Who are the Daughters of Charity?

We are a world wide community of women of Apostolic Life who seek and serve God in persons who are poor. We are called to humanise technology and perform our service in imitation of Jesus Christ. In return, the rewards of satisfaction, accomplishment and inner peace provide an excitement and exhilaration that cannot be measured.

The mission of aiding the poorest of the poor goes back to 1633. It was then that a French priest, St Vincent de Pau , and an aristocratic widow, St Louise de Marillac, established the Daughters of Charity. They assembled a group of peasant girls, "servants of the poor" to care for the sick and needy in a country racked by war and disease.

Today, the Daughters of Charity are an international community of 25,000 Catholic women ministering all over the world. We touch those in need through education, health care and social and pastoral services. Prayer and community life remain the foundation of our service.

The Australian Province

In 1926, at the invitation of Bishop Michael O'Farrell CM of Bathurst, the first four Sisters arrived from the Province of Great Britain. They went to Orange NSW where they were joined in 1928 by a second group of four Sisters.

Their first work was visiting the poor in the parish. The Sisters also taught in St Mary's School, East Orange and in 1929 welcomed the first boys into Croagh Patrick Orphanage.

Community Houses and Services
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