USA

Our History In The Archdiocese Of Boston, Ma.

In 1986 His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law went on pilgrimage to our shrine in Cracow, Poland. During His Eminence's visit, Cardinal Law asked Mother General, Sr. Paulina Slomka, to sent several sisters to His Archdiocese in order to establish a community of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. At the invitation of His Eminence three sisters set out for the United States two years later and arrived in Boston, MA on September 15, 1988 - the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Our convent in Boston was the first international house founded outside of Poland.

Initially, the sisters worked in a soup kitchen called "Our Daily Bread" and thereafter for several years in a shelter called "St. Ambrose Family Inn" for impoverished homeless women with children. As the first American candidates expressed their interest in joining the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, the sisters moved to the convent of St. Ann's Parish on Neponset Ave. in Dorchester, MA in October 1993. This convent served as the formation house for all English-speaking candidates. Our Lord has blessed us with candidates from the United States as well as novices and sisters from the US, Philippines, Belgium, Ireland, and Poland of course. Our community is rather young, international, and multi-cultural.

Our apostolate has since evolved. We no longer work in the shelter for homeless women; instead, we pray with the elderly and the dying in nursing homes and reach out to male and female prisoners, proclaiming the message of the Divine Mercy devotion to them. The prisoners love to hear about Saint Faustina and are quite open to the words Our Merciful Lord spoke to her. In this way we fulfill the mission that Jesus entrusted to our sister and co-foundress Saint Faustina Kowalska. Likewise, we speak in schools, in parishes and at conferences, explaining the different forms of devotion and prayers to the Divine Mercy and, more importantly, what true devotion to the Divine Mercy consists in: having childlike trust in God and being merciful to our neighbor.

In 2013, we began developing our Divine Mercy retreat ministry at Bethany House of Prayer on His Land in Lakeville, MA. Several sisters are qualified spiritual directors who are available to accompany directees on their journey of prayer. In November 2018, we moved to a small convent in Lakeville, MA. This convent now serves as a home for the sisters ministering at the nearby retreat house.