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immigrants in Mayo, North Florida |
Corpus Christi, an inner city parish |
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From yesterday...to today
On February 11, 1956, three Claretian Sisters arrive at New York. They come as every immigrant, with a dream. Their dream is to share the Gospel of love and compassion in the same way as St. Anthony M. Claret and Servant of God Maria Antonia Paris.
After a few months of becoming acquainted with American culture, they open the fifth community in Momence, Illinois on July 31, 1956. They cooperate in the house of formation of the Claretian Fathers. Two years later, a second community is formed in Washington, D.C. on September 3, 1958. Here also the sisters cooperate with the Claretian house of formation, and at the same time operate a small boarding house for female foreign students.
From 1962-65, the Church celebrates the Second Vatican Council, new Pentecost, which will transform the Church and initiate a process of change and conversion. The Claretian Missionary Sisters, as part of the Church, experience the effects of the powerful wind of the Spirit of God. Both communities in the north are closed, and the sisters respond to the urgent need to minister to migrant farm workers in South Florida. On November 9, 1971, a community is established to work at Our Lady Queen of Peace Mission in Delray Beach (Diocese of Palm Beach).
Four years later, on February 25, 1975 a new community opens in Miami. The sisters take up diocesan and parochial tasks in catechesis, liturgy, music, and evangelization.
On August 15, 1990, another community is established in Miami to work with young people, and later becomes the house of formation for candidates to the Claretian Missionary Sisters in the United States. In August of 2002 a new foundation takes place in North Florida in the Diocese of St. Agustin. The sisters establish their house in the town of Mayo to work with the Hispaniac migrant farm workers of the area. At the same time the community in the Diocese of Palm Beach relocates to West Palm Beach to continue working in the formation of seminarians at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary and directing the Hispanic Ministry of the Diocese.
MINISTRY
Our ministry is always evangelization. Each sister carries out this mission of evangelization according to the needs of a particular area and her talents. In Florida we work in Catholic schools, seminaries, parishes, and diocesan offices. Our ministry includes:
