Our Revered Founder Rt. Revered Fortunatus Henri Caumont, a Franciscan Capuchin from France came to Rajputana to serve the Lord as a missionary. He was appointed a Prefect Apostolic. The Founder felt Rajputana needed an Indian Congregation to serve the needs of the Dioceses. The girls in the cities and urban areas were very backward and were prisoners of strict purdah system. They were exploited and oppressed due to their lack of education.
Being a man with a sharp intelligent mind and with a visionary and missionary spirit, impelled by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Our Founder started our Congregation of the ‘Mission Sisters of Ajmer’ on April 26, 1911- the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and placed it under her patronage.
The Founder requested the Superior General of the S.M.A Congregation to help him with the beginning of the Congregation and in 1911, Mother Mary Matilda, the Sister of the Founder was sent to form and train the Mission Sisters of Ajmer. Being fully conversant with the Founder’s Vision and plans for his daughters, and filled with the spirit of St Francis the Poor, she taught the Sisters to walk the Franciscan way of life.
The Founder drew up the Constitutions of the M.S.A, as our way of Life, with its roots in the Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Assisi which was given to us in the year 1922.
One of the first works that was entrusted to the Mission Sisters by the Founder was the care of the poor, unloved, the unwanted, destitute children for the Diocese. Mother Mary Matilda and Mother Mary Tarcisius taught the Mission Sisters how to deal with these unloved babies with love and tenderness.
Under the guidance of Mother Mary Matilda, though very few in number, the Mission Sisters not only cared for the unloved orphans, but sought after the poor and street children and cultivated in them the habit of coming to school.
In 1917, with the special permission of Pope St. Pius X, Mother M. Matilda sent Sr. Mary Suares to be qualified as a Doctor at the Medical College Indore. The Healing Mission took its inception in the Bhils’ Mission at Jhabua , MP in the year 1921.
The Educational Apostolate was the next venture. In 1919 Sophia School was started on April 16th. Sophia is the name given to our schools which means ‘Wisdom’ with its motto giving Wisdom- God to little ones . Mother Mary Matilda was one of the first Ladies to work for the education of Women in Ajmer which was then considered the Education Centre of Rajputana.
Inspite of few hands to work in the vineyard of the Lord, Mother M. Matilda went ahead opening mission stations with welfare centres to attend to the medical needs of the poor. She also opened Primary Hindi Medium Schools to provide education to the children of the rural areas.
In 1946, we got the Official Papal Erection as a Congregation. And on June 1955, the Congregation was officially affiliated to the great Franciscan Family vide Prot. No.32/55.
In 1986, the Congregation touched another Milestone, its Diamond Jubilee 75years of our Foundation. In 1993, at the IX General Chapter it was decided to bifurcate the Congregation into two Regions for better Administration as St. Francis Region and St. Clare Region and on June 1, 1994 on the Feast of our Revered Founder, the Regions took their birth. On March 14, 2001, The establishment of the two Provinces saw its birth as the Province of St. Francis and the Province of St. Clare. In the Year 2011, the Congregation reached another milestone completing 100 years of Grace in the Redeeming Mission of Christ .
