creation. As compassionate and Christ-Centered TEACHERS, we will form Christ-centered, integrated, competent, responsible persons in the service of the Church and society; HEALERS, we will give person-oriented, holistic, quality health care with preferential option for the most neglected. PASTORAL MINISTERS, we will share the good news to empower the under-served to reclaim their human dignity and their right to total human development.