Congregation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Assumption

History & origins

The Oblate Missionary Sisters of the Assumption began on May 24, 1865, in Rochebelle, Nîmes, France, through Emmanuel d'Alzon and Marie Correnson. The founders sought the coming of God's Kingdom and the unity of the Church, making education, mission, and charity toward people in poverty important parts of the congregation's vocation. The community later expanded beyond France into Eastern Europe and other mission territories.

The congregation entered Korea on January 9, 1985. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea directory records this as the date of the congregation's arrival in Korea, and its Korean communities continue the same spirituality and mission of the international institute. Their life in Korea has likewise joined prayer, common life, and apostolic work in the spirit of “Thy Kingdom Come” and love for Christ, Mary, and the Church.

The place covered by MissaMap is the Sadang-dong community, which the bishops' conference directory identifies as the congregation's Seoul branch. The official directory and historical sources reviewed clearly establish the foundation of the congregation and its arrival in Korea, but they do not state when this particular Seoul branch in Sadang-dong was opened. The year 1985 should therefore not be presented as the opening year of this building or branch.

The history of the place can thus be understood along a line connecting the congregation's nineteenth-century foundation, its 1985 arrival in Korea, and the continuing religious life of its present Seoul branch. Rather than inventing a building chronology that the sources do not provide, the important verified point is that the Sadang-dong community continues the congregation's missionary spirituality and consecrated life in Seoul.