Sisters of the Holy Family (Louisiana)

Sisters of the Holy Family

Sisters of the Holy Family, 1899
Abbreviation	SSF
Formation	1837
Founder	Henriette DeLille
Type	Religious institute
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
Website	SistersOfTheHolyFamily.com

Part of a series on
Black Catholicism
1892 Colored Catholic Congress
Overview
Pope: Francis History Black Catholic Movement National Black Catholic Congress
Background African Christianity African Catholicism Kongo Catholicism Black Christianity Catholicism and race Age of Discovery Catholic Slavery U.S. Catholicism Haitian Revolution Stono Rebellion San Miguel de Gualdape Fort Mose
People Saints Moses the Black Augustine Monica Benedict the Moor Martin de Porres Peter Claver Katharine Drexel On the way to sainthood Pierre and Juliette Toussaint Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP Henriette Delille, SSF Augustus Tolton Samuel Henderson Julia Greeley Mary Theodore Williams, FHM Thea Bowman, FSPA Martin de Porres Ward, OFMConv Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory Archbishops Eugene A. Marino, SSJ James P. Lyke, OFM Bishops James Healy Joseph O. Bowers, SVD Harold R. Perry, SVD Joseph L. Howze Priests Patrick Healy, SJ John R. Slattery, SSJ Charles F. Uncles, SSJ Cyprian Davis, OSB Clarence Rivers Paschal Salisbury, OP Seminarians William Augustine Williams Families Healy family
Institutions Churches Basilicas Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Norfolk, Virginia) Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica Other St Augustine (New Orleans) St Augustine (D.C.) St Francis Xavier (Baltimore) St Benedict the Moor (NYC) Most Pure Heart of Mary (Mobile) Religious communities Oblate Sisters of Providence Sisters of the Holy Family Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary The Josephites Society of African Missions Fraternal orders Knights of Peter Claver Schools Xavier University of Louisiana Claver College St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) St. Augustine Seminary (Bay St. Louis) St. Anthony's Mission House Organizations Colored Catholic Congress Federated Colored Catholics National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus National Black Sisters' Conference National Black Catholic Seminarians' Association National Black Catholic Lay Caucus The National Office for Black Catholics National Association of Black Catholic Administrators National Black Catholic Congress Black Catholic Theological Symposium Institute for Black Catholic Studies National Association of Black Catholic Deacons
Literature History of Black Catholics in the United States (Davis)
Worship Gospel Mass Black Unity Mass Prayer Sacraments
Rites Roman Ordinary Form Zaire Use
Controversies Jesuit Bend Incident George Stallings (Imani Temple)
Miscellaneous Anti-Catholicism Ecumenism Relations with: Protestantism Islam
Societal issues U.S. Catholic politics
Links and resources Index Outline Glossary Category Media Templates WikiProject Vatican City portal
Catholic Church portal
v t

The Sisters of the Holy Family (SSF; French: Soeurs de la Sainte Famille) are a Catholic religious order of African-American nuns based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were founded in 1837 as the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Henriette DeLille. They adopted the current name in 1842.

They were the second Black religious order founded in the United States. The first was Mother Mary Lange's Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, Maryland.

Around 1829, Henriette DeLille joined Juliette Gaudin, a Haitian, and Josephine Charles, and began efforts to evangelize enslaved persons and free persons of color in New Orleans. Around 1836, they formed the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, New Orleans' first confraternity of women of color.^[1]

Their unofficial habit was a plain blue dress. Bishop Antoine Blanc did not allow them to wear traditional habits because they were women of color.^[2]

The congregation was established under the current name in 1842.^[3] They began as a diocesan congregation and were assisted by Marie Jeanne Aliquot. She was a white French woman and was prevented by segregation law from joining a congregation of women of color. The Religious of the Sacred Heart provided Henriette, Juliette and Josephine spiritual formation and experience in formal religious community living.

The Association of the Holy Family, a lay group of free persons of color, contributed financially. They helped found the Hospice of the Holy Family, for the elderly sick and poor.^[1] Now called the Lafon Nursing Facility, it served as a long-term care facility and is the first and oldest Catholic nursing home in the United States. The sisters would take in sick and elderly women, providing care at their house on St. Bernard Avenue.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Lafon Nursing Facility was restored and reopened in 2010. It continues to provide nursing care.^[4]

In 1850 the order founded a school for girls. The sisters also provided a home for orphans and taught enslaved persons, although Louisiana law then prohibited educating slaves.

The three women took private vows on November 21, 1852, as Bishop Antoine Blanc would not allow women of color to make public vows.^[2]

Father Etienne Rousselou, the congregation's advisor, named DeLille as mother superior. She took the name Sister Mary Theresa; however, everyone called her Mother Henriette.^[1]

Their school, St. Mary's Academy (SMA), opened on Chartres Street in December 1867.^[5]

In 1876, the sisters were finally allowed to wear their habits publicly. In 1887, their formal rule was approved by the bishop.

The academy moved to the Quadroon Ballroom on Orleans Avenue in 1881. In 1921 the sisters assumed responsibility for a school for children of color from St. Francis de Sales Church; that school had been run previously by the Sisters of the Most Holy Sacrament.^[6]

In 1965 SMA moved to a site on Chef Menteur Boulevard in New Orleans East.^[5]

The congregation has maintained their original ministries of educating youth and caring for the aged, and the poor. They have missions in Louisiana, Texas, California, Washington, D.C., and Belize. The sisters remain active in pastoral care and education ministry in Opelousas, Lafayette, and Ville Platte in the Diocese of Lafayette.^[7]

The Sisters of the Holy Family is a congregation of pontifical right. The motherhouse is in New Orleans, and as of 2015 its members numbered 96 sisters.

The order is headquartered a block away from the school. Their mission statement says:

“We exemplify and share the spirituality and charism of Henriette Delille with the people of God. We bring healing comfort to children, the elderly, the poor, and the powerless, especially those of African descent. As we embrace the third millennium, our love for God compels us to confront racism, all forms of injustice, discrimination, and economic oppression through evangelization and education.”^[8]

The National Museum of African American History and Culture includes historic items from black Catholic communities, including Sisters of the Holy Family.^[9]

Due to some Sisters attending Xavier University of Louisiana, and working alongside the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Xavier University Archives & Special Collections also holds a small collection on the history of the Sisters of the Holy Family.^[10]

The actress Vanessa Williams produced a 2000 television movie, The Courage to Love, about Henriette Delille, in which she herself starred in the lead role.^[11]

• The Sisters of the Holy Family
• Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, Sisters of the Holy Family page
• Orrick, Lucy Semmes, "Along the Color Line", National Magazine, November 1904