Our Founder Servant of God Louis Savinien Dupuis
The founder of our Congregation is Servant of God Louis Savinien Dupuis, MEP, a French Missionary. He was born on 18th of August 1806 at the city of Sanz in France. His father’s name was Etheme Louis Dupuis and his mother’s name was Vigthnar Remi. Dupuis is his family name. He completed his high school education in Sebastian High School at Sanz. He ordained himself as a priest an 25th April 1829 and he joined in the Congregation of MEP on 25th of May 1831. He was a fervent and zealous priest. He was a man of heroic faith and seraphic charity.
He spent his life in the service of the church, restoring moral customs. He dedicated himself to seek the perfection of charity in the service of God’s kingdom, for the honor of God, the building up of the church and the Salvation of the world. He started his voyage on 4th of July 1831 towards India as a missionary. He reached India on 9th of April 1832.
In the 19th Century, a wrong notion that women should not get educated was rooted in the minds of Indians. An educated woman felt shy to reveal that she knew to read. In the Synod held in 1844, it was decided that a Congregation of women was needed to liberate women from such disgrace, so this Congregation was born and began to develop with many convents and schools. The synod members began to contemplate the possibility of establishing a congregation of Indian sisters to whose care the education of women, imparting of moral and religious instructions along with secular education could be entrusted.
It was at this juncture that Servant of God Louis Savinien Dupuis, MEP, impelled by his earnest devotion to the accomplishment of the Divine will, came forward to make this venture a reality and founded our Franciscan Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary Congregation on 16th of October 1884. He worked tirelessly for the growth of the Congregation till his death on the 4th of June 1874. Following the footsteps of our founder, the directors and the Superiors General paved the way for the growth of the Congregation. By the efforts and hardships of our ancestors, today our sisters spread all over India and abroad. After 168 years the Congregation, spread over five countries with 1050 sisters. The motto of the Congregation is “Love and Sacrifice”. The charism is “The Sanctification of Sisters for the Sanctification of Women”.