Origins In 1659 Barré, who was a respected scholar within his Order, was sent to the
monastery of the Order in
Rouen. He became widely known as a preacher and his sermons attracted a large audience. In 1662 Barré saw the need for the education of the poor in France. France in the late 17th century was suffering from the effects of the
Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) and a
terrible plague. As a result of his efforts to promote a planned
parish mission in the nearby village of
Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Barré came to see the suffering of the local population. To enable parents to attend the mission, Barré asked two young women to come and help with the children. One was a local resident, Françoise Duval, 18 years old, the other was Marguerite Lestocq, then aged 20, who, like him, was from
Amiens and with whom he had family connections. He saw the need to make basic education more accessible to all. There were hardly any schools for girls and very few for boys. Most primary school teachers were poorly educated and religious education was almost non-existent; there was profound ignorance of the Catholic faith. In 1662, half the children in Rouen died of famine. Many were homeless and wandered the streets as beggars and, for some, prostitution became one of the few means of livelihood available. They began to give daily classes to young girls in a room which they were allowed to use, spending that year in this work. Soon three other young women joined them, and two separate schools were opened. Barré would visit the classes frequently, guiding the young women in how to teach and deal with both the children and their parents, drawing upon his own rigorous education under the
Jesuits and his experience as a professor. He taught them the value of “instruction and education” and from the beginning he trained the young teachers to respect the uniqueness of each child and to develop each one's potential. The teachers were to speak in a humble, gentle and simple manner so that even the youngest could understand, and they were to teach only what they themselves had adequately grasped. As the enrollment increased, more schools were established, and four years later, the ladies in charge of these schools began to live in a community under a Superior. This was the beginning of a
religious congregation whose main work was the education of the poor. The year 1666 saw the founding of the
Congregation of the Sisters of the Infant Jesus. After several years of teaching in the schools, the five young women were invited by Barré to consider becoming part of a committed community. After some reflection, they felt that they were indeed called to this way of life and agreed. These women were not bound by religious vows or confined to a cloister. They were free to serve the local community and provide free education for poor children. They committed themselves to this in a legal document drawn up in 1669, becoming called the
Charitable Teachers of the Infant Jesus (). As part of their living in trust in God, it was established that the material needs of the schools were to be handled by women outside the new community.
Expansion and division Due to his declining health, in 1675 Barré was sent to the Minim monastery in Paris. Though limited in his activities, he promoted new foundations of his "charitable schools of Providence", starting with two, Saint Jean en Grèves and Saint Nicolas des Champs, training teachers, both men and women for them. He urged his teachers not to wait until pupils arrived at the school; they were to seek out especially those who might be at risk. He also set up
trade schools so that girls could earn a living. Again, the education offered was to be entirely free and any profit derived from the pupils’ work was to go to them. In 1677 Barré began to send teachers to other locations in France, starting with his native
Picardy, reaching as far as
New France in North America. These women were not part of a
religious institute, and so were free to serve their local communities as needed, without the barriers that status would have imposed at that time. Around that time, he acquired a house located on the Rue Saint Maur in the
6th arrondissement of Paris (now called the Rue de l'Abbé Grégoire), which was to become the
motherhouse of the institute. In 1677 a convent was established in Rue Saint Maur, Paris (ii) and the Sisters were subsequently known as the "Dames of St. Maur". In 1678, Barré founded a novitiate for the sisters on the Seine. The
Daughters of Providence were members of a Catholic religious congregation for women founded in 1643, by a pious widow, Marie Polaillon (née de Lumague) under a Rule of Life drawn up by
Vincent de Paul. The Daughters would profess annual vows of obedience, chastity, service and stability. In 1681 several houses of the congregation merged with the Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Infant Jesus, becoming the
Sisters of St. Maur and of Providence. A number of ‘Little Charitable Schools’ were established throughout France. In 1683 Mother Françoise Duval, one of the foundresses, was sent to open a school in
Lisieux. At the time of Barré's death in 1686, there were over 100 schools being operated by the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus throughout France. with a missionary outreach in Madagascar and Central Africa. • The group based in Lisieux also became a diocesan congregation. • The
Sisters of St Maur in Paris became an institute of pontifical right with communities in five continents.
Current era Southeast Asia In 1849 a Catholic
missionary in the
Straits Settlements,
Reverend Father Jean-Marie Beurel, a native of
Saint-Brieuc in France, suggested to the colonial governor, William John Butterworth, that it might be worthwhile to found a charitable organisation for girls next to the Church in Victoria Street. In August 1852, Beurel bought the house at the corner of Victoria Street and Bras Basah Road. Beurel then appealed to the
Superior General of the congregation in France for Sisters to run a school.
Malaysia Four Sisters were sent to the East. After a long and perilous voyage, one had died at sea, three of them landed at Penang in April 1852. That same year, the three Sisters established a convent that contained an orphanage and school in
Penang. In September 1852, the Congregation sent four Sisters to Penang, with Mother
Mathilde Raclot in charge, to guide and support the group of sisters who had arrived earlier. The school,
Convent Light Street (
Malay: SMK Convent Lebuh Light), is Penang's oldest girls' school and has occupied its current site along Light Street near historic
George Town for over 150 years. While on the
peninsula, the Sisters continued establishing schools with help from the local community such as
Kuala Lumpur's oldest girls' school
Convent Bukit Nanas and the only Chinese convent girls school
Convent Datuk Keramat in
Penang. In 1952, St Bernadette's convent school was built in Pusing Road, Batu Gajah Perak with land donated and funds raised from communities. During
World War II, the Japanese
invaded Malaya and either took over or closed down many such mission schools, notably the iconic Convent Primary School in the hills of
Tanah Rata. The Tanah Rata convent is one of the few in the region which still contains an operating school and a church. Today, CHIJ schools can be found in most states and many major cities and they continue to educate local girls of all races and religions.
Singapore In February 1854, three Sisters led by Rev. Mother Mathilde Raclot arrived in Singapore from Penang and set up the convent in Singapore at
Victoria Street. Soon they also started a Convent Orphanage and a Home for Abandoned Babies as they found day-old babies were being left at their doorstep. To raise funds for their work, Mother Mathilde taught needlework to her fellow nuns and their students, and they sold their products to the wives of the local Chinese merchants. The school became well-known and within ten years, the enrollment had increased to 300. Secondary education began in 1905. Under Mother Hombeline, the expansion programme continued. The eleven CHIJ schools in Singapore are as follows: ==Motto==