Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God

The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God (abbreviated S.M.I.C.) are an institute of Religious Sisters in the Catholic Church belonging to the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. They were founded in 1910 in Santarém, Brazil, by the Rt. Rev. Armand August Bahlmann, O.F.M., and Mother Immaculata (born Elizabeth Tombrock), both natives of Germany, to educate the children of the poor throughout the world.

Armand Bahlmann was born in Essen, Germany, on 8 May 1862. He grew up a devout but strong-willed boy, wanting to become a missionary. To that end, he joined the Order of Friars Minor when he was of age. He was ordained a Catholic priest on 22 September 1888, and served in various works of the Order in his homeland, earning two doctorates, before being assigned to serve in the missions of the Order in Santarém, Brazil. In January 1907 he was appointed Territorial Prelate of the region by the Holy See. He went to Rome, where he was consecrated a bishop on 19 July of that year, by Cardinal Girolamo Maria Gotti, O.C.D., the Prefect of the Propagation of the Faith.