Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary

The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, commonly called the Visitandines or Visitation Sisters, is a Catholic religious order of pontifical right for women, founded on 6 June 1610 in Annecy, France, by Bishop Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal as an enclosed contemplative community. It was created to welcome women, including older women and those of delicate constitution, unable to practice the strict austerities required by other religious orders of the period, replacing the night office with the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 8:30 in the evening and emphasizing humility and gentleness as its central spiritual virtues, drawn from the Virgin Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Pope Paul V canonically erected the order in 1618 and Pope Urban VIII approved it in 1626; it grew from 13 convents at Francis de Sales's death in 1622 to 86 by Jane Frances de Chantal's death in 1641, and its members have included Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart. As of 2021 approximately 150 autonomous monasteries operated worldwide, with about 1,529 members recorded in 2020.