On November 3, 1955, four Irish sisters were sent on mission to the United States of America : Sr. Patricia Duffy, Sr. Bernard McGeough, Sr. Michael Nicholson, and Sr. Patricia Burns.

The first OLSH convent was in Haddonfield. On September 4, 1957, Sr. Enda Cushen and Sr. Philomena Lyons began kindergarten classes in the basement of the church with 120 children.

When they arrived in their new home in Haddonfield, New Jersey, they found the beautiful statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart awaiting them, with a note - "Your Mother welcomes you to the United States." Unknown to the pioneer group, Sr. Fabian sent the statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart ahead of the group and made an arrangement with the Bishop to have it set up in a prominent place to welcome the sisters on their arrival. “Your Mother welcomes you to the United States!”

In September 1958 the sisters went to Bellmawr to open a new Diocesan School, St. Francis de Sales School with Sr. Enda as the first principal and with more or less 400 students in classes kindergarten through fourth grade.

More Sisters came to Bellmawr

In the 1990th the late Sr. Patricia Burns started with a group of Associates. Since then this group of women, fired with deep appreciation for our Charisma and Spirituality, have been holding regularly their meetings and formation sessions in our convent. They publish a newsletter, Our Voice, three times a year. You can find it on the website:

The coordinator of the Lay Associates, Mary Ward, brought Sr. Marife and Sr. Mairead to Philadelphia where we visited the St. John Neumann Shrine,

They also went to Independence Park The centrepiece of the park is the Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted in the late 18th century. Across the street from the Indepence Hall is the Literty Bell, an iconic symbol of American Independence.