The Sisters of the Infant Jesus, also known as the Dames of Saint Maur, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church originating from Paris, France and dedicated to teaching.

As a result of his efforts to promote a planned parish mission in the nearby village of Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Barré came to see the suffering of the local population.

One was a local resident, Françoise Duval, 18 years old, the other was Marguerite Lestocq, then aged 20, who, like him, was from Amiens and with whom he had family connections.

[3] They began to give daily classes to young girls in a room which they were allowed to use, spending that year in this work.

Barré would visit the classes frequently, guiding the young women in how to teach and deal with both the children and their parents, drawing upon his own rigorous education under the Jesuits and his experience as a professor.

He taught them the value of “instruction and education” and from the beginning he trained the young teachers to respect the uniqueness of each child and to develop each one’s potential.

The teachers were to speak in a humble, gentle and simple manner so that even the youngest could understand, and they were to teach only what they themselves had adequately grasped.

These women were not part of a religious institute, and so were free to serve their local communities as needed, without the barriers that status would have imposed at that time.

[6] Throughout his life, Barré had refused to allow the schools to accept benefices as a means of support, determined to place his trust in God alone, and was followed in this commitment by the teachers of the Institute.

Upon his death, however, the lay trustees in Paris and Rouen, who were in charge of the finances of the schools and the teachers who staffed them, strongly disagreed over whether or not to continue this practice.

This was eventually referred to the royal court, and, in 1691, King Louis XIV divided the Institute into three independent groups, with motherhouses in Rouen, Paris and Lisieux.

[6] In 1849 a Catholic missionary in the Straits Settlements, Reverend Father Jean-Marie Beurel, a native of Saint-Brieuc in France, suggested to the colonial governor, William John Butterworth, that it might be worthwhile to found a charitable organisation for girls next to the Church in Victoria Street.

In 1952, St Bernadette's convent school was built in Pusing Road, Batu Gajah Perak with land donated and funds raised from communities.

Today, CHIJ schools can be found in most states and many major cities and they continue to educate local girls of all races and religions.

[15] To raise funds for their work, Mother Mathilde taught needlework to her fellow nuns and their students, and they sold their products to the wives of the local Chinese merchants.

East Asia In 1872, Mother Mathilde led the first group of French nuns to Japan and founded the Saint Maur International School in Yokohama, where they teach and cared for the disadvantaged Japanese women and children.

Less than half a decade after opening, the convent was churning out teachers and Sisters and sending them to Asia and South America.

The IJ schools are no longer run by nuns but still retain the historic crest and motto, albeit translated in Malay.