3. Development of the Congregation in the 19th century.

3.1. The Superiors-General.

3.2. The Superiors General and their achievements, 1836 - 1874.

Benedictus De Decker had already been P.J. Triest's coadjutor for several years and, on the latter's death, the position of Superior General was transferred to him. He was to work for several more years with Mother Placide Van der Gauwen. Together they founded a hospital in Lokeren and an asylum in Sint-Trond. Because of a serious illness, Mother Placida was, from 1841 onwards, assisted by Sr Perpétue, Maria-Theresia De Schuyter who was destined to succeed her. This was the case for the foundations made in 1841-1845 with Reverend Father B. De Decker.

Benedict De Decker, second Superior General from 1836 until 1874.

One of their most outstanding achievements was the setting up of a house for "repentant sinners" in Ghent in 1844. In this refuge the Sisters devoted themselves to the re-education of these young penitents so that they might regain an honorable place in society. This enterprise was the direct result of the unfavourable economic and social conditions which drove many young girls into prostitution. A remarkable result and, for the sisters, an encouraging one, was the wish expressed by some of these penitents to become Sisters of Charity. In 1851 it was decided to found a new Congregation called "les Soeurs Madeleines" with its own Rule drawn up by B. De Decker. Shortly after, a similar house was opened in Bruges. These establishments were diverted to other works in the course of time because of changes in life style.

As a result of the death of Mother Perpetua De Schuyter only a few months after her appointment, a General Chapter was again convened for the election of a Reverend Mother General. In 1845 Mother Frederica, Rosa Everaert became the third Reverend Mother General of the Congregation. She held office for seven years. A year after her election she collaborated with Marie de Hemptinne, in an enterprise to set up an Association of Primary Schools in the city of Ghent" with B. De Decker as president. The schools were designed to take in the children of the women who worked in the factories and workshops of the city. The first classes opened at Terhagen on 23 September 1846.

Mother Borgia, Clementia Liedts collaborated with B. De Decker in the furtherance of the works of the Congregation. In the course of twenty-one years they founded three houses in Wallonie, two in Flanders, and consolidated the existing foundations. Mother Borgia died at Terhagen on 25th May 1873. A year later B.De Decker died at the age of 71.

3.3. The first foreign missions.

In 1874 Jan Janssens was appointed Superior General of the Congregation by the Bishop of Ghent. He was to work together with Reverend Mother Gervaise - Sophie Van Wassenhove, elected in 1873. One notable achievement was the transformation in 1885 of the hospital in Lokeren into an "asylum for mentally ill girls", the first of its kind in Belgium. Until then, there were simply separate sections for children in the existing asylums.

It was at this time that the Congregation took its first steps beyond the Belgian frontiers. The first tentative foundation of a foreign mission dated from 1881. With a view to making a foundation in Great-Britain J. Janssens made a tour through England and Scotland but nothing came of it.

The children of the orphanage at Hollymount, end 19th century.

In March 1888 the Bishop of Salford in England approached J. Janssens. In a friendly letter he asked for sisters to look after and educate the poor Catholic children in his diocese, which was situated in Lancashire, then the cotton centre of England. The living conditions of the poor were appalling. One of the most critical social problems was that of the abandoned children. In response to the needs of the poor Catholic children, the Church had set up an organisation to help. The Bishop proposed the opening of a school. Through a Belgian friend he approached the Sisters of Charity and received a favourable reply. Shortly after, J. Janssens bought the former boys' college at Hollymount, Tottington and in September 1888 the first sisters left for Hollymount where a flourishing school was destined to grow up.

The same year J. Janssens took steps to extend the mission field to the Congo Free State and founded a Missionary noviciate in Kwatrecht. It was in fact his successor who actually made the first foundation. Jan Janssens died in Ghent on 14 May 1889, aged only 55. In the course of his fifteen year superiorship the Congregation took firm steps in a new direction, towards the Missions. All new foundations in the next 20 years would be made abroad.

3.4. Towards new continents.

Vital Roelandts was appointed fourth Superior General in 1889. He would lead the Congregation for fourteen years until he was given a different appointment by the Bishop. On 17 October 1903 he was made Dean of Alost. His farewell letter to the Sisters shows the regret with which he with left the Congregation.

The first contingent of missionaries shortly before their departure to the Congo at Vlissingen, 1891.

Together with Mother Gervaise he founded the first mission outside Europe. On 8 December 1891, ten sisters embarked at Flushing for the Congo where they would be the first Catholic missionary women. Their principal task was the care and education of native children. By the end of the nineteenth century they already had six missionary posts in the Congo.

At the General Chapter of 1893 Mother Marie de la Croix - Clementina Van Driessche was elected the sixth Superior General of the Congregation. Owing to a serious illness her mandate was not renewed at the following Chapter of 1899. After her recovery she was appointed Superior in Antwerp where her particular concern was the arrival and departure of the missionaries. Mother Ghislaine, Rosalie Spillemaekers succeeded her as Superior General and collaborated with V. Roelandts' successor for the greater part of her term in office.

During this period the Congregation spread in Africa but also founded dependencies in Asia. Mgr.J.Van Reeth, S.J. was appointed Bishop of Galle in Ceylon in 1895. Before his departure he asked for the help of the Sisters of Charity to organise the social services of his diocese. At the end of 1896 the first sisters sailed for Ceylon and opened a school and an orphanage in Galle. Until 1908 this was the only foundation in Ceylon.

From 1897 to 1899 central India experienced one of the worst famines in its history. In 1897, the Bishop of Lahore (then situated in India, but now Pakistan), Mgr. Pelckmans, a Capuchin missionary, asked the Sisters of Charity to take over an orphanage in Lahore. The Congregation at first refused but after an appeal by the Reverend Mother General five sisters responded. That same year they set out for the Punjab. They were entrusted the care of the famine-stricken orphans they brought back from all over India or who were brought to them by the Fathers. In 1899 a second house was opened in the Punjab, this time at Multan where a day and a boarding school were set up.

3.5. Teacher Training and growth of the schools.

Right from its earliest days, the Congregation considered education as one of its most important apostolates. The main aim was to form young people for a Christian life and to evoke in them a lively faith, this aim was reflected in the educational practice of the Sisters. There was in addition a second strand in the educational thought of the Sisters of Charity: the conviction that a woman's place in society was in the home as mother of a family. This meant that only very slowly were adjustments made so as to open professional careers to girls.

Teachers’ Training at Eeklo, 1896-1897.

In the 19th century teacher training in the Congregation remained very restricted. The sisters were essentially self-taught and learned on the job. From 1860 onwards an international movement towards emancipation got under way and this aimed, among other things, at better education for girls. The growing conflict between Catholics and Liberals led in Catholic circles to the conviction that welltrained teachers were indispensable. From 1870 onwards a greater number of qualified teachers entered the Congregation. In 1880, right in the middle of the scholastic war, the Congregation founded its first training College, at Zaffelare. In 1886 this was transferred to Eeklo and became the educational heart of the Congregation. Beginning in 1897, educational conferences and educational weeks were held regurlarly in Eeklo. Between 1889 and 1903, 146 Sisters of Charity gained their certificates at Eeklo. This large number of young qualified Sisters was sent to work in the different educational establishments of the Congregation, Melsele, Beerlegem, Courtrai, etc. In this way a high and consistent educational standard was ensured.

3.6. First modifications in the Constitutions and Rule (1894).

On 17th December 1890 there was issued in Rome the decree "Quemadmodum" of Pope Leo XII requiring the adaptation of the Constitutions to the new legislation on the liturgy. At this moment the 1816-1818 Rule was still in force among the Sisters of Charity. In the course of these eigthy years a large number of dispensations had been granted, and, for this reason too, an update was needed. At the same time the new situation of foundations abroad i.e. in England and in the Congo, had to be taken into account.

Vital Roelandts, fourth Superior General from 1889 until 1903.

V. Roelandts prepared the revision of the Constitutions and Statutes. At the end of 1894 at an extraordinary General Chapter the text of the Constitutions was discussed and approved by the Bishop of Ghent. A year later came the Statutes. A new papal Decree "Conditae a Christo" led to a further revision of the text. The second version of the Constitutions and Statutes, this time in one volume, appeared in 1903. It was ready for the printer when V. Roelandts was appointed Dean of Alost and had left the Congregation.

The Constitutions were reduced to 65 articles. The material side was given general treatment in the new Constitutions. Many of the prescriptions of a practical nature, such as those concerning the number of courses to be served at meals, the cleaning of the house etc. were suppressed. On the other hand the articles concerning the vows were more carefully worked out and the way the Sisters were to observe them, given in detail. At governmental level there was little change: the Reverend Mother General could be re-elected once without the Bishop of Ghent's consent and the composition of the General Chapter was to be as follows: the Mother House Council (4 sisters), the local superiors and the delegates from the individual houses - plus 1 for every 25 sisters. Besides the introduction of a few general changes, e.g. the monthly day of recollection, the weekly Way of the Cross, unchaperoned visits, the main change made was the introduction of articles to do with foreign foundations. It was laid down that clothes should be adapted to the climate of the country, that the common drink of the locality should be adopted. A sister could not be sent on the Missions unless she had herself made the request. It was also laid down that the triennial visit of the Superiors General to overseas foundations was no longer necessary. It was not obligatory either for the local superiors of these houses to attend the General Chapter. The other rules remained in force.

At the time of this revision no fundamental change was made. It was rather an adaptation of the Constitutions to the times and also a different arrangement and regrouping of the articles. In practice, nothing in the ordinary lives of the sisters was changed. For P.J. Triest and Mother Placide, a hundred years after the foundation of the Congregation, the Sisters of Charity were still recognisable.

3.7. The Congregation and its works in 1903.

Genealogical tree of the Congregation, painted by Remi Goethals, on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the foundation in 1903.

The centenary of the birth of the SCJM was celebrated with a great pomp in the whole congregation. In the space of 100 years the tiny group of women had become a Congregation of more than 1200 Sisters, divided up among 36 houses. Twenty-five of these were on Belgian soil, five in the Congo, four in India, one in Ceylon, and one in England. During this century the Congregation remained faithful to the aim of its founder, P.J. Triest, as set out in the first Rule: "The Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary will combine the contemplative and the active life; the latter will consist in serving the sick poor, without any distinction, either in their own convents or in civil or military hospitals; in keeping and caring for mentally ill women, in bringing up orphans and other poor children; in teaching in schools, in a word, in exercising every kind of charitable work ...".