Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ

The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (PHJC) is a female congregation of the Catholic Church. It originated in Dernbach (Westerwald), where the generalate is still located. Their organization for associates (like Fiat Spiritus) is also open to men. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ American Province has its motherhouse in Donaldson, Indiana.

History
Main article: Maria Katharina Kasper

The foundress of the Poor Handmaids is Saint Maria Katharina Kasper (also known in English as Catherine Kasper) of Dernbach, Germany. She was beatified by Pope Paul VI on 16 April 1978. Pope Francis confirmed her canonization, which was celebrated on 14 October 2018 in Saint Peter's Square.[1]

The official foundation date of the congregation is 15 August 1851.[2] On this date Katharina Kasper and four other women (Sr. Theresia (Katharina Schoenberger); Sr. Agnes (Elisabeth Haas); Sr. Elisabeth (Anna Maria Mueller); Sr. Klara (Elisabeth Meuser)) took the vows of celibacy, obedience and poverty before Bishop of Limburg, Peter Joseph Blum. Owing to the fact, that Dernbach did not have a church yet, it took place in the nearby village of Wirges. (The exact location, if church or vicarage, is a matter of debate between historians.)

The congregation grew rapidly, opening houses throughout Germany, the Netherlands, and England.

Stations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its successor states

The sisters founded eight stations in various towns in the Czech part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. 1) Prague, a monastery (Kloster zum hl. Joseph; 01.06.1881 - 09.08.1945), 2) Prague, an orphanage (Waisenhaus zum hl. Schutzengel; 13.09.1895 - 11.05.1945), 3) Weipert, a poorhouse and old peoples home (Armenhaus; 02.09.1896 - 13.07.1943), 4) Weipert, a hospital (10.03.1909 - 18.11.1946), 5) Bürgstein, a monastery (St. Johannes von Nepomuk; 16.10.1890 - 09.08.1945), 6) Hirschberg, a monastery (St. Josephskloster; 10.07.1893 - 02.08.1945), 7) Böhmisch-Kamnitz, the regional hospital (Bezirkskrankenhaus; 31.10.1895 - 27.11.1946), 8) Türmitz, a monastery (Kloster Immakulata; 10.10.1887 - 01.08.1945). None of these stations survived.

The stations in Great Britain

The sisters established three main stations in England. They were intended as a refuge, in case the Kulturkampf would make such steps necessary. All were located in the diocese of Westminster: London (1876 - 1941 (destroyed in the war)); and Walthamstow (1898 - 1940 (destroyed in the war)). In 1882, the Poor Handmaids established the Convent of St Joseph, in Hendon, and had added a school by 1900.[3]

In the United States

In 1868, due to the large German-speaking population in the Diocese of Fort Wayne, Bishop John Henry Luers invited the sisters of Dernbach to come to the diocese. Luers himself was born in Münster (Germany). His family had emigrated when he was about thirteen. He became the first Bishop of Fort Wayne (1848–1871).[4]

On 8 August 1868 the first eight sisters left Dernbach (Prussia) to sail for the US from Le Havre, (France). They were: Sister Rosa Blum, the niece of Bishop of Blum, she served as their Superior; also Sr. Eudoxia (Bender), Sr. Hyazintha (Neuroth), Sr. Matrona (Moehring) Sr. Facunda (Wand), Sr. Bella (Sienoecke), Sr. Henrica (Sienoecke) and Sr. Corona (Jahn). They were chosen out of 200 sisters which had volunteered to serve in the US. They boarded ship on the 13th and reached New York on 24 August 1868. After a brief stay, they took the train to Fort Wayne, Indiana. From here, they took a horse-drawn cart to Hessen Cassel, Indiana. Here they established their first mission on the 'Feast of St. Rose', 30 August 1868. They nursed the sick, and looked after the parish church.[5] On May 4, 1869 St. Joseph Hospital became the first American hospital founded by the Poor Handmaids. It was located in the former Rockhill Hotel near Fort Wayne, and also served as the motherhouse of the order. They operated a school of nursing from 1918 to 1968, and operated the hospital until 1998, when it was sold. St. Joe is a member of the Lutheran Health Network.

The first parochial school the sisters took charge of was that of St. Paul's in Fort Wayne, of which they took charge on 6 October, 1869. They also engaged in private nursing, caring for the sick in their homes. St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, also in Fort Wayne, came under their care in 1887. St. Roch's Sanatarium for consumption opened in 1899; Holy Family Hospital in La Porte, Indiana in 1900. They were also active in the dioceses of Belleville and Alton.[6]

The sisters were introduced to the local community by Father Edward Koenig, pastor of St. Paul's Church at Fort Wayne. In due course Father Koenig remained as 'advisor' with the sisters at their newly established Motherhouse in Fort Wayne, serving as a liaison between the sisters and the bishop. He fulfilled this function for three consecutive bishops of the Fort Wayne diocese (John Henry Luers, Joseph Gregory Dwenger and Joseph Rademacher) until his death on January 22, 1898.

In October 1868, the Vicar General of Chicago, Fr. Peter Fischer, asked for three Sisters to serve in a German orphanage on the north side of Chicago.[2] On November 10, 1868, they began their ministry at Angel Guardian Orphanage. The orphanage closed in 1978.

In the early 1920s the Motherhouse in America moved from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Donaldson. In 1937 the Poor Handmaids established Ancilla College as an extension of DePaul University to train candidates and novices. In 1966 Ancilla became a two-year private junior college. In 2021 Ancilla College merged into Marian University.[7]

The American Province is headquartered in Donaldson, Indiana.

Present day

The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ is an international congregation of apostolic women religious within the Roman Catholic Church. They minister with the poor, the sick and children in Germany, the Netherlands (1859), United States (1868), England (1876), India (1970), Mexico (1988), Brazil (1993), Kenya (2000), and Nigeria (2006).[8]

With prayer and community living as their foundation, they minister in rural, urban and inner city settings in the Midwest (USA). In Kenya, they run the St. Anne Mission hospital, which is sponsored by the Diocese of Meru.[9]

The Notre Dame Archives is the repository for the Archives of the American Province of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.[10]

References
  1. "Saint Maria Katharina Kasper' FaithND
  2. Secunda, Mother Mary. "Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 10 October 2022 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Hendon
  4. Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1888). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. D. Appleton.
  5. "Our History", Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ
  6. Alerding, Herman Joseph. The Diocese of Fort Wayne, 1857-September 1907, Fort Wayne, Indiana., Archer Print Company, 1907, p. 456
  7. "Welcome to Our Newest Location - Marian University’s Ancilla College"
  8. "Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ", Nigerian Conference of Women Religious
  9. "Hospital", PHJC Kenya
  10. "Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ Records", Hesburgh Libraries, ND

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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