San Fior - Istituto Suore del Santo Volto - Foto di Paolo Steffan

The Sisters of the Holy Face (''Sororum a Sancto Vultu'') abbreviated ''SSV'',

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides nam ...

2007,

Libreria Editrice Vaticana The Vatican Publishing House (; ; LEV) is a publisher established by the Holy See in 1926. It is responsible for publishing official documents of the Roman Catholic Church, including Papal bulls, event records, and encyclicals, as well as certai ...

, Vatican City, page 1723 also known as the ''Institute of Sisters of the Holy Countenance''), are a congregation in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

.Vatican website: ''Beatification of Maria Pia Mastena'', 13 November 2005
/ref> The congregation was founded in

San Fior San Fior is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italy, Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northeast of Treviso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,357 and an area of .All demogr ...

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

Italy in 1930 by Blessed

Maria Pia Mastena Blessed Maria Pia Mastena (7 December 1881 - 28 June 1951) - born Teresa Maria - was an Italian religious sister in the Roman Catholic Church. She was the founder of the Religious Sisters of the Holy Face. Mastena fostered a deep devotion to ...

History

Maria Pia Mastena joined the Sisters of Mercy of Verona and obtained her teaching license, but after World War I left to become a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

. Shortly after, on advice of her spiritual director, she left the convent and resumed teaching. She opened a nursery school and soup kitchen. In 1930 she organized a small group called "Pious Rescue" which was aimed at assisting poor children and teaching them a trade. She was soon joined by other young women.Vatican website: ''Biography of Maria Pia Mastena''
/ref> Despite the opposition from some local priests, the congregation was initially approved by the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto on December 8, 1936. During World War II the sisters participated in relief activities for soldiers and victims of the conflict, feeding them free of charge. They received the approval of the

Congregation of Pontifical Right In Catholicism, "of pontifical right" is the term given to ecclesiastical institutions (religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See, or approved by it with the formal decree known by the Latin na ...

on 10 December 1947. The purpose of the congregation is to aid the sick in nursing homes as well as to help aspiring priests. In 1949 they established a clinic in Rome which the Sisters of the Holy Face run. The congregation has 22 houses, including some in Brazil. They first arrived in Indonesia in 1991."the Sisters of the Holy Face and their mission among the least", ''Agenzia Fides'', September 1991
/ref>

References

{{Authority control Catholic female orders and societies Pontifical organizations Catholic spirituality