The sisters in Hungary belong to the Middle European Province.
CJ Sisters arrived in Buda from St Pölten in Austria in 1770 at the invitation of the Empress Maria Theresa. They looked after the holy relic of St Stephen and opened a school. A few years later, they moved to Pest on the other side of the river Danube and took over the present house and church which had previously been in the possession of the Dominicans.
Here for almost two hundred years they ran a school, a teacher training college, a commercial and a boarding school. At the time of the secularization there were 430 sisters educating 6,000 children in seven schools.
During the communist period the schools were closed, the houses taken over and the sisters dispersed. However, some sisters continued to work with the ‘underground church’ teaching religion.
At present, some sisters work as teachers, others in spiritual accompaniment, youth work, pastoral ministry and collaboration with anti-trafficking work.
There are small communities in Budapest, Budapest-Zugliget, Eger, Piliscaba and Veszprém.
Since 2017 Hungary belongs to the Middle European Province (MEP)
We are an international multicultural congregation of around 1,800 sisters present in more than 40 countries around the globe. Founded in 1609 by the Venerable Mary Ward, we are a group of unenclosed apostolic religious women, rooted in the Ignatian Spirituality.
We are working in different areas and projects – not out of ourselves, but because we allow ourselves to be sent by God. We form our sisters to be mobile and available, willing to go wherever they are sent. We expect them to strive, like Mary Ward, to have that inner freedom to respond to the call to leave all and follow Christ with passion and compassion.
“Vocation” – a word that tastes of MORE, of what Saint Ignatius of Loyola called “THE MAGIS”: Longing, meaning, fullness of life, a task and the experience of being needed. It sounds like someone who is calling me personally and with whom I can give my life a unique shape.
People all over the world are inspired and enthusiastic about Mary Ward and her way of following Jesus. There are different ways to join our network and become part of the wider Mary Ward Family.
Mary Ward once said: “I listened to God’s deep dream for me and felt a longing to respond.”
In this spirit, we invite you to pray with us. We offer a variety of prayers and material for reflection.
