Document 4: From the Constitutions of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, 1853, Sisters of

Charity Archives, Mount Saint Joseph, Ohio.

Introduction

Four Sisters of Charity arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, from Emmitsburg, Maryland, in October 1829. They established an orphanage and school, which grew until they were caring for almost 300 children; the sisters also nursed victims of cholera epidemics and supervised the Martha and Mary Society whose members cared for the poor in their homes.  In 1852 six of twelve sisters in Cincinnati broke their ties with Emmitsburg and established the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. They adopted a Constitutions based on the same "Regulations" they had followed in Emmitsburg.

The object of the Institution of the Sisters of Charity in America, according to the plan laid down by St. Vincent de Paul, being to honor the Sacred Infancy of Jesus Christ . . . in the young persons committed to their charge, whom they are called upon to form to virtue, whilst they sow in their minds the seeds of useful knowledge; according the care of the poor of all descriptions and age[d], sick, prisoners, invalids, foundlings, orphans and even insane in hospitals and private homes, shall be the objects of the solicitude of the Sisters and they shall exercise their zeal gradually as circumstances, openings, and means of doing either shall be afforded them.