In addition the sisters of Maur were also here. They were brought in by Father Beurel and approved by Mission in Paris known as Missions Étrangères de Paris(translated in English, it means Foreign Missions of Paris). One of the early sisters died onboard the ship.
With just a handful of 12, together they built schools and initially the enrolment was only about 35 students. It subsequently grew.
They also visited nearby homes with rosary devotion. Usually they are accompanied by fellow sisters, and the head nun will speak to the head of household in an attempt to try to convert the head of the family. A statue of Mother Mary was brought in to homes where prayers are conducted, chiefly the rosary prayer. In schools, students were taught to pray the rosary as they gathered round the statue of Mother Mary and prayed communally. Thus the sisters taught the faith as well as educated the children in English.
Mother Mathilde was born in 1814. And she lived till 1911 and she hailed from France. As a missionary of the Infant Jesus, often pictured as a baby Jesus, and also resulting in the name of the early girls school, Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, she was instrumental in bringing fellow missionaries to Singapore and Malaya region. Onboard the long journey, they often felt seasick. She brought in total 12 missionaries to Singapore. She left at age of 37 toward Singapore in the year 1851.
The first wave of Missionary Sisters(five sisters)
The first batch of five sisters sailed to Singapore from France. The designated Mother Superior, Paulin Radot died at sea. The other sister the sole English woman Pulcherie had spent a lot of time with the captain onboard the arduous jouney on sea and she decided to follow him and leave the order of Ladies of St Maur. However upon persuasion by Father Beurel, she returned to Penang but eventually left the order to marry a resident of Penang. The third sister was injured by a pulley in a storm on board the ship. That left three sisters, one of them injured. Subsequently, one sister fell gravely ill and died. The other two sisters were sent back to Penang.
The Second wave of Missionary Sisters (four sisters)
In Paris, Mother General of the Ladies of St Maur chose Mother Mathilde to lead the 2nd batch of mission in Singapore. Including Mother Mathilde, there were four of them. (Two of them were French, Sister Appolinaire and Sister Damien and one of them was Irish, Sister Greogory) They left Southampton in France and arrived in Penang in October 1851 after a trying journey of about 2 months. Whilst in Penang, the sisters wasted no time in beginning a school. They prayed constantly and wore heavy clothes and yet had to their missionary work, to teach and to pray.
The Third Wave of Missionary Sisters(Three sisters)
The third wave of missionary sisters to Singapore included Sister Gertain Gervais, Sister Patrice and Sister Leonard . They formed up in Penang. In 1854, Together with Mother Mathilde, Sister Appolinairre, and Sister Gaetan left for Singapore.
In a short span of time, the sisters set up the Infant Jesus school in 1854 in Singapore, putiing their their missionary zeal at work, through prayer and contributed their mark in education in early Singapore.
The sisters often worked tirelessly to teach English. And the faith. The common known stand today of CHIJ girls is "you can take the girl out of convent, but you can't take the convent out of the girl". This shows the education of CHIJ and the special attachment they have in their school, first set up by the Ladies of St Maur. They taught the values of charity and generosity, and exemplified with their own lives, as they risked hardship and gave themselves for their missionary work, often putting the needs of others first. The building of the orphanage also attests to their generosity and their love in caring for the destitute (taking care of prostitutes) and the homeless and the orphans.
Bibliography:
http://www.infantjesussisters.org/news/mother-mathilde-a-life-in-5-booklets/
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