Adam Chmielowski began his journey to God with the Jesuit novitiate, but left it six months later. While staying with his brother in Podillia, he joined the Third Order of St. Francis and led active apostolic activity among the local population. In 1887, with the consent of Card. Albin Dunajewski put on his habit, and a year later made monastic vows in his hands, thus giving rise to a new Monastic family - the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, which was based on the Charter of the Order of St. Francis of Assisi. The first Albertines took care of a home for homeless women in Krakow. At first, it was a home for homeless women, among whom were many professional beggars, thieves and women addicted to alcohol. Later, in 1918, the city council gave the nurses house in which bedridden patients received round-the-clock care. Over time, the nurses` activities expanded significantly and they began to care for the sick.
Brother Albert was once associated with Lviv, and a year after its founding, the Albertine sisters began to be very active in Lviv - working in shelters for the poor, in homes for children with disabilities, for orphans, caring for women in difficult lives circumstances. However, in 1945 the sisters had to leave Lviv. They returned only on November 1, 2017. This happened on the 125th anniversary of the beginning of the ministry of the Albertines sisters in Lviv.
In the early years, Brother Albert himself led the Congregation, but on April 7, 1902, he appointed the first official abbess, Sister Bernardine Maria Jablonska, who led the Congregation for 38 years until her death in 1940. She played a very important role in the formation of the Order, so she is called the co-founder of the congregation. After the death of brother Albert, she wrote the Constitution of the Congregation of the Albertine Sisters, which provided him with legal stability. At the time of her death, the Albertine sisters ran 56 institutions and had about 500 members.
Until 1916, on the territory of the Lviv Archdiocese, the sisters served not only in Lviv, but also in Sokal, Przemyśl and Stanisławów. In the shelters, every hungry person was given bread, the homeless were given an overnight stay, the needy were given clothes, and the unemployed were given a job. Everyone could count on help, regardless of religion or nationality.
Order of St. Brother Albert was the answer to the needs of the people of that time. He organized homes for the disabled and the terminally ill, directed nurses to work in military hospitals and regular hospitals, and created kitchens, nurseries, and educational institutions for homeless children and youth.
Charisma:
Serving Christ in one`s neighbour through the acts of Christian charity, especially the most needy, the abandoned and the homeless.
Insignia:
Franciscan coat of arms - on the background of the cross crossed arms, supplemented by the symbol of bread, which is a sign of kindness, according to the words of Br. Albert: Be good as bread.
Slogan: Be good as bread
Address:
Plebanivka, street Soborna, 11b
Lviv, street Svetsitskoho 8/6