CPS History

Abbot Francis Pfanner

Mother Paula Emunds, CPS

Abbot Francis Pfanner, an Austrian Trappist, regarded by Thomas Merton as the greatest missionary of his time, founded the international Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood at Mariannhill, near Durban, South Africa, in 1885.  From the courageous spirit of five German women who responded to Abbot Francis’s plea for assistance in the mission field of Mariannhill, our congregation has grown and spread throughout the world.  We presently number over 900 sisters.

 

Mother Paula Emunds, our Co-foundress, shared the spirit and vision of Abbot Francis which she passed on to us in her treatise, The Inner Spirit and Virtues of a Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood.

CPS in the United States

 

At the invitation of Vincentian priests, the first Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood arrived in the United States from Europe in 1925.  These “pioneer” sisters did domestic work for the

Vincentians at St. Joseph Preparatory School, Princeton, NJ and at St. Vincent’s Seminary,Germantown, PA.  The sisters carried on despite the fact that all communication with the

Motherhouse in the Netherlands was cut off

during World War II.

 

A novitiate was established in Princeton in 1948, and in July 1952, the first group of American

sisters were missioned to South Africa.  That same year, due to growing numbers, the novitiate was moved to Reading, PA.

 

Since the time of that first missioning, other

sisters who made their novitiate in the US have been sent to South Africa, St. Lucia, Italy, Korea, and Zimbabwe.

 

As is true of our congregation throughout the world, our ministry within the US has covered a spectrum of apostolates.