Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary
Encyclopedia
The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary or the Visitation Order is a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...

 for women
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

. Members of the order are also known as Filles de Sainte-Marie, Visitandines, Salesian Sisters and, more commonly, Visitationists.

History of the order

The Order was founded in 1610 by Saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva and is a Roman Catholic saint. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, and was an accomplished preacher...

 and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal in Annecy
Annecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...

, Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The special charism
Charism
In Christian theology, a charism in general denotes any good gift that flows from God's love to man. The word can also mean any of the spiritual graces and qualifications granted to every Christian to perform his or her task in the Church...

 of the Visitation Order combines gentleness with a valiant spirit; initiative with communal support; dedication to prayer with presence in the world; a contemplative life with an apostolic dimension. The order's motto is "Vive Jésus" (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 for "Long Live Jesus").

Dispersal

The Order spread from France throughout Europe and to North America. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...

 of 1914,
The convent of Georgetown was the first house of the Visitation founded in the United States.... The Visitation of Georgetown founded that of Mobile 1833 and in the same year that of Kaskaskia [Illinois], which was transferred to St. Louis in 1844. In 1837 it founded the Visitation of Baltimore, that of Frederick [Maryland] in 1846, and Philadelphia in 1848. These various convents founded others, and at present there are in the United States 21 houses of the Visitation in relation with Annecy.


Today the Order numbers approximately 3000 Sisters in 168 monasteries located in most countries of the world. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 there are 12 monasteries in two federations. Six are dedicated to the contemplative lifestyle, and the other six (Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...

, St. Louis, Mendota Heights, Wheeling
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 and Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

) add apostolic monasteries to their contemplative life.

Visitation schools in the United States

In 1799, three sisters in the order were given permission by Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 Leonard Neale
Leonard Neale
Leonard Neale, S.J. became, in 1800, the first Roman Catholic bishop ordained in the United States, and the second Archbishop of Baltimore...

 to start a girls' school located next to Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, called the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School was founded in Washington, DC in 1799 as the Georgetown Academy for Young Ladies. It was also formally referred to as the Convent and Academy of the Visitation. Since 1799, the school has continued for over 200 years as a college preparatory school for women...

. In 1816, the Visitation Convent, Georgetown
Visitation Convent, Georgetown
The Visitation Convent, Georgetown is a nunnery of the Visitation Order, located in the District of Columbia, United States of America.-History:...

  was founded with Teresa Lalor
Teresa Lalor
Teresa Lalor, V.H.M., was an Irish immigrant to the United States, and a nun, co-foundress, with the Most Rev...

 as superior.

In 1833, the sisters were granted permission by Bishop Joseph Rosati
Joseph Rosati
Joseph Rosati was a U.S. Catholic bishop. He served as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Louis between 1826 and 1843....

 to travel to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 and begin another school, now called Visitation Academy of St. Louis
Visitation Academy of St. Louis
Visitation Academy of St. Louis is a private, all-girls, Roman Catholic high school in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis.-History:...

. They settled in Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. In the 2010 census the population was 14, making it the second-smallest incorporated community in the State of Illinois in terms of population. A major French colonial town of the Illinois Country, its peak population was about...

, but moved into St. Louis proper in 1844. The sisters were once again offered a location to establish a new school in 1848 in Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, and the school was named Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy
Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy
Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy was a private Catholic all girls' school in the city of Wheeling in the U.S. state of West Virginia.-History:...

. Bishop Thomas Grace of St. Paul, Minnesota asked the sisters to open a school in 1873, and the Convent of the Visitation School
Convent of the Visitation
Convent of the Visitation, also known as Visitation, is an independent, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory, school in Minnesota. It is located in Mendota Heights near Saint Paul. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Visitation is a coeducational school for...

 was founded. All four schools are still operating, and are all-girls schools.

Visitation schools in other countries

In 1835, the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary of Dietramszell
Dietramszell
Dietramszell is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany. The community of 5282 residents sits 685 meters above sea level....

 acquired Beuerberg Abbey
Beuerberg Abbey
Beuerberg Abbey , formerly a monastery of the Augustinian Canons, is now the Monastery of the Visitation, Beuerberg, a house of the Visitandines in Eurasburg in Bavaria, Germany.-Canons:...

 (Kloster Beuerberg), in Eurasburg
Eurasburg
Eurasburg is a municipality in Oberbayern . It sits about 40 kilometers south of the Bavarian state capital, Munich, in the county of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Between 1846 and 1938 they ran a girls' school and a home for nursing mothers at Beuerberg Abbey, and afterwards an old people's convalescent home. The abbey still belongs to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary.

Websites

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