St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Sacramento on Oct. 7 will recognize 100 years of teaching and ministering to the people of the Diocese of Sacramento by the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity.

A noon Mass, celebrated by Franciscan Father Kenneth Laverone, pastor, will be followed by a reception in the parish hall.

Franciscan Sister Margie Will, pastoral associate at St. Francis Parish, said the event was being planned as “a celebration of presence” honoring an order of women religious whose arrival in Sacramento in 1901 marked their first ministry on the West Coast.

At the invitation of the Franciscan Friars of Santa Barbara, the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity established St. Anthony’s Convent, a three-story home on K Street, in 1901. The sisters also began staffing St. Francis School where hundreds of dedicated Franciscans met the educational needs of children until 1976.

In the fall of 1906 they began staffing St. Stephen’s School at 3rd and O Streets in Sacramento, where they taught until 1923.

Other schools staffed by the sisters include the former Holy Angels School, which served the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament from 1924 to 1974; St. Francis High School at 25th & K Streets from 1941 to 1956 and at the M Street location from 1964 to 1970; and at the former Bishop Armstrong High School in Sacramento from 1956 to 1964.

In 1920 the sisters provided service to the Sacramento area by staffing Grace Day Home. At Grace Day the Franciscans assisted low-income families with an educational program which their religious order continues to sponsor today.

At Holy Family Japanese Mission, a center serving downtown Sacramento’s Japanese community from 1929 to 1942, they provided educational and social services to adults and children.

Sister of Social Service Clare Graham, pastoral associate at St. Francis Parish, described the Franciscan Sisters’ service to the diocese as “truly remarkable” in the areas of education and social services.

“The Franciscans truly inspired many of us, educating us in social consciousness and respect for the poor,” said Sister Graham, who attended St. Francis School and co-founded Wellspring Women’s Center in Sacramento. “They were on the cutting edge of child care services.”

Today six Franciscan sisters still serve in the diocese. They are: Sister Will; Sister Rosalie Cooper, a teaching volunteer at Immaculate Conception School in Sacramento; Sister Mary Rita Reilly, a counselor for the San Juan Unified School District; Sister Dorothy McCormack, who recently returned to Sacramento from the Diocese of San Diego; Sister Pauline Risse, who provides home-based child and elder care; and Sister Janet Gwinn, a chaplain with Mercy Hospice and Mercy hospitals.

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

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