THE CONVENT OF THE HOLY INFANT JESUS - OUR ROOTS

Reverend Mother Mathilde Raclot together with a handful of nuns of the Infant Jesus Order founded by Father Nicholas Barre in the seventeenth century, in France, arrived in Asia more than 150 years ago at the invitation of Father Jean-Marie Beurel from the religious order Les Missions Etrangeres de Paris. Fr Beurel’s determination to build Catholic churches and schools in Asia together with the IJ Sisters’ mission to educate girls of all social classes especially those in need culminated in the building of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, on Victoria Street. The “Town Convent” as it is fondly remembered by the thousands of girls it has groomed (and the few boys it once enrolled) thus began its roots in 1854, with only 14 fee paying students and a handful of orphans.

As of today, the IJ Family in Singapore has 6 primary schools, 4 secondary schools, 1 full school and 3 homes and welfare centers. Ties formed by the many thousands who had benefitted from the education and Christ centred loving care received over the years remain to this day – ties manifested for many, in the form of membership to the CHIJ Alumni Association.