We are a Roman Catholic Congregation of Priests, Brothers and Lay Associates, founded in 1703 by a young French nobleman – Claude Poullart des Places – who gave up the practice of law to study for the priesthood. He founded a community for young men who wished to become priests and dedicated it to the Holy Spirit.
About 150 years later, also in France, Francis Libermann, a converted Jew, started another religious family: the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The two congregations, both dedicated to the evangelization and service of the poor, later became one: The Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
