Like most religious communities founded in the U.S. before the turn of the 20th century, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Des Plaines, IL, served a distinct ethnic group, in this case, Polish immigrants. Young women of Lithuanian ancestry, called to serve God’s people but finding no Lithuanian congregation, also entered this community. As the number of Lithuanian women increased, and they were assigned to Lithuanian parishes to teach, the Sisters attempted to receive canonical approval to form a separate province to allow them greater freedom in serving the Lithuanian community. However, no such approval was forthcoming.
Undeterred, the group found assistance from three clergymen: Rev. Michael Kraus of Chicago, and the Reverends John Sutkaitis and Magnus Kazenas of Pittsburgh, in whose schools some of the Sisters were already teaching. In the beginning, most of their efforts were directed towards finding a Midwest congregation willing to accept a fledgling Lithuanian community. Meeting with no success here, the two Pittsburgh priests turned to the Franciscans in Millvale, PA. The incumbent general superior, Mother M. Chrysostom Krill and her Council agreed to accept 24 transfers from Des Plaines gradually, for their novitiate could not accommodate both their own candidates and those of a prospective new congregation.
March 12, 1922, the day when the Millvale Franciscan congregation agreed to foster the Lithuanian community, became the Foundation Day for the Lithuanian Sisters (who would change their name to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Providence of God in 1949 to better reflect their ministries to all ethnic groups). In groups of six and four and two, they found their way from Chicago to Pittsburgh, where Father Kazenas met them at the train station and brought them either to the Larkins Way convent on the South Side or the Motherhouse in Millvale.
Three years later, with the blessing of the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Hugh C. Boyle, the financial help of the Lithuania clergy and laity, and the encouragement of the Millvale Franciscans, they purchased a 33-acre farm in the South Hills area of the city and built a convent to accommodate their growing numbers. On August 15, 1925, clergy and laity assembled not only for the dedication of the new Motherhouse, but also for the investiture with the Franciscan habit of five postulants and the temporary profession of five novices. In three short years, the original 24 transferees from Des Plaines had doubled. God was blessing their desire to serve the Church through meeting the spiritual and educational needs of Lithuanian immigrants and their children.