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Mother Carmen Sallés Foundress Carmen
Sallés was born in Vic, Barcelona, Spain, in 1848. Carmen was born at a time when women
had little opportunities for education. Since her early years, she felt God calling her to
challenge the society by providing schools where women could be promoted to higher levels
of education |
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| As a
novice in the Congregation of the Sisters of Adoration, she experienced the apostolic work
of rehabilitation of women. It was there that Carmen Sallés realized that her call was to
educate girls in order to prevent them from moral degradation. The Lord guided her to a
new community. Later in life, as a member of the Dominican Order, she worked in schools for many years, and struggled to respond to her call and vision of a broader type of education for girls. She encountered opposition from those who feared her innovative methods and programs. Eventually, the struggle ended in a painful separation from her Dominican Community. Followed by a few other Sisters who shared her vision, Carmen started another chapter of her life which led her to the founding of a new congregation in the Church. Welcomed by the bishop of Burgos, Spain, Carmen and her companions obtained the approval for her newly-born religious community. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1892, they received their religious habit and made their profession of vows. Soon, they opened the first school. In addition to the basic and traditional teaching methods of her time, Carmen developed a very specific philosophy of prevention. Her efforts were focused in influencing society in a positive way. With firm determination, she traveled the roads of Spain looking for places where education was scarce. Most of her schools were opened in small towns and rural areas, others were in large cities because the call to educate the hearts and minds was for all social classes. Her mission in the church was to dispel ignorance with knowledge, and evil with virtue. Mother Carmen died on July 25, 1911, at the age of 62, without seeing one of her dreams fulfilled: the missionary expansion of the Order. In 1912, the first group of Sisters set out to Brazil to carry on Mother Carmen wishes to spread the Gospel and the devotion to Mary Immaculate in any part of the world where the Sisters are needed. On March 15, 1998, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Carmen Sallés blessed. Today, she is officially presented to us as a model of Christian virtues and an apostle of youth. |
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