Blog Give Now! Contact Us 419-824-3625 Click Here for Menu Sisters in the Spotlight Since 1916, over 500 women dedicated their lives to living in joyful servanthood as Sylvania Franciscans. Here is an ever-growing collection of their stories.

Blog Give Now! Contact Us 419-824-3625 Click Here for Menu St. Clare of Assisi Among those who were touched by the message of Francis was a young noblewoman also from the town of Assisi, the Lady Clare. Those who knew her since her childhood spoke of Clare as a woman of compassion who lived a quiet life of penance and prayer.

Blog Give Now! Contact Us 419-824-3625 Click Here for Menu Mother Mary Adelaide Foundress of the Sylvania Franciscans Mother M. Adelaide was born Anne Sandusky, on October 10, 1874, in Cincinnati, Ohio. After the death of her father, her mother moved the family to Minnesota to be close to other relatives. At the age of 18, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis, Rochester, Minnesota and professed her first vows on July 16, 1896. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from the College of St. Teresa, in Winona, Minnesota and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University in New York. A student of the classics and an accomplished artist, she seemed to have a solid future in education when she was appointed the directress of the College of St. Teresa.