WHO WE ARE

The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon (SSMO) were founded in 1886 by a few young women with a dream.

In 1885, several young women were living a quasi-religious life in Jordan when Archbishop William Gross visited their community and asked them to become a formal religious community. Nine of the women agreed and moved to Mt. Angel. After several months of living with the Benedictine Sisters in Mt. Angel, the Sisters moved to Sublimity and began their new life as the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood. They chose Mary as their model of Christian womanhood and St. Francis Xavier as their special patron.

Among their first assignments were teaching at St. Boniface in Sublimity (1888) and Visitation in Verboort (1891) and operating St. Mary's Orphanage in Beaverton (1891).

In ten years, the community grew from nine members to 32.

In 1894, the Sisters began the construction of a Motherhouse in Beaverton.

In 1905, the Sisters changed their name to the Sisters of St. Mary and are known today as the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon.

The SSMO religious community now consists of 76 Sisters residing at the convent on the 43-acre campus in Beaverton, in the Portland metropolitan area, and in other locations, primarily in Oregon, Washington, and California.