Founders and History

Where were the Daughters of St. Paul founded?


We were founded at the turn of the last century in Alba, Italy by Blessed James Alberione and Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo. The Daughters of St. Paul are one of the 5 religious congregations founded by Alberione which, together with 4 aggregated institutes and the Pauline Cooperators, make up the Pauline Family. In 1932, Mother Paula Cordero and several other Daughters of St. Paul from Italy planted our congregation on American soil.

 
Mother Paula Cordero
by Sr. Donna William Giaimo, FSP

 
  

Introduction:

There is a saying that we of the present age are merely dwarfs who stand upon the shoulders of giants. For us second-generation Pauline apostles, the phrase couldn't be truer. We realize that our 'yes' to God has been possible only because of a yes that first preceded it—a heroic yes, a yes made notwithstanding the sacrifices and pain attached. Although deprived of her physical presence, we believe that Mother Paula's spirit is undimmed. It lives within our other treasured pioneer sisters who embraced the same challenges and sacrifices with the same love Mother Paula did. It lives within each of us who have been called to love the Lord and our brothers and sisters in that same special way.