Our Mission
United as a religious family through their special devotion to the Sacred Hearts and by their profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, the Sisters, Little Workers, live, pray and work together. Their life of communion, grounded in the contemplation and imitation of Jesus and Mary, is the source and support of all they do.
The Little Workers, however, consider themselves catechists in all that they do for the people of God. They therefore, are involved in various charitable works determined by the needs of the people and place in which they are stationed. Some sisters care for the sick and elderly by working as nurses in hospitals and in the nursing homes, and by caring for shut-ins.
Other sisters are dedicated to youth ministry, working to meet the spiritual needs of young women and men through youth group activities, retreats, and individual spiritual direction.
Many sisters are involved in early childhood, middle and high school education, seeking to lead children and young people to God as they strive to prepare them academically.
History
Monsignor Francesco Maria Greco was the pastor of a poor but expanding parish in Acri, a town located in Calabria, Italy. In 1894, he petitioned several religious congregations to send Sisters to provide secular and religious education to the children of the town. When every religious community refused his request,
Monsignor Greco approached a catechist named Raffaella DeVincenti and asked her assistance in starting a new congregation. Together, they founded the religious community now known as Le Piccole Operaie dei Sacri Cuori – The Sisters, Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
From its humble beginnings in Acri, the work of the congregation spreadrapidly throughout Calabria, to Rome and northern Italy. Founded in charity and with a particular devotion to the poor, the congregation became actively in several apostolates – education (nursery school through university and catechetics); the staffing of orphanages and parish ministries; social work; and the care of the aged and infirmed in hospitals and nursing homes. The congregation now numbers more than 400 Sisters.
Over the past 100 years, The Sisters, Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts have opened convents across Italy and have established missionary houses and novitiates in the United States, Argentina, Albania and India. Since 1948, the congregation has operated nursery schools in Stamford (CT), Washington
The congregation of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts was approved by the Holy See as a “Pontifical Institute” in July 1940.
In October 1948, nine Sisters left Calabria to begin a new apostolic mission in the United States. They came specifically to Stamford, Connecticut to expand their catechetical work, namely the formal education and spiritual development of young children and adolescents. Initially, the Sisters worked in the chanceries of Ukrainian bishops along the east coast. Amid these activities, there was one thing about which the Sisters were adamant.
Villa Divino Amore Preschool
117 Hope Street
Stamford, CT 06906
For more information call: 203·324·2449