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The Tabernacle Societies were lay Eucharistic Adorative associations within Roman Catholic parishes, principally in America and Australia, forming part of the Archassociation of the Eucharist under the guidance of the Association of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. ==History== The Association of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and of work for poor churches was founded at in Brussels, Belgium by Anne de Meeûs,〔(Kelly, Blanche Mary. "Tabernacle Societies." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 4 Jan. 2015 )〕 the eldest daughter of the Belgian Minister of Finance Count Frederic de Meeûs. The foundation of the sisterhood grew out of an initial call to restore the parish church at Ohain, Belgium. That church's fittings were totally worn out after fifty years of official neglect following the invasion of Belgium by the French Directory in 1792, followed by an unsympathetic government under Napoleon and King William of the Netherlands. In 1843 Mlle de Meeus, then twenty years of age, at the request of the rector visited the sacristy of the church near their chateau and other churches. She conceived the idea of an association with the object of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by persons willing to undertake to make monthly an hour of adoration, and to give yearly an offering for the benefit of poor churches.〔("Institute of Perpetual Adoration", Eglise du Couvent Sainte Anne Boitsfort )〕 The original foundation was set up in 1844 in workshops belonging to the Church of Our Lady on the Zavel (Notre-Dame on the Sablon). The sisterhood rapidly outgrew its location. The Association of Perpetual Adoration and Work for Poor Churches was organized in 1848 under the direction of Rev. Jean Baptiste Boone, S.J.,〔 and through the generosity of the foundress' childhood friend, the Baroness d'Hoogvorst (née Countess of Mercy-Argenteau), re-located to the Convent Van Maerlant on the Rue des Sols/Stuiversstraat. By 1851 the Association had the approval of the bishops of Belgium. ==Sisters of Perpetual Adoration== A number of Association members formed themselves into a religious congregation, that of the Dames de l'Adoration perpétuelle (Sisters of Perpetual Adoration), Miss de Meeûs becoming the first mother superior.〔 The constitutions were approved by Pius IX in March, 1872.〔 The ministry of the sisters includes religious instruction, preparation for first Communion, and retreats. Through their principal work, the Association, they strive to promote the Forty Hours Devotion, and grants of vestments to poor churches. With a decline in vocations the sisters were unable to continue the perpetual adoration, and in 1969 renamed the institute the "Sisters of the Eucharist". In 1989, the nuns decided to sell the Convent Van Maerlant buildings, including the small chapel. As of mid-2007 the foundation was in the final stages of liquidation, there being a mere dozen remaining sisters of an average of around eighty years of age. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tabernacle Societies」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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