St. Magdalene of Canossa

Foundress of Conossian Daughters and Sons of Charity

Magdalene Gabriella of Canossa was born at Verona, Italy on 1st March 1774. When five, she lost her father. At seven, she was abandoned by her mother who remarried. She was then entrusted to a Governess who did not understand her and caused her to suffer much.

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Institute
The Canossian Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor is an international missionary congregation of women founded by St. Magdalene of Canossa, a woman of noble birth who ardently desired to live in service among her “beloved poor.” Magdalene was declared a SAINT by Pope John Paul II, on> October 2nd 1988. In 1808, Magdalen gathered several companions to assist her in meeting the needs of the neglected in Verona, Italy. Since then, women and men inspired by her to serve as sisters, priests, brothers, lay missionaries, and volunteers have witnessed to the Greatest Love all over the world. With the opening of the first Mission house in 1860 in Hong Kong the Institute of Magdalene of Canossa has spread to Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Europe. In India, the first house was started at Cochin, Kerala in 1889 and the second house at Belgaum, Karnataka in 1891. Eventually, several houses were opened in different states of India. In 1960, Canossians found their way to Dhule.
Community
Religious Sisters are young women who desirous of committing their life to Christ in the service of the needy, come together and live a common life. Their life style is simple, have a common goal and vision. So also are the Canossian Sisters having taken St. Magdalene as their leader and guide live in communities wherever their services are needed. From 1960, number of Sisters both Italian and Indian – coming from different States of India, have rendered selfless services to the people of Dhule. Kudos to the pioneers who withstood the opposition of the people and went ahead facing many hardships that Canossa Dhule can now proudly stand erect at 50 years and celebrate its Golden Jubilee. The present community is made of 10 Sisters; two retired having been on the staff of the High School and the others distributed between Non-Teaching Staff, Pre-Primary, Primary and the High School.
Apostolate
Education is our main apostolate here at Dhule. Imparting value based education and fostering integral promotion of the person is our aim. We cater to students from Pre-primary, Primary and High School level, reaching out to all strata of society especially the poor and the marginalized, irrespective of caste & creed. Canossa Pre-Primary , located at Chalisgaon Road, Dhule, is composed of Junior and Senior K.G. with 5 divisions each, number of students being 500. Principal, Sr. Cecilia D’souza is assisted by 10 teachers and two assistants and non-teaching staff.
St. Xavier Canossa Convent Primary School is located at Station Road, Dhule. It comprises of 20 divisions of standards I to IV. Total number of students is 1120. Sr. Julie Alphonso, heading the school is ably assisted by two Sisters and 18 staff members and two non-teaching staff.

Canossa Convent High School, located at Chalisgaon Road, Dhule, is a huge structure with 27 Class Rooms, Library , Science Laboratories, Computer Lab. and the administrative section. It has a huge playground with 2 Basket Ball Courts and a Hall. Students from standards V – X , number altogether 1650. They are divided into four Houses – Yellow House whose Patron is Rabindranath Tagore. Green House has St. Magdalene as the Patron; Red House has Nehru as the Patron and Blue House has Gandhi as its Patron. This House system unites the students and staff with a healthy, competitive spirit. Sr. Margaret Sequeira,the Vice Principal is assisted by three Sisters and 51 teaching and non-teaching staff. Total number of students is 1650.