The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (PHJC) is a female congregation of the Catholic Church. It originated in Dernbach (Westerwald), where the generalate is still located. Their organization for associates (like Fiat Spiritus) is also open to men. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ American Province has its motherhouse in Donaldson, Indiana. History The foundress of the Poor Handmaids is Saint Maria Katharina Kasper (also known in English as Catherine Kasper) of Dernbach, Germany. She was beatified by Pope Paul VI on 16 April 1978. Pope Francis confirmed her canonization, which was celebrated on 14 October 2018 in Saint Peter's Square. The official foundation date of the congregation is 15 August 1851. On this date Katharina Kasper and four other women (Sr. Theresia (Katharina Schoenberger); Sr. Agnes (Elisabeth Haas); Sr. Elisabeth (Anna Maria Mueller); Sr. Klara (Elisabeth Meuser)) took the vows of celibacy, obedience and poverty before Bishop of Limburg, Peter Joseph Blum. Owing to the fact, that Dernbach did not have a church yet, it took place in the nearby village of Wirges. (The exact location, if church or vicarage, is a matter of debate between historians.) The congregation grew rapidly, opening houses throughout Germany, the Netherlands, and England. Stations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its successor states The sisters founded eight stations in various towns in the Czech part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. 1) Prague, a monastery (Kloster zum hl. Joseph; 01.06.1881 - 09.08.1945), 2) Prague, an orphanage (Waisenhaus zum hl. Schutzengel; 13.09.1895 - 11.05.1945), 3) Weipert, a poorhouse and old peoples home (Armenhaus; 02.09.1896 - 13.07.1943), 4) Weipert, a hospital (10.03.1909 - 18.11.1946), 5) Bürgstein, a monastery (St. Johannes von Nepomuk; 16.10.1890 - 09.08.1945), 6) Hirschberg, a monastery (St. Josephskloster; 10.07.1893 - 02.08.1945), 7) Böhmisch-Kamnitz, the regional hospital (Bezirkskrankenhaus; 31.10.1895 - 27.11.1946), 8) Türmitz, a monastery (Kloster Immakulata; 10.10.1887 - 01.08.1945). None of these stations survived. The stations in Great Britain The sisters established three main stations in England. They were intended as a refuge, in case the Kulturkampf) would make such steps necessary. All were located in the diocese of Westminster: London (1876 - 1941 (destroyed in the war)); and Walthamstow (1898 - 1940 (destroyed in the war)). In 1882, the Poor Handmaids established the Convent of St Joseph, in Hendon, and had added a school by 1900. In the United States In 1868, due to the large German-speaking population in the Diocese of Fort Wayne,