Prabhudasi sisters of Ajmer (Handmaids of the Lord) is the first indigenous Religious Institute founded in Ajmer on 24th May 1906 by Rt. Rev. Fortunatus Henri Caumont OFM Cap, the first bishop of Ajmer diocese. The whole of Rajasthan state was then one diocese.

    The AIM of the Institute is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all the people, especially among women, girl children and the poor and the neglected of the society, imitating the Blessed Virgin Mary as their model and following in the footprints of the great saint Francis of Assisi and thus to help the missionary priests in the great work of evangelization.

    When the French capuchins first came to Rajputana (Rajasthan) around 1890, and started work among poor, illiterate village people, they found that owing to the ‘purda’ system and other social restrictions, it was not possible for the men missionaries to approach the women folk and as long as the women folk remained ignorant of the Gospel message, it was impossible to bring the Gospel values to their families.

    Hence to overcome this difficulty, Rt. Rev. Henri Fortunatus Caumount saw in a vision the need of an indigenous congregation of sisters who could easily meet the village women, speak to them in their own language and dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their service. Thanks to the Lord without much delay, his dream was realized. He could recruit seven newly converted girls who were eager to dedicate themselves to the service of the poor and started a new congregation to which he gave the name “Prabhudasi Sisters’ (Handmaid of the Lord) and placed them under the patronage of Our Lady of Annunciation.

    Prabhudasi Sisters of Ajmer were effective missionaries from the very beginning. The founder’s blessing is being fulfilled as his beloved daughters continue to spread in the service of Gospel in North India and other parts of the country. Wherever the sisters went they educated the poor children, looked after them in the boarding, cared for the sick in the dispensaries, visited the village and families regularly and engaged themselves in faith formation. They worked hard for the uplift of the poor women and girls through various kinds of social work. They helped in all the pastoral works and parish activities. It is well acknowledged fact in the history of the Rajputana Mission that the PSA Congregation has very credible share in the progress of the mission.

    In the year 1999 our Institute was erected to ‘Pontifical Right.’ Along with the slow and steady progress of the congregation it stepped on to wider areas in its mission journey. At present it has five hundred committed members having divided into two provinces-St. Teresa’s Province Udaipur and St. Joseph Province Jaipur respectively.

    At present our congregation is rendering services in 15 states, 17 dioceses in India, Italy and Germany with 72 communities. Our service is rendered to all especially the poor, the neglected and the marginalized to bring joy, peace life and life of Christ to them in the spirit of our Holy Founder according to our charism.