A buggy arrives at a rectory in Newburyport, MA. Two sisters, wearing a white modified sunbonnet cap and a black habit, get out. The year is 1882. Prior to that, a young woman, Catherine Spalding (SCN founder), welcomes immigrants at Louisville waterfront, and takes home children orphaned on the voyage from Germany or Ireland. Sisters nurse (some die) yellow fever victims in Yazoo City, MS; others nurse soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Then, a blessing, and a switch is turned, inaugurating an off-the-grid solar system generating power at a hospital in India. Sustainability and reliability. It is now 2025. At Nazareth, KY, grade schoolers participate in environmental stewardship, meditation, and exploration. Our mobile Rapid Response Team repairs a home for a veteran in Appalachia after recent floods. The unifying thread is that all these are a part of the story of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY.

The connection between the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) and Massachusetts runs deep, dating back to 1882 when the SCNs established Immaculate Conception School in Newburyport.

Established in 1812, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth stayed close to their Kentucky Motherhouse. After making a trek across the Ohio River in 1875 to begin serving in Ohio, the sisters eventually continued northeast to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where a parochial school was opened at the request of Mgr. A.J. Teeling, a friend of the SCN community. As written in "The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth" by Anna Blanche McGill (published in 1917), regarding Immaculate Conception School: "Upon none of its foundations does Nazareth reflect with deeper gratification than upon those of the East, in the Archdiocese of Boston." In "Impelled by the Love of Christ: 1912-1914," Sister Frances Krumpelman writes, "The year was 1882, and in spite of the fact that prejudice against the Irish and Catholics still abounded, the sisters' efforts succeeded." The sisters immersed themselves in the local community, building friendships and establishing roots. McGill writes: "Excursions were occasionally made to the home of Harriet Prescott Spofford, an American writer of novels, poems, and detective stories, who lived near Newburyport; and to the home of John Greenleaf Whittier, an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States.

While the health care ministry continued to flourish in other places, in MA, the major ministry was in meeting the educational needs of new immigrant Irish families. St. Patrick's School in Brockton was opened on Sept. 12, 1887, with an attendance of nearly 500 children. When the sisters arrived, Brockton consisted of one parish attended by three priests. This grew to six parishes and 14 priests. In 1888, St. Raphael's was established in Hyde Park with high enrollment numbers of well over 1,000 students. During the sisters' centennial year (1912), the Nazareth School was built in South Boston. Our Lady of Nazareth Academy (OLN) was established in 1947 by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Wakefield. OLN served as a beacon of education for six decades, empowering young women who continue to make a difference in their communities. Archbishop Williams in Braintree, founded by SCNs in 1949 at the invitation of Cardinal Cushing, continues to be a thriving archdiocesan school, in the spirit of those first sisters and their motto of "The love of Christ impels us."

The impact of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth goes beyond the classroom. In Lowell in 1887, the sisters took charge of St. Peter's Orphanage, where little girls and boys were received. A similar ministry provided care and shelter in Newburyport. Over the years, in MA, the sisters continued to serve in education and diverse ministries, including St. Edward's School, parish ministries, and pastoral care at Cardinal Cushing Hospital.

After Vatican II, many sisters were asked to move into parish administration or adult education. The empowerment of the laity was paramount, with women's voices to be heard and respected. In other parts of the US, in India, Nepal, Belize, Botswana, and Nepal, SCNs continue their ministries of education, health care, socio-pastoral work, and the empowerment of women, girls, seniors, and indigenous people. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth are an international congregation in a multicultural world ministering in the U.S., India, Belize, Nepal, Botswana, and Kenya. Serving in these areas has inspired many to become a part of the SCN community, fostering new relationships, including vocations, and propelling the SCNs into a global community of sisters, associates, and collaborators.

In MA, the English Transcultural Center founded in 1990 by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, in collaboration with the Sisters of St Joseph-Boston and the Sisters of the Holy Union, addresses the English Language needs of community members in the Brockton neighborhoods. Similarly, in Quincy, there is ministry in ESL with Asian Americans. Sisters and associates continue to minister with immigrants in advocacy and solidarity in Southern India, in KY, and, in the past, on the Texas-Mexican border. Social justice is an important part of their service today, in parishes, in accompanying farmworkers in their right to organize with dignity; and in solidarity with persons pushed to the margins of society and religion. Presently SCNs and SCNAs serve at the Catherine Spalding House of Hospitality and Spirituality, providing opportunities for women to explore the sacred in their lives; and in other capacities, including reaching out to the diverse immigrant/migrant population in the region.

As part of the US church's complicity in the original sin of enslaving persons, religious congregations began to confess their history. Sisters were involved in Civil Rights, and in desegregation initiatives in the Southern US. Through God's grace, in 2000, SCNs, with two KY-founded congregations, Dominican Sisters of Peace and Sisters of Loreto, were the first Catholic entities to hold a public prayer service with our African American sisters and brothers. The commitment continues to actively combat racism, and to partner in various ways with our African American siblings.

Sisters have embraced the ideals of "Laudato Si'," Pope Francis' call to care for our common home. They actively integrate its principles into their daily lives, advocating for environmental stewardship, sustainability, and social justice. Internationally, we have an Office of Sustainability, and we are a member of the Charity Federation, including the NGO at the United Nations.

As stated in the SCN Mission Statement: Impelled by the love of Christ, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and associates are committed to work for justice in solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially the economically poor and women, and to care for the earth.

SCN website: nazareth.org.