The Institute of the Sisters of Charity of Sts.Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa(SCCG) also known as the Sisters of Maria Bambina had its origin in Lovere, Italy. It was founded by a young girl of 26 named Bartolomea Capitanio in 1832. Bartolomea’s inspiration to found an Institute took shape because of her deep love for God and through her involvement in the actual situation of the people of Lovere – her native town.

Having studied in the boarding school of the Poor Clares, she acquired a deep piety under the ever vigilant Mother Francesca Parpani. “I want to be a Saint, a great saint and a saint soon” were the words she uttered at the age of 7 at the ‘Game of Straws’. Her spiritual Director Don Angelo Bosio sensed the working of the Spirit in her and guided her in her spiritual Journey. He urged her to note down all the inspirations she received. This resulted in the inspired document we now call ‘the Foundation Document” which forms the basis of our present Rule of Life. She wrote: “The Institute which will be founded in Lovere is be totally founded on charity and this must be its principle aim…should have as its aim the education of poor young girls…devote itself to the relief of the sick..” In this way she outlined a MISSION which, though starting as a personal response to the needs of her environment was deeply rooted in charity and as such destined to be kept up and to spread beyond the bounds of Lovere.

Bartolomea was helped in her project by Catherine Gerosa, a simple, rich, charitable lady of Lovere. Together they consecrated themselves to God in a simple ceremony on 21 November 1832 at Casa Gaia. Thus began the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity. Bartolomea was called to her eternal reward on 26 July 1833 eight months after founding the Congregation. It was left to Catherine Gerosa, under the able guidance of Don Angelo Bosio to carry on the work begun.

The Institute spread rapidly in many Provinces of Italy. In 1860, Mother Theresa Bosio the first Superior General answered the call of the missions of India and sent four sisters to work in Bengal -India. Thus began the mission of the sisters in India.

On considering the number of communities and of sisters, the distance between different communities and each community from the provincial house at Calcutta, the General Council discerned and decided to constitute a new province- the New Delhi Province. It compromised of 17 communities with 93 sisters in 12 communities from Calcutta province and 5 communities from Mangalore in Nepal working with ardent zeal for the spread of the Kingdom. It was erected by Mother Piercarla Mauri on 9th December 2009 having its fixed residence at Holy Child Convent, New Delhi with the first Provincial Superior Sr.Ines Anthraper at the helm of affairs. Due to the various ups and downs the17 communities with which it began was reduced to 14 but within last 4 years 3 communities were opened. The New Delhi Province also has an extension service at Kohalpur. At present the total number of sisters is 103 offering their services in 8 states –Uttar Pradesh, Madya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir,Maharashtra, Delhi and the country of Nepal.

Sr.Ines in her mandate focused on making the communities deeply Christ centered, committed, joyful, attentive to the radical demands of Christ the Redeemer, open to the pressing needs of the people, service minded and respectful of all religions and cultures. After the example of Sts.Bartolomea and Vincenza, the sisters opened their hearts with compassion for all human suffering so as to be the eloquent sign of God’s tenderness to the people.In their formative journey sisters move from the sacredness of personal encounter with Christ into the sacredness of daily life. In creative fidelity to the charism the sisters are ready to risk their securities, reputation, comfort and even life itself to befriend those on the edges of the society and outside the globalized world “to do everything possible, suffer everything and even shed our blood for the good of our neighbor”.