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The Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth

The Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth

Back in my times, only the Nazareth Sisters were here [in Wadowice]; I even visited them when I was in my toddler years.

John Paul II
Wadowice,7 June 1979

nazaretankiThe Nazareth Sisters arrived to Wadowice in 1896 and started their activity in very difficult conditions. According to the chronicles: In a poor flat, which became the home of the Sisters, water tended to freeze in vessels. The Mother Superior often did not have any money for bread.

Initially, the Sisters ran a day nursery for children and worked in a hospital. Later, once the construction of a new building, commenced in 1905, was completed, they opened a dressmaker’s school for girls. After the closure of the school in 1956 by the state authorities, the Sisters started caregiving activity for disabled children.

In his youth, little Lolek Wojtyła often participated in activities and games for children organized by the Sisters.

In 1989 in Rome, after the beatification mass of the Congregation founder, Franciszka Siedliska, the Holy Father said to the faithful:

“I have remembered Nazareth, the Sisters, and a nursery very well. It is one of the memories that stayed in my memory for the longest time, from the very first years of my life, even before school”.

Now, the Nazareth Sisters take care of two parish churches and work at the John Paul II Family Home Museum.

Date of introduction: March 22, 2016