Our Story

The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary are a religious congregation of women within the Catholic Church who are consecrated to God by the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and who devote our lives to the service of the mission of Christ, in the spirit of Mary, throughout the world.

 We began with 11 French women who traveled to the Pacific Islands between 1845 and 1860 to serve in the missions begun by the Marist Fathers.  The Sisters lived close to the people, teaching and nursing, and followed a way of life based on the rule and spirit of the Marist Fathers.  Some women from the islands joined our number, and later women from other countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North America began to join. After many years these Sisters, scattered as they were throughout the Islands, became organized into one religious congregation. Our congregation and our Constitutions were approved by Rome on December 30,1931.

 Gradually our mission extended beyond the Pacific Islands to many other countries. New members began to come from Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean. We are still a small congregation, with less than 400 members, but we are present today in 23 different countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, as well as in the Pacific.

For further information about our history, spirituality and world-wide mission, visit our international website, based in Rome at www.smsmsisters.org

For information about the mission in a particular place, contact the following addresses:

THE AMERICAS - Jamaica, Peru, United States of America
Regional - Sister Helen Muller, smsm
Email: helensmsm@maristsmsm.org

AFRICA-EUROPE - Burundi, England, France, Italy, Madagascar, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania
Regional - Sister Athanasie Hakizuwambasa, smsm
Email: afriqueuropesmsm@gmail.com

ASIA-PACIFIC - Australia, Bangladesh, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Regional - Sister Margaret Ryan, smsm
Email: smsmasiepacific@gmail.com

OCEANIA- Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, 
Wallis-Futuna
Regional - Sister Malia Nive Kepu, smsm
Email: smsmoceania@gmail.com