ALBANY, NEW YORK—Saturday, April 14, at 4 PM, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul’s renovated and updated Albany residence, DePaul House at 96 Menand Road, will be rededicated and blessed. The Daughters will mark the occasion with a special Eucharist and blessing ceremony followed by dinner. The Reverend Thomas McKenna, C. M., will be the celebrant and officiate at the blessing. DePaul House was originally built and occupied by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1959. The Daughters of Charity purchased the property from the Missionary Sisters in 1971 and it became the Daughters’ 
The Reverend Thomas McKenna, C.M., was the celebrant and officiated at the blessing.
The newly renovated DePaul House will be the home to 13 Daughters of Charity and house many other functions. Three stories, DePaul House encompasses 93,000-square-feet. DePaul House will now have exercise facilities for the Sisters, nine guest rooms, a sacristy for the Chapel, a new nurses’ station for St. Louise House (the adjoining residence for senior Sisters), and seven offices. The Daughters of Charity employ 80 lay staff members at their Albany campus.
“We have served in Albany since 1828” explains Sister Louise Gallahue, D.C., Provincial. “Since then, our ministries have included education, health care, social work, and advocacy. As DePaul House is rededicated and blessed, the Daughters continue to acknowledge their commitment to Albany and the surrounding area.”
Daughters of Charity serve in many ministries in the Albany Diocese. These include Bishop Maginn High School, Massry Health Center, Roarke Center, Seton Health System, St. Peter’s Hospital, Clifton Park Family Practice Group, St. Mary’s Hospital Amsterdam, St. Mary’s Hospital Memorial Campus Amsterdam, Schuyler Ridge Residential and Cathedral Social Services.
More than 650 Daughters of Charity minister in the United States. Worldwide, there are 18,000 Daughters serving in 90 countries around the globe.
Founded in 1633 by St. Louise de Marillac and St. Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity were among the first community of Sisters who were not cloistered. Their community was unlike any other. St. Vincent instructed them to have “as a convent, the houses of the sick; as a cell, a rented room; as a chapel, the parish church; as a cloister, the streets of the city and the halls of the hospitals; as enclosure, obedience; as grating, the fear of God; and as a veil, holy modesty.” This was radical in the 1600s. Things are no different today. The Sisters, through their vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and an additional vow of service to the poor, continue to follow these rules and go where they are most needed.
For more information, please contact Belinda Davis 561.4616 (direct) or belinda.davis@doc.org.