Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province

Coraopolis, Pennsylvania

T

he Felician Sisters arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1888 to teach children of Polish immigrants engaged in industrial work. Their education ministry quickly expanded into Western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia, where they staffed 14 schools.
 
Permission for a new centrally located province was obtained in 1914. Land was purchased and construction begun in the West View area of Pittsburgh, but as the United States became embroiled in World War I in 1917, the project was dropped due to high material costs and communication problems with the generalate in Poland.
 
As the demand for teaching sisters grew, financing each sister’s 400-mile summer trips to and from Pittsburgh became a financial burden. When an adequate building became available in East McKeesport, the sisters purchased it as a “provisory” — a temporary provincial house. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart province was officially established in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, in 1921, with 118 sisters transferred from the Detroit province. Mother Mary Pancratia Czelusta was named its first provincial superior.
 
Life in the provisory was characterized by grinding poverty. Those who lived in the first convent referred to it as the “Poor House.”  Sisters slept on mattresses made of corn cobs. Often, there was no running water, and only basic needs could be met. As many young women sought to join the Congregation in Pennsylvania, there was no adequate space to provide an aspirancy.
 
In 1927, the sisters found 75 acres of land for sale in nearby Coraopolis. Though significantly cut off from infrastructure and set up on a hill, with the blessing of the generalate and local bishop, they purchased it to build a proper provincial house. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, construction began in 1930.
 
Completed in 1932, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart provincial house was dedicated in the borough of Coraopolis. Its E-shaped, three-story red brick structure houses a convent, chapel, and high school that overlooks the Ohio Valley.
 
Within several decades, the new province grew to more than 400 sisters serving an array of ministries in 40 establishments. Their endeavors met with great success in the field of education, and as the need arose, they ministered in health care. Eventually, the sisters devoted themselves to working with the developmentally challenged and seniors. Having served in dozens of parochial elementary schools and providing catechesis throughout the year to public school students, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School remains a model of Felician Catholic education.
 

History Books of This Province
Check with the archives for availability.
One of the Family: History of the Felician Sisters Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province, 1920-1977
By Sister Mary Jane Kadyszewski

Be Sister to All: Final History of the Felician Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province, 1978-2009
By Kerry A. Crawford

Milestones

1888

Present in Pennsylvania

Present in Pennsylvania
Felician Sisters began teaching at St. Adalbert in Pittsburgh, PA, to support Polish immigrants laboring in the glass, iron, and steel industries there. Mother Mary Cajetan Jankiewicz, one of the five Felician pioneer Sisters in North America was its first principal. Sister Mary Margaret Blar and Sister Marianne Pajzderska served as teachers.
1921

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province Founded

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province Founded
The fifth province began in a temporary provincial house in McKeesport, PA. Communication barriers and financial restrictions caused by WWI and the Great Depression kept the new province in the old St. Barnabas Home for eleven years.
1932

Dedication of New Provincial House in Coraopolis

Dedication of New Provincial House in Coraopolis
Bishop Hugh Charles Boyle officiated at the blessing and dedication of the newly built Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Provincial House in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, on May 26, 1932, the Feast of Corpus Christi. 
1932

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School Founded

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School Founded

Originally an academy for aspirants, 18 young women enrolled in the first year. The school was open to lay women in the 1940s and became coeducational by 1970.

Pictured is the first graduating class in 1935 with Father John Pudlo, the Felician Sisters chaplain.

1936

Survived the Wheeling Flood

Survived the Wheeling Flood
Trapped on the third floor of their convent, Felician Sisters staffing St. Ladislaus School in Wheeling, WV, were rescued by boat after the Ohio River crested at 55.2 feet, killing 16 and displacing 20,000. The devastation prompted Congress to declare flood control a federal responsibility.
1946

Our Lady of Victory Clinic

Our Lady of Victory Clinic
Felician Sisters from Coraopolis assumed responsibility for this maternity home in Bethany, OK that offered unwed mother clinic care and adoption services. The sisters transitioned the home into a hospital setting to remove the stigma faced by mothers.
1949

Okarche Memorial Hospital Management

Okarche Memorial Hospital Management
Felician Sisters ministering in this rural Oklahoma hospital provided high-quality care, training programs, and surgical units that previously required travel to larger hospitals to access.
1962

St. Joseph Hospital Ownership and Expansion

St. Joseph Hospital Ownership and Expansion
Bishop Carroll of Miami, a former Pittsburgher, sought to rebuild a deficient hospital in Port Charlotte, FL, and looked to the Felician Sisters to staff it. The sisters took ownership, and in 1987, to accommodate a growing senior population, they constructed an adjacent nursing home, St. Joseph Enrichment Center.
1963

McGuire Memorial Founded

McGuire Memorial Founded

Felician Sister Mary Alice Sobieraj launched the program for children with profound and complex disabilities up to age seven. In time, the scope and offerings widened with a range of programs that include adults. The ministry was further defined under the leadership of her successor, Sister Mary Thaddeus Markelewicz.

This photo is of SM Doloretta Corey and a young boy at McGuire Memorial.

1964

St. Ann Home Administration

St. Ann Home Administration

Felician Sisters began overseeing the senior care home built in Greensburg, PA by Bishop William G. Connare. Nurse Sister Mary Patricia Gaughan was its first administrator. In 1996, St. Ann Home was transferred from the Diocese of Greensburg to the Felician Sisters.

In this photo are SM Denise Bernas and a resident of St. Ann Home.

1988

Official Peace Site

Official Peace Site

The Felician Sisters in Coraopolis dedicated their provincial grounds as the first official peace site in Western Pennsylvania.

Pictured is the official dedication of the site.

1990

First Love Walk for the Poor

First Love Walk for the Poor
Felician Sister Louise Marie Olsofka created the Love Walk for the Poor for youth to experience solidarity with the homeless and marginalized. Participants walked the downtown streets of Pittsburgh on the Sunday closest to Valentine's Day, nearly always a cold day, carrying donations with them. 
1992

Felician Center Mission

Felician Center Mission

A sister from the Buffalo province joined a sister from Coraopolis to serve a marginalized community in Kingstree, South Carolina. They transformed a once-dangerous neighborhood street into a hub of diversity and ecumenical collaboration as they engaged with the local people to build community and restore the neighborhood.

SM Susanne Dziedzic and SM Johnna Ciezobka hand out goodies for their students to take home.

1992

Leo Meyer Manor Management

Leo Meyer Manor Management
Felician Sisters began serving as resident managers of a complex in McKees Rocks, PA, that provides safe, affordable housing to seniors with special physical and/or mobility-impaired needs.
1993

Beatification of Mother Mary Angela Truszkowska

Beatification of Mother Mary Angela Truszkowska
On April 18 in Rome, (Saint) Pope John Paul II beatified the Felician Foundress, granting her the title “Blessed.”
2002

Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs Founded

Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs Founded
Sister Mary Rene Procopio founded the program in the Western Pennsylvania Moon Township community to help mitigate neighborhood decline. After-school tutoring led to a full spectrum of programs, including vital food support, summer camps, adult education, and social support for children.
2006

LEED-NC Gold Renovation

LEED-NC Gold Renovation

In alignment with their Franciscan values, when the Felician Sisters in upgraded their Coraopolis provincial complex, they implemented environmental practices and materials. The Felician Sisters are the first order of religious sisters to receive a LEED-Gold rating in the United States.

Sister Mary Cabrini Procopio shows architectural renderings for the planned upgrades. 

2009

Unification of Felician Provinces

Unification of Felician Provinces
All eight Felician provinces in North America united as Our Lady of Hope Province.

From the Archive

Coraopolis Motherhouse

Coraopolis Motherhouse

Mother Mary Leona Chojnacka worked with engineers and architects during the Great Depression to construct the provincial motherhouse in Coraopolis, PA, by 1932.

Early Formation

Early Formation

These early photos are of women in stages of formation, some of whom became Felician Sisters.

Felician Center

Felician Center

Sister Mary Susanne Dziedzic and Sister Mary Johnna Ciezobka founded a ministry in Kingstree, SC, that became a melting pot of race, faith, and class.

McGuire Memorial

McGuire Memorial

Sister Mary Alice Sobieraj launched this residential program for children with profound, complex disabilities in 1963.

McKeesport Provisory

McKeesport Provisory

In 1921, Felician Sisters established their new province in Western Pennsylvania while living in a "provisory" — a temporary provincial house in East McKeesport.

Mooncrest Neighborhood Program

Mooncrest Neighborhood Program

In 2001, three Felician Sisters responded to a plea for help from the Mooncrest Neighborhood Association.

Mother Mary Leona Chojnacka

Mother Mary Leona Chojnacka

The third provincial superior of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province, Mother Mary Leona Chojnacka oversaw the construction of the Coraopolis motherhouse during the Great Depression.

Mother Mary Pancratia Czelusta

Mother Mary Pancratia Czelusta

Mother Mary Pancratia Czelusta was appointed the first Provincial Superior of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province in 1920.

Okarche Memorial Hospital

Okarche Memorial Hospital

The Felician Sisters leased, managed, and operated the small rural hospital in Okarche, OK, during the second half of the 20th century.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School

In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, the academy opened to 18 aspirants. By 1970, the school became coeducational. 

Our Lady of Victory Clinic

Our Lady of Victory Clinic

In 1946, Felician Sisters from Coraopolis assumed responsibility for this maternity care center for unwed mothers and adoption service in Bethany, OK.

Postulant Cap Iron

Postulant Cap Iron

This machine was used to crimp the tightly ruffled white coif worn by postulants.

Sister Mary Alexander Klawinski

Sister Mary Alexander Klawinski

As provincial minister of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province, the commitment Sister Mary Alexander Klawinski has had to the underserved and marginalized is legendary.

Sister Mary Alice Sobieraj

Sister Mary Alice Sobieraj

Sister Mary Alice Sobieraj, founding administrator of McGuire Memorial in New Brighton, PA, was a fierce advocate for the vulnerable and voiceless.

Sister Mary Cabrini Procopio

Sister Mary Cabrini Procopio

Sister Mary Cabrini Procopio both engineered a reimagined provincial house and innovated ways to strengthen and enhance Felician Sisters' lives in community.

St. Adalbert - Pittsburgh

St. Adalbert - Pittsburgh

Felician Sisters arrived in Pittsburgh, PA, to teach at St. Adalbert School in 1888, which led to the eventual establishment of the fourth Felician province in Coraopolis, PA.

St. Ann Home

St. Ann Home

At the request of Bishop William G. Connare, Felician Sisters assumed management and administration of the home he built for seniors in the Diocese of Greensburg.

St. Joseph Hospital - Port Charlotte

St. Joseph Hospital - Port Charlotte

Felician Sisters staffed and managed the Port Charlotte, FL, hospital when it opened in 1962. They assumed ownership and expanded services for the community.