History
The beginnings of the Philippine Vice-Province can be found in the late 1950’s. This was when Sister Lawrence of Jesus, the Vocation Director in St. Ignatius Province in the Northwest USA traveled to the Philippines where she met with some Filipina women who wished to join the Sisters of Providence. In the next few years, a number of women came to the Northwest and became members of St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Provinces (today united as Mother Joseph Province).
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Filipina Sisters had the opportunity to meet on various occasions and to celebrate their culture and traditions, to dialogue about their experience and their hopes for themselves as Sisters of Providence and their connection to their own country. As a result of these conversations, some of the Sisters expressed the desire to return to the Philippines and to be involved in ministry there. The leadership teams of the two provinces (St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart) in the Northwest United States, Holy Angels Province in Western Canada and the General Leadership in Montreal, listened to the Sisters and recognized the presence of the Holy Spirit in their request. In 1988, a delegation of Sisters from the provincial and general leadership teams and the Filipina sisters traveled to the Philippines to explore the possibility of establishing a Sister of Providence presence there with a focus on ministry among the people and on vocation promotion. After the completion of the study and an extended discernment process, the three provinces and the general administration agreed to establish a Philippine Sector of the Sisters of Providence and to place it under the administration of the Provincial Superior and Council of Holy Angels Province..
The Philippine Sector was officially established on August 1, 1989, the first Sector Superior and Council took office on the September 1st and on October 14th, a date that is celebrated each year, this first group of five Sisters of Providence foundresses set foot on Philippine soil.
Heritage
18 years afterward the arrival of these first pioneer sisters in the Philippines, on February 19, 2007, the Philippine Sector became a Vice-Province, Our Lady of Providence Vice-Province, with a newly elected Vice-Provincial leadership team.
Over the years, the Sisters of Providence in the Philippines have deepened their understanding of their mission and their engagement with the people through intercultural dialogue, compassionate presence and service in the Christian Ecclesial Base Communities and by immersion and integration with the poor and in the reality of the Philippine context.
The Church of the Philippines, dedicated to being a community of disciples, a Church of the poor, invites the Sisters of Providence to be a part of the commitment and movement in the building of Philippine Ecclesial faith communities. The sisters’ participation and their holistic approach to the living of their mission is an inspiration for the entire congregation.
(In the photo, from left to right) Sister Clarella Lois Mae Fink, Superior Born: September 28, 1927, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Profession date: January 18, 1946, Mount Saint Vincent, Seattle, WA, USA Sister Renate Hayum, treasurer Born: January 29, 1930, Tuebingen, Germany Profession date: August 22, 1986, Lutheran Bible Institute, Issaqua, WA, USA Sister Felina (Lina) Afinidad, Councilor Born: May 3, 1930, Pototan, Phillipines Profession date: August 18, 1963, Providence Heights, Issaqua, WA, USA Sister Linda Jo Reynolds, Councilor Born: November 15, 1947, Portland, Oregon, USA Profession date: August 18, 1966, Providence Heights, Issaqua, WA, USA Sister Fidela Rosario Adriano, Secretary Born: April 24, 1932, Malolos, Philippines Profession date: August 18, 1962, Providence Heights, Issaqua, WA, USA
