PThe FELICIAN SISTERS officially known as the CONGREGATION OF SISTERS OF ST. FELIX OF CANTALICE THIRD ORDER REGULAR OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI (CSSF) is a religious institute of pontifical right whose members profess public vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and follow the evangelical way of life in common. The aim of the community is to cooperate with Christ in the spiritual renewal of the world. As an apostolic congregation, the Felician Sisters fulfill their mission in the Church through contemplation and action. The Felician community had its historic beginnings in nineteenth century Poland, which had ceased to exist as a nation in 1795 when it was partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Its beginnings in the Russian sector of Poland were tempered by the grief and anguish of the poor and afflicted as the country struggled under the oppression of its foreign rulers. - from http://feliciansisters.org/history.cfm?lang=E