Description

The Sisters of Charity were responding to the need in America for more education and to the growing suffering among the poor. There were large numbers of homeless, unwanted children. Little ones must be cared for, nurtured and taught their faith. Sisters opened and staffed orphanages. And so it was that Sister Basilia was missioned first to Philadelphia, and then to New York, to help care for orphaned children. She loved her work, for in her heart she always longed to respond to “the cry of the poor”.

The Sisters there were living the Rule of Saint Vincent de Paul, adapted to American culture. In 1849 Sisters of Charity came to Halifax to teach new immigrant Irish children. Large numbers of children enrolled in the school. In a matter of days, orphaned girls were housed in the convent.