Glossary

**Glossary**
American Province: The Holy Child sisters living and working in the United States.

Benefactor: One who makes a gift or bequest.

Canonization process: Church rules regarding the process through which an individual in the Catholic Church is made a saint.

Charism: An extraordinary power (as in healing) given a Christian by the Holy Spirit for the good of the church.

Chastity: One of the vows taken by a woman religious who promises to live a life dedicated to God.

Church: For our purposes, the Roman Catholic Church headed by the Pope.

Congregation: a religious community whose members engage in active ministries such as teaching in schools, staffing parishes and caring for the sick.

Convent: The building in which a community of religious women live.

Convert: One who with the help of divine grace undergoes a significant spiritual change. One who changes from one religion to another.

Cornelia: Cornelia Peacock Connelly dedicated her life to God. She gathered a group of women who wanted to serve God by educating young women and started the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

Derby, England: (pronounced Darby) First school/society established by Cornelia Connelly in 1846.

Faith: A gift of God that helps us to believe in him.

Foundress: A woman who initiates a religious community. For example, Cornelia Connelly is the foundress, the creator, of the Society of Holy Child Jesus.

Habit: Clothing worn by a religious community of men or women. Grace: A gift of God that helps us to live as God wants us to; a sharing in God's life.

Grand Coteau, Louisiana: Cornelia, Pierce and children lived here after returning from Rome in 1838. Cornelia taught music at a Sacred Heart School.

Incarnation: The union of divinity with humanity in Jesus.

Ministry: The work done by members of the church( ie. the preaching of the word or the celebration of the sacraments).

Natchez, Mississippi: Newly married Cornelia and Pierce moved here when Pierce was appointed minister in the Episcopal Church.

Novice: A person formally admitted to a religious institute to prepare for eventual religious profession.

Nun: A woman who is a member of a religious order under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Orders: Religious communities recognized and approved by the Catholic Church.

Postulate: A person taking the first step in religious life before entering the novitiate and receiving the habit.

Prayer: The raising of the mind and heart to God. Speaking and listening to God.

Priest: Men who are specially ordained to consecrate and offer the body and blood of Christ in thee Mass.

Professed: Those persons in a religious community who live the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Rome, Italy: the home and center of the Roman Catholic Church: the pope lives in the Vatican City in Rome. Pierce and Cornelia moved here to learn more about the Catholic faith. Pierce met with the pope and investigated the possibility of becoming a Catholic priest.

Rule: Refers to the Constitution of a religious society The Roman Catholic Church: The Church established by Christ on the foundation of the Apostles. 

Sister: a woman who dedicates her life to God as a member of a religious congregation.

Society of the Holy Child Jesus: The religious congregation of women founded by Cornelia Connelly in Derby, England in 1846.

Towanda: European SHCJ sisters arrived in Towanda, PA in 1862 and established the first American Holy Child school.

Venerable: The second step, after beatification, in the canonization process.

Virtue: An attitude or way of acting that helps us do good. A virtue is a habit of doing good.

Vocation: Religious vocation is a call to the religious life (an entry into the priesthood or religious life).

Vow: A solemn promise to God.