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Religious of Jesus Mary

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The Congregation of the Religious of Jesus Mary was founded at Lyons, France, in October, 1818, by Claudine Thevenet, in religion, Mother St. Ignatius. The constitutions were approved by Pius IX, 31 December, 1847. The object of this congregation is to give to young ladies a Christian education conformable to their social position; For this purpose the religious have boarding-schools and academies, and, in large cities, residences for ladies of the literary profession. Their establishments of various kinds are numerous: in France, before the expulsion of 1901, they were at Lyons, the birthplace of the congregation, at Le Puy, Rodes, and Remiremont. Owing to the religious persecution, the mother-house was transferred to Rome in September, 1901. Besides the mother-house on the Via Flaminia, the religious have opened a college, the Stella Viae, to give to young ladies the means of culture which a residence in Rome and the study of the fine arts, modern languages, European literature, and history afford. The Stella Viae is situated on the Via Nomentana, near the Porta Pia. In 1842 Lyons sent a colony to India, where twelve houses now exist. The most important of these are at Bombay, Poonah, Lahore, Simla, and Agra. In 1850 the first house in Spain was founded at Tarragona; then followed other foundations, Valencia, Barcelona, Orihuela, S. Gervas, Alicante, and Murcia. In 1902 Spain sent a colony to found houses in the city of Mexico and at Mérida, Yucatán.

The first house of the congregation in America was founded at St. Joseph, Levis, Canada, in 1858. In 1876 Sillery (Quebec) became the provincial house of America. Canada has four other houses, at St-Gervais, St-Michel, Trois-Pistoles, and Beauceville. In 1876 several sisters left Sillery to open houses in the Unites States. The first foundation was that at Fall River, Massachusetts, where the sisters now conduct a boarding-school and a parochial school attended by twelve hundred children. The house at Manchester, New Hampshire, was founded in 1881; then, at Woonsocket, R.I., a boarding-school and two parochial schools, attended by fourteen hundred children. At Providence, R.I., the religious have a convent and two parochial schools. In 1902 several nuns left the mother-house in Rome, to found an establishment in New York. The religious of Jesus Mary now possess a house on Fourteenth Street and an academy at Kingsbridge. They also have the supervision of a day-school for poor Italian children. The establishment on Fourteenth Street, called "Our Lady of Peace", is a residence for ladies in the literary profession.