In 1883, Bishops John Ireland and Thomas Grace petitioned for six Roman Catholic nuns from the French order of the Little Sisters of the Poor to cross the Atlantic and establish a home for the elderly in St. Paul. Sometimes traveling by horse and wagon for up to a week at a time, the six nuns begged for donations of food and clothing to assist those in need, many of them recent immigrants.

The modern Holy Family Residence was constructed nearly a century later, at 330 S. Exchange St., not far from downtown St. Paul, where the Little Sisters of the Poor have overseen four floors of skilled care, independent living and other “continuum of care” nursing home units in two buildings since 1977.

Their time there will soon end. The seven Sisters, who live on site, met this week with the 60 residents and families, as well as lay associates, staff and volunteers to announce they plan to withdraw from the Holy Family Residence and hopefully leave the property in the care of another charitable provider. They’ve contracted Greg Zielinski and the Zielinski Cos. of Fenton, Mo., to oversee the sale and transition.“This would be the end of the Little Sisters,” said Sister Joseph Marie, known as the Begging Sister, in a phone interview. “The home is still here, but the Little Sisters would withdraw. We’re looking for a buyer to keep our current residents and their current rate of pay, and to take on our employees.”

“We will still be here until the purchase is finalized,” she said. “That could take a year or two, possibly. … We’re trying to regroup our forces so we can have more homes, smaller homes and the regrouping of our sisters altogether — as many sisters as possible.”

Mother Julie Horseman, the provincial superior of the Little Sisters, said in a written statement that the general chapter, still based in France, had “recognized the need to withdraw from a certain number of Homes around the world, while at the same time dedicating our resources to much needed upgrades and reconstruction projects in others.”

The order’s decision to shrink its footprint internationally was made in 2022, and to include the St. Paul location came after “a lengthy period of prayer, much consultation and much study.”

The intention of the Little Sisters is to transition Holy Family Residence to another long-term care provider in the Twin Cities, “with the least amount of disruption to residents and employees,” according to the statement.

With the ranks of Roman Catholic nuns shrinking worldwide, many charitable religious orders have found it difficult to foresee a future for themselves after failing to bring in new members for years, and in some cases, decades.

After well over a century of service to the elderly and indigent, the Little Sisters of the Poor announced they would withdraw from their home in Denver in August 2022, and then sold their campus in St. Louis in December 2022. They announced their withdrawal from their home in Totowa, N.J., in July 2023.

Marie said once the two St. Paul buildings are sold, the seven Sisters will join another Little Sisters of the Poor site, increasing its capacity for direct contact with residents. Where that site will be is undetermined.

“We have no idea,” she said. “Wherever the Lord needs us. We take a vow of obedience, and we’re sent wherever there’s a need. Wherever there’s a home of Little Sisters, that’s where we’ll be serving.”