Historical Perspective
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd, an international Congregation, was founded in 1835 by a young French woman. Rose Virginia Pelletier (Sister Mary Euphrasia). She was a woman of vision and compassionate understanding who believed that love for individuals would awaken in them a sense of dignity and self-worth. Her motto bequeathed to us is: “A person is of more value than a world.” In 1940, Sister Mary Euphrasia Pelletier was canonized by Pope Pius XII.
In 1867 five sisters were sent to Boston, Massachusetts to establish a program for women in need. The past 137 years have seen an expansion of this original work with the Sisters providing diagnostic, therapeutic, counseling, educational, and a myriad of other helping services.
Maria Droste, a Good Shepherd Sister born in 1863 in Munster, Germany, was well known for her loving service to persons in need from all walks of life and of all ages who were experiencing difficulties. Maria Droste died in 1899 at the age of 36. She was beatified by Pope Paul in 1975.
The first Maria Droste Services began in New York in 1982. The Good Shepherd’s Maria Droste Services was established in Quincy in 1992 by Sr. Joanne Westwater. We are managed and staffed by Sisters of the Good Shepherd and by laypersons who subscribe to the values and mission of our foundress and to the teachings and life of The Good Shepherd.
