Founded in 1696 by Louis Chauvet, parish priest of Levesville-la-Chenard (40 km from Chartres in France), the Congregation is placed under the patronage of the Apostle Paul and the protection of the Virgin Mary.

Missionary since 1727 and in constant growth since, it now has 4300 Sisters, present on the 5 continents, in 40 countries including Switzerland. Gathered in multicultural and intergenerational fraternal communities, they seek throughout their lives to express the Love of God for Humanity and Creation, with simplicity, humility and Pauline audacity. Seized by the Love of Christ, docile to the Breath of the Spirit, attentive to the calls and challenges specific to each era and country, they make themselves “everything for everyone”, especially the poorest. They share the life of their contemporaries, in the Church and in society, engaged professionally or voluntarily in pastoral care, diakonia, in care, education, in public or private establishments, at home, in villages as in megalopolises. "What you have done to the least of my brothers, you have done to me" ( Mt 25, 40)  is the Word of Jesus which is at the heart of their apostolate.

Word of God made flesh, germ of wheat fallen into the ground… Fruitfulness of the gift of self without reserve, day and night… the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres “recognize the action of God in their origins and in their history. They discover there a new reason for apostolic ardor and for welcoming the paschal mystery into their lives.  [1]  personal and congregational.

They had to intensely scrutinize the sky of the Scriptures, decipher the events, hold firm in the storms, go through many nights, keep the eyes of the heart and of faith fixed on the Evening Star, Jesus Emmanuel, crucified, dead and risen, to reach the dawn of their fourth century of life. Revolutions, secularizations, secularizations, wars, persecutions (up to martyrdom), imprisonments, dispossessions, conflicts of all kinds, natural disasters and pandemics have greatly tested the SPCs through the ages and continents, until today. , but nothing will ever “separate them from the love of Christ” ( Rom 8:35) . Strengthened by this long experience of life, moved to see that the number of Sisters continues to increase over the years, they celebrated their 325th anniversary in thanksgiving throughout 2021, bearing the events of the world in their prayer and by committing themselves to new apostolic and geographical horizons, guided by the Unique Star, the one that shines in the depths of the night, in the depths of our hearts.

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Sister Véronique Vallat, spc

[1] Book (Rule) of Life of the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres, n°4.