A Congregation of Sisters Founded to Assist the Priests and to Pray for them
Founded in 1974 when the first Sister received the religious habit, the Congregation of Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X was established to facilitate the apostolate of the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X. The founders, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Mother Marie-Gabriel Lefebvre, his sister, were both missionaries in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost.
Seeing that the crisis of faith since the Second Vatican Council was an ever-increasing danger for souls, the Archbishop, following the signs of Providence, founded the Priestly Society and then the Society of Sisters which he confided to his sister, Mother Marie-Gabriel.
The soul of the Sisters’ apostolate is found at the foot of the altar, with daily assistance at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which is the source of the Sisters’ strength in their complete gift of self, and with an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, where the Sisters intercede for priests and the Church’s hierarchy. Following Our Lady of Compassion their principal patron, they offer themselves in union with the Divine Victim for the salvation of souls, especially those of priests.
A Life Centered on the Holy Mass
The Sisters’ spiritual life is centered on the Holy Mass, but is also nourished by the Liturgical Hours of Prime, Sext and Compline (on Sundays and feast days: Lauds, Sext, Vespers and Compline), meditation, spiritual reading and the rosary. Among their varied activities, it is only natural that the Sisters devote themselves to all that is related to the altar; for example, the embellishment of liturgical offices and places of worship through the study of Gregorian chant, floral arrangements, the sewing and care of church vestments and altar linens.
After a formation of two and a half years in one of the four novitiates of the congregation, the novice is consecrated to God by the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The newly professed Sister is then assigned to one of the 28 houses of the congregation. It is in the common life that she will find an inestimable help in her joys and trials.
The Interior Life is Source of the Apostolate
The active works of the Sisters’ apostolate flow from their interior life of union with Our Lord. Their activities facilitate and complete the apostolate of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X in priories, missions, schools, retreat houses, retirement and nursing homes or seminaries. In addition to household tasks, the Sisters undertake a variety of works: teaching in schools (all subjects in elementary schools, home-economics classes in secondary schools); offering catechism classes in schools and parishes; running camps, summer activities and sodalities such as the Children of Mary for girls and young women; directing parish choirs and women’s groups, etc. The motherhouse is the headquarters for the Our Lady of Fatima Correspondence Catechism in the French language, as well as for the Eucharistic Crusade in France. In the United States of America, Our Lady of Fatima Correspondence Catechism is based in the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Browerville, Minnesota.
In 2019, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Society Saint Pius X numbers more than 180 professed Sisters of 18 different nationalities, with houses in 10 countries: France, the United States of America, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Gabon, the Dominican Republic and Australia. The Society’s four novitiates for the formation of religious are located in France, Germany, the United States and Argentina.
For more informations, please contact
Maison-Mère des Sœurs de la Fraternité Saint-Pie X
Abbaye Saint-Michel
7 allée du Château
F-36290 SAINT-MICHEL-EN-BRENNE
T. +33 2 54 38 00 18
Sacred Heart Novitiate
540 W. 8th Street
USA-BROWERVILLE, MN 56438
T. +1 320 594 2944