“The White Sisters”: The Daughters of the Holy Spirit

The unidentified sister in the above photograph is a member of a community whose roots date back four centuries. At the turn of the last century, an anti-clerical regime came to power in France. The new government formally legislated the separation of Church and State, confiscated Church property, and forced numerous religious communities to leave the country. One of these was the Daughters of the Holy Ghost (now Spirit), founded in Brittany in 1706. Known as the “White Sisters” for the habits they wore, the community taught the poor and founded hospitals and orphanages. Although they experienced a setback during the French Revolution, as so many communities did, the nineteenth century was a period of tremendous growth for the community. By 1900, they numbered nearly two thousand sisters. The government’s crackdown led them to found new houses in Belgium, England and America. In 1905 Mother Marie Alvarez established their first house in Hartford, Connecticut. By 1914 they had twenty-five houses throughout New England and upstate New York. Today the Sisters work in thirteen countries.