Służebniczki Śląskie wśród Polonii kanadyjskiej w Edmonton (1972-1989)

Abstrakt

The establishment of the religious houses of the congregation of the Silesian Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God in Canada, planned as early as the second half of the nineteenth century, therefore still during the lifetime of its founder, Blessed Edmund Bojanowski, took place as late as the 1970s. The priority of its mission, i.e. religious and social commitment of the sisters on behalf of Polonia was accomplished gradually. It required that the first female settlers should make extreme efforts to adapt themselves. The political situation of the Polish People’s Republic was not without importance, its shadow fell on the life and daily experience of Polish emigration, including sisters. The efforts made had led to the founding and development of the following activities: childcare education, nursing, charitable, and parochial activity. This activity, its dynamism and liveliness were conducive to the integration and support of Polish culture and national values in the local Polish milieu abroad. The most important places and centres where sisters served were the following: the Veteran's Home Villa Maria, the Our Lady of the Rosary parish, the kindergarten Sisem Day Care Center, the H. Sienkiewicz Polish School, its kindergarten, and the John Paul II Polish School. In other stages of assimilation of the Silesian Sisters Servants in Canada, they were supported by the Missionary Oblates of Immaculate Mary and Polonia organizations; they had invited sisters to work in Canada.