The Beginnings

The Institute officially began on 8 May 1808 when Magdalene moved into the Convent of St Joseph adjoining the district of San Zeno in Verona, northern Italy and with her first companions initiated the works of charity she so long had contemplated. In 1860 the Institute became international when the first six Canossian missionaries arrived in Hong Kong. Consequently, the world’s boundaries were no longer distant for the Institute! Today we are present in thirty-five countries, 336 communities.

The beginnings