This research traces the origins and development of the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP), a Roman Catholic order of nuns, from its founding in 1829 to the present date. The research will introduce the historical context in which the OSP emerged and then discuss the principal figures of the order, how it responded to the vicissitudes of 19th-century American culture, and the manner in which it coped with the challenges of leadership, service, and durability as it evolved into the modern era.
In order to appreciate the culture of the OSP, it may be useful to define the term oblate, which has as its root word the Latin word meaning "one offered up" (Oblate, 2000). In a religious context, oblate refers to one who embraces and lives a monastic life but is not formally bound by the monastic rule or vows. To put it another way, one who becomes an oblate is typically a member of the laity rather than of the clergy but lives as if he or she were a religious. The Oblate Sisters of Providence function in the manner of a religious order to the extent they take perpetual vows, but they are far from being choir nuns who are cloistered and bound to devotional office. Instead, they actively engage with the laity as teachers, as well as sacristan functionaries. According to Davis (1990), the OSP's founding members, who began by renewing vows annually, became increasingly devotional in character and made perpetual vows some years after the establishment of the order. The OSP, for its part, is further distinguished by the fact that its membership has been from its beginning an American entity and has been supplied by women of African ethnicity.
The social and cultural context in which the OSP was established and evolved may help clarify the rationale and motivation in the background of its founding. What must be understood about American culture in the first years of the 19th century is that the whole of popular imagination was realigning in the ...