Sisters of Mary Reparatrix

Emilie d'Oultremont

The foundress of the congregation was Mother Mary of Jesus, born Émilie d'Oultremont de Warfusée, a member of a prominent Catholic family in Belgium. While she was still a child, her father was appointed as the Belgian Ambassador to the Holy See in Rome.[1]

As a teenager, d'Oultremont was drawn to the consecrated life of a Religious Sister, but, due to the encouragement of her family, she wed at the age of 19. Though it was an arranged marriage, she and her husband fell deeply in love. She lived a happy life with her husband, while both being a member of Roman society and serving the poor of the city. She and her husband had four children before his untimely death in 1847.[1]

The young widow d’Hooghvorst, who had already experienced a mystical vision of God while attending a ball, was drawn more deeply into the spiritual life. With the loss of both her parents by 1851, she decided to withdraw from the demands of her wider family and, in 1854, moved to France with her children. Before her departure, she accepted the invitation of an aunt to visit her at her residence in the Castle of Bauffe, near Chièvres. It was in the chapel of the castle that Emilie had another vision which was to change her life. It occurred on 8 December 1854, the same day as Pope Pius IX declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception to be a formal dogma of the Catholic Church.[1]

What d’Hooghvorst experienced in that little chapel was later described by her as a personal encounter with Mary, mother of Jesus, who invited her to "make reparation" to her son for the world, and to love him and all Christians "with that delicacy of love that is found in a mother’s heart".[1] In keeping with the theology of the time, she translated this call into one of Eucharistic adoration. She had, however, long been influenced by Ignatian spirituality from her guidance by a number of Jesuit priests during her teenage years and this influenced her thoughts about how she might carry out the element of service to others.

D'Hooghvorst began to share her experience and soon drew a group of young women of diverse nationalities who wished to share in this call. The first community of the new congregation was opened in Strasbourg on 1 May 1857. They adopted a white religious habit with a blue scapular, and d'Hooghvorst took the religious name of Mother Mary of Jesus.

From the start, a part of the day of each Sister's life was dedicated to adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, which would be done in pairs, and the primary ministry of the community was conducting retreats for women following the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.[1]

Communities of the congregation began to be established throughout France, the first being in Paris. By the time of her death in Florence, Italy, in 1878, Mother Mary of Jesus had overseen the founding of 20 communities of the Sisters in India, England, Belgium, La Reunion, Italy, Mauritius, Ireland and Spain.

The Sisters followed the directives of the Second Vatican Council which took place in the 1960s and looked at their origins in renewing their way of life for modern times. As a result, they opted to change from living in cloistered monasteries to small communities in socially marginal areas. They also expanded their mission from an exclusive focus on retreats to include training programs for the poor.[7] In Entebbe, Uganda the sisters operate a guest house and spirituality center.[8] In 2017, the community celebrated their centennial anniversary of ministry in Uganda.[9]

At present there are communities of the Sisters of Mary Reparatrix in 22 nations throughout Europe, Africa and both North and South America.[10] Total as of December 31, 2016 are as follows: Total 525 Sisters of which 483 are Perpetual professed sisters, 34 Temporary professed sisters, 8 Novices (6:Madagascar, 1: Uganda, 1 Congo). Opening of Houses are in Mexico in Guadalajara-Nueva Santa Maria, on March 17, 2016 and in San Luis Potosi-Cristo Misionero, on September 15, 2016. In Kenya, the sisters are involved in running a center where for deprived girls are taught embroidering, tailoring, hair dressing, food nutrition and other short courses.[11]