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The '''Sisters of the Holy Infancy of Jesus and Mary''', known also as '''Sisters of Ste-Chrétienne (SSCH)''', are a [[Roman Catholic]] international congregation founded in 1807 by Anne-Victoire Méjanes, née Tailleux, for the education of girls and the care of the sick poor.
==History==
At the invitation of bishop Jauffret of [[Metz]], Méjanes and her community went from [[Argancy]] to Metz and took up their abode in the Abbey of St. Glossinde, where, on 20 April 1807, they bound themselves by vow to follow the statutes drawn up for them by the bishop. The congregation received the approval of the [[Holy See]] in 1888, and its statutes were granted papal approbation in 1899.{{sfn|Rudge|1910}}
In 1903, a group of sisters arrived in [[Salem, Massachusetts]] to manage a school, where they taught students in both English and French, the latter being the native language of many of the pupils, almost half of whom were from families of French-Canadian immigrants. St. Joseph's Covent School was destroyed in the [[Great Salem fire of 1914]]. St. Chretienne Academy was opened in 1918, and was quickly converted to a sixty-bed hospital for victims of the [[Spanish flu|Influenza epidemic]]. St. Chretienne Academy High School was opened in 1964. Both closed in 1971. The property is now the site of the [[Salem State University]] South Campus.<ref>[https://patch.com/massachusetts/salem/image-gallery-then-and-now-ste-chretienne-academy Curley, Jerome. "Then and Now — Ste. Chretienne Academy", Patch.com, September 20, 2010]</ref>
The novitiate of the congregation was moved to [[Beauport, Quebec City|Giffard, Quebec]] where the sisters ran two schools.<ref name=cesup>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QeFQAQAAMAAJ&dq=Sisters+of+the+Holy+Childhood+of+Jesus+and+Mary&pg=PA422 "Jesus and Mary, Sisters of the Holy Childhood of", ''The Catholic Encyclopedia: Supplement 1'' (c1922)]{{PD-notice}}</ref>
During World War I, the sisters in Europe cared for the wounded in hospitals, or turned their convents into hospitals. Many of them received the Legion of Honor and were awarded medals by the French and other governments.<ref name=cesup/>
==Present day==
As of 2019 there were about 200 sisters. The sisters have houses in [[France]], [[Austria]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Canada]], and the [[United States]]. In the United States, they minister in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and Florida; the office for the US Region is in [[Wrentham, Massachusetts]].
In 1970, they arrived in Rwanda, where they direct health centers.<ref>[http://www.sistersofstchretienne.org/ Sisters of Ste-Chrétienne -U.S. Region]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Sisters of the Holy Childhood of Jesus and Mary |first=Florence Marie |last=Rudge |volume=8}}
==External links==
* [http://www.sistersofstchretienne.org/ Sisters of Ste-Chrétienne -U.S. Region]
[[Category:Catholic female orders and societies]]
[[Category:Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century]]