Mother Marie Therese founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross on September 8, 1833, in Liege, Belgium. She died in 1876 and was beatified at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, on April 21, 1991.

In February 1862, the first group of five Daughters of the Cross passed through Bombay en route for Karachi. In December 1863, the next group of four sisters arrived at St. Vincent’s Home Byculla. They called the convent at Bandra the “Mother House." The European sisters found the climate too hot. Equally, there were requests for the sisters to start an English medium school in Igatpuri. So, on February 11, 1889, Holy Family Convent was established by the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross.

The railway employees could be transferred to places where there were no schools, and so the need for boarding arose so that the children would not have to discontinue their studies due to transfers. At that time, the school was affiliated with the Cambridge Board. The number of boards dwindled, and as time passed, locals sought admission to the school. It became necessary to switch from the Cambridge board to the state board.

Since 1889, the school has educated thousands and thousands of students. They are all over the world, engaged in a wide variety of professions. It is our privilege to have served them.

Blessed Marie Therese

‘Foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross.’

The congregation of the Daughters of the Cross was founded by Blessed Marie Therese Haze in Liege, Belgium, in 1833. She was born on February 28th, 1782. She died in 1876 and was beatified in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, on April 21, 1991.

Her childhood and early womanhood were lived against the political upheaval of the French Revolution in so far as it affected Belgium. She experienced the loss of home, loved ones, and possessions and knew what it was to be poor, displaced, and have nothing. Her only security was in God. It was through contemplating the self-giving of Jesus on the cross that she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross to help suffering humanity.