• Religious Orders for Women

Get to know some religious orders.

(These are orders that serve in our diocese, listed alphabetically; this is not meant to be an exhaustive list.)

Benedictine Sisters of Virginia

A monastic community of women committed to seeking God in community. Through prayer and service, hospitality, compassion and mercy, and other ministries, they hope to foster a greater respect for the divine dignity of all people.

Daughters of St. Paul

An international congregation of consecrated women, who as evangelizers, video and audio technicians, writers, musicians, media animators, artists, designers, printers, and radio broadcasters, announce God's word in the most effective ways possible.

Dominican Nuns of Linden, VA

Cloistered contemplative life; traditional Dominican habit; a life lived in community, balanced with lectio divina, private prayer, silence, study and work.

Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia

College, high school, elementary teachers who live in contemplative communities.

Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist

Vowed religious women who embody the spirit of St. Francis and seek to enflame humanity with a sense of the sacred found deep within each person have a variety of apostolic endeavors all based on their Eucharistic devotion.

Little Sisters of the Poor

An international congregation of women offering the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.

Missionaries of Charity

Active and contemplative branches all over the world giving wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor.

Poor Sisters of St. Joseph (PSSJ)

They practice “Holy Evangelical Poverty,” or indiscriminant charity to all, with a particular devotion to caring for the poor, abandoned children and young people, the helpless aged and indigent sick.

Order of St. Clare

The Poor Clares are a cloistered, contemplative community dedicated to prayer, the Divine Office, perpetual adoration, joyous penance, poverty and simplicity.

Religious Sisters of Mercy (R.S.M.)

A Religious Institute of Pontifical Right dedicated to the Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy.

Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco

These sisters are committed to the new evangelization of youth, mainly through education and a deepening attitude of respect for the dignity of the human person and an openness to life in all its forms. Their community lifestyle is simple, poor, and welcoming.

Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette

The La Salette ministry of reconciliation responds to the broad vision given by Mary at La Salette as well as in response to the needs of the Church: “You will make (Mary’s) message known to all (her) people.”

Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará (SSVM)

An institute of Catholic missionary sisters dedicated to prolonging the Incarnation of the Word through the evangelization of culture.

IHM Congregation

The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or IHM Sisters, staff colleges, high schools, academies, parish schools, Montessori schools and for the visually impaired in North America and two South American countries.