The Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod, came to Amaravati, India in 1886. The six young brave sisters – Jane Lachenal, Philomene Cardoux, Marie Lara Voire, Clementine Gaillard, Suzanne Coissard and Veronica Pollien- took a less travelled road to make the Good God known and loved. After a month of traveling by train, ship, boats, carts and on foot they reached Amravati. They have left behind the country of Haute Savoie and the convent of Chavanod to venture upon the footsteps of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales in India. They abandoned their pleasant temperature and cool weather for the scorching tropical heat of Amravati, far from important cities. What made them to set foot on our land is their fired zeal to carry the message of redemption to the utmost bounds of the world.
There was no tie to spend getting trained in missiology or languages or culture of the people but they just soaked themselves and began their works of mercy. They were the sick, the orphans, the illiterate, the unemployed, the malnourished, the lepers and quickly our sisters put their hand into all works. During the period of 1887-1904, fifty new missionaries undertook the journey to India. They began schools, orphanages and dispensaries and engaged in themselves in pastoral care, visits to families, social welfare and other works with special attention to women and children.
Gradually the sisters were invited to open many centers in different parts of the country. From 1916, many young girls of India were attracted by the lives of these sisters and committed themselves as sisters of the Cross. Later on many followed the trail of these brave missionaries and risked themselves in the missionary adventures in Asia, Africa and other continents. Today we have eight Provinces in India and spread to different parts of the country. The provinces are Amaravati (Year of Foundation 1886), Tiruchirapalli (1969), Madurai (1980), Kolkata (1986), Pune (1990), Guwahati (2006), Angamaly (2008) and Tenali (2017). There are 1211 sisters in India.
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