Religious of Perpetual Adoration
Religious of Perpetual Adoration is a Roman Catholic religious order formed in 1857 by Anna de Meeus, in Brussels, Belgium.
History
Anna de Meeûs (1823-1904) was the daughter of Count Ferdinand de Meeûs, who was a member of one of the leading families in Belgium, and founder of the Société du Crédit de la Charité, which focused on funding Catholic schools for poor children and shelters for the old and sick.[1]
In 1843, de Meeus, then twenty years of age, at the request of the rector visited the sacristy of the church near their chateau and other churches and was struck by the miserable state of the vestments and all that pertained to the altar. She resolved to devote her time and money to procure better vestments, altar linen and plate. When word of her generosity became known, appeals for assistance arrived from other poor churches. With the help of noted retreat master Jean-Baptiste Boone, five additional churches were provided with all that was needed for divine services.
The Association of Perpetual Adoration and Work for Poor Churches was organized in 1848 under the direction of Boone. The necessity was soon felt that a religious body should be its centre and support. The project of a new religious institute was formed and realized when in 1857 de Meeus, directed by Boone, founded in Brussels the "Religious of Perpetual Adoration", a semi-apostolic congregation in the Belgian capital, focusing on religious instruction, retreats and the devotion for the Blessed Sacrament. The constitutions were definitively approved by Pope Pius IX (March, 1872). The institute has many houses in Europe.
In 1890, Bishop John Butt of Southwark invited the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration to set up a house in Balham. One of the main functions of the institute was the establishment and support of the various chapters of the Association (which in some locations came to be known as "The Tabernacle Society"). The Sisters established a house in Rome, from which the Association was run.
The institute's first foundation in America was at Washington, D. C., October, 1900. In the United States, the Tabernacle Societies were greatly supported by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Branches of the Tabernacle Society in one diocese would often help one another. For a time, the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie-Marquette annually received large shipments of altar linens, vestments, and other items from the Society in Philadelphia.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Religious of Perpetual Adoration — (Belgium)
A congregation with simple vows, founded at Brussels, 1857, by Anna de Meeus, daughter of Count Ferdinand de Meeus, for whose head a price was offered by the insurgents during the Revolution of 1830. In 1843 Mlle de Meeus, then twenty years of age, at the request of the rector visited the sacristy of the church near their chateau and other churches. Impressed by the miserable state of the vestments and all that pertained to the altar, she found the inspiration of her life's work. Considering the poverty and neglect of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and desiring to make reparation to Him, she conceived the idea of an association with the object of reviving faith in the Real Presence: by adoration, night and day; persons undertaking to make monthly an hour of adoration, and give yearly an offering for the benefit of poor churches; by working to enhance the dignity of Divine worship by providing the necessaries for the becoming celebration of the sacred mysteries. The Association of Perpetual Adoration and Work for Poor Churches was organized in 1848 under the direction of Rev. Jean Baptiste Boone, S.J., "the apostle of Brussels". The necessity was soon felt that a religious body should be its centre and support, one which would be wholly devoted to the propagation of the knowledge, love, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
As no community existed which made this work its special vocation, the project of a new religious institute was formed and realized when Mlle de Meeus, directed by Father Boone, founded the Religious of the Perpetual Adoration. The constitutions were definitively approved by Pius IX (March, 1872). The religious must not only be adorers but also missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament, devoting themselves to all that, compatible with a life of retirement, can further Its glory: religious instruction, preparation for first Communion, retreats, etc. Their churches with the Blessed Sacrament exposed are always open to the public. By their principal work, the association, they strive to increase love for the Blessed Sacrament, by hours of adoration, grants of vestments to poor churches, the Forty Hours Devotion, etc. The association spread rapidly throughout the world (in America it is frequently called "Tabernacle Society"). In 1853 it was erected an archassociation with power to affiliate others. The decree of Leo XIII transferring it to Rome (February, 1879) declares: "The archassociation is one with the institute in name and in its object, it is subordinate to the institute as to its head, and must be subordinate to it in virtue of the constitutions approved by the Holy See". The archassociation was raised to the rank of prima primaria, July, 1895. The institute has many houses in Europe. In August, 1880, it was introduced into England by Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, then Bishop of Manchester. Its first foundation in America was at Washington, D. C., October, 1900.