Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine

The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women, have served health, education and social service needs in the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, since 1851.

Bishop Rappe, eagerly awaiting the Sisters' arrival, had written in the spring, "Come, my daughters, I have now prepared a place for you.

Mother Bernardine then persuaded two of the postulants, Louise Brulois and Cornelie Muselet, to join in this missionary venture.

The small group left France on September 24, 1851, with little more than chapel furnishings and boxes of linens for their home and nursing needs.

As they performed this service as the first visiting nurses in the region, they came to be called the angels of the city, partly due to their white religious habits.

Upon the departure of the two canonesses, Bishop Rappe turned to Sister Angela Bissonnette, an Ursuline novice, to help him guarantee the continuation of his project.

He knew and trusted Sister Angela due to her service to the local community in the years before she had entered the convent.

To support themselves, the boys were taught tailoring and carpentry, making cassocks for the local clergy and furniture to be sold to the public.

[1] In order to meet the needs of returning Civil War soldiers who were requiring immediate medical attention and nursing care, Bishop Rappr founded St. Vincent's Charity Hospital.

One of their institutions, St. Thomas Hospital, was the first to accept the work of Dr. Bob Smith, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and his first patient in this new program to deal with this condition.

In 1922, at the request of Bishop Joseph Schrembs, the congregation expanded to work in the field of education, at which time they opened St. Augustine Academy on the grounds of their motherhouse.

In February 2021, Mercy Medical Center became a full member of the Cleveland Clinic health system, while retaining its Catholic affiliation through sponsorship with the Sisters of Charity of St.