Mother Mary Brunona Pydynkowska

In 1900, Mother Mary Brunona Pydynkowska was chosen to lead the second Felician province in North America, newly formed in Buffalo, New York. 

There, she oversaw the remarkable expansion of the Felician mission that nearly tripled its number of educational ministries.
 
Beginning in 1895, Mother Brunona served as a provincial councilor of the Detroit province. She was keenly aware of the growing number of Polish Catholic schools and urgent pleas from pastors to staff them. Buffalo was home to the fastest growing Polish community in the country.

Mother Brunona and four provincial councilors began staffing schools throughout seven states. In seven years, the province grew from 156 sisters serving 16 elementary schools and two social service agencies to 384 sisters serving 40 elementary schools and three social service agencies.
 
Mother Brunona also focused on building a home for the sisters in the Cheektowaga section of Buffalo on land purchased by Mother Mary Monica Sybilska. The Immaculate Heart of Mary provincial house was built on William Road and Kennedy Street, with a large portion dedicated as an orphanage. The Immaculate Heart of Mary Home for Children was home to orphans from Buffalo, Detroit, eastern New York, Pennsylvania, and New England.
 
Out of a deep concern for the spiritual lives and development of women entering the Felician Congregation, Mother Brunona instituted an aspirancy with a preparatory school for young women aspiring to join the Felician community.