Religious of Jesus and Mary
RELIGIOUS OF JESUS AND MARY
A religious community of women (RJM, Official Catholic Directory, #3450) with papal approbation, founded in Lyons, France, in 1818, by Claudine Thévenet (Mother Mary St. Ignatius, 1774–1837). The Religious of Jesus and Mary (RJM) devote themselves principally to Christian education and to mission work. The constitutions of the congregation, based on the Rule of St. Ignatius of Loyola, received papal approval in 1847. The motherhouse was transferred to Rome in 1903. The community spread successively to Spain, England, Canada, the U.S., Switzerland, Ireland, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, and Cuba. In 1842 the sisters opened their first foreign mission in India, where they later expanded to Pakistan. Subsequently other missions were founded in Canada, Algeria, Spanish Guinea, Gabon, Colombia, Bolivia, Uruguay, New Zealand, Haiti and Mexico.
After coming to the U.S. in 1877, the sisters established themselves at Fall River, Mass. The U.S. provincialate is in Mt. Rainier, MD. In the U.S., the sisters are engaged in academic education, catechetics, pastoral ministries and social outreach.
[m. b. a. hamelin/eds.]