Our history
The Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in Purgatory was founded in the mid-19th century in Paris by Eugénie Smet, Blessed Mary of Providence. By establishing the congregation in 1856, Eugénie Smet sought to contribute to all good causes, to be close to those facing difficult situations and to accompany them through prayer, action, communion in suffering, and hope.
Six years after the founding of the Institute, forty sisters had already joined Eugénie Smet, and by 1867, Helpers were sent to China. This response marked the beginning of the Institute’s International and universal mission: “to go from the depths of Purgatory to the furthest limits of the earth.” This charism was recognized by Pope Pius IX in 1869.
Despite Eugénie Smet’s death in 1871, the congregation’s growth did not wane. After sending Sisters to China, Helpers were also sent on missions to Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, the United States, and Austria before the end of the 19th century. The Institute continued to expand in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Eugénie Smet, born in Lille on March 25, 1825, into a deeply religious middle-class family, recognized the benevolent presence of God in her life from an early age. After spending seven years in the care of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Lille, she established a prayer association for the souls in Purgatory to assist all souls until their final encounter with God.
Realizing that no existing congregation was dedicated to alleviating the suffering of these souls, she joined a group of like-minded young women in Paris at the beginning of 1856 who shared her concern and were waiting for her to found a congregation. The Institute of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in Purgatory was established in July, with the vocation of reaching “from the depths of Purgatory to the furthest limits of the earth.”
With this budding community, Eugénie Smet settled on Rue de la Barouillère in Paris. It was from there that she began her first visits to the sick, the poor and the “most neglected of this world and the next,” who would become the primary focus of the Helpers’ work.
In January 1858, Eugénie Smet pronounced her final vows and took the name Mary of Providence. Then, in 1859, the Institute’s constitutions were officially adopted according to the rules of Saint Ignatius. By 1868, while the congregation had over 40 Sisters in Paris, a community had been established in Nantes and some Helpers had gone to China, Mary of Providence’s indomitable energy was met with illness. In 1869, she learned that the Institute had been approved in Rome and that she had been confirmed as “superior for life”. The following year, she found herself isolated with other Sisters in the besieged and bombarded city of Paris, while she suffered terribly from cancer.
In her spiritual journal from October 1870, one can read her last words: “For 28 years, I have repeated each day: Jesus, let the cross give me love.” Mary of Providence passed away on February 2, 1871, urging the Sisters to embrace “Charity, Charity, Charity.” It is with this momentum and this ever-renewed trust in God’s Providence that the life of the Institute has continued to this day.
