The Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great began their religious life in Croatia thanks to Bishop Julij Drohobetski of Križevci and his vicar Rev. Dr. Dane Šajatović.
In 1908, three blood Sisters from the Smičiklas family of Žumberak (northern-west region of Croatia), who were nieces of the vicar of Križevci, Rev. Dr. Dane Šajatović, went to Slovita, Ukraine to enter the novitiate of the Basilian sisters.
On August 26, 1915, fleeing the horrors of the First World War, the Smičiklas Sisters and several other Sisters and girls came to Križevci, Croatia from Ukraine. Thus, the community of the Croatian Basilian Sisters, like most of the present Sisters of St. Basil the Great in the world have its roots in Ukraine.
Since their arrival, the Sisters were temporarily housed in the mansion of Rev. Dr. Dane Šajatović.
On October 4, 1915, the Apostolic Administrator Rev. Dr. Dionizije Njaradi officially handed over the Eparchial orphanage “Julianeum” in Križevci to the Sisters for administration and management with the obligation that the Sisters open a women’s boarding school for the education of the youth in the Križevci Eparchy. Thus, the building of the Julianeum Orphanage became the first monastery of the Basilian Sisters in Croatia.
On December 28, 1915, M. Anna Teodorovič from Ukraine arrived with two other Sisters who remained in Križevci.
In 1920, Bishop D. Njaradi suggested to the Sisters to open a novitiate and orphanage in Šid, Serbia, on the Bishop’s estate.
In the same year, M. Anna Teodorovič transferred to Šid with several other Sisters to expand the activities of the Basilian Sisters. After their departure, the Sisters in Križevci, continued their apostolate according to the needs and possibilities of the time.
After the Second World War, the communist government was not in favor of the Sisters, that’s why they experienced many hardships. They were forbidden to work with children and young people, and they were forced to close the boarding school. Rev. Dr. Danijel Šajatović covered the costs of the monastery with his pension, while the Sisters focused entirely on cultivating the land.
From Križevci, the Sisters opened their monasteries in Sošice, Zagreb and Karlovac.
In 1939, the newly built monastery in Sošice was blessed. The Sisters had a fruitful Apostolic Activity in Sošice until the Second World War began and the Sisters were forced to leave the monastery, which was burned down in 1942. They went to Podravina where they worked as schoolteachers. In 1954, the Sisters returned to Sošice.
The monastery in Zagreb was officially founded and blessed in 1957.
At the General Chapter of the Order in Rome in 1963, which was also attended by the delegate M. Augustina Smičilkas, the establishment of the Croatian Vice-Province of St. Basil and St. Macrine was approved. M. Vasilija Popović was the first elected Provincial superior. The General Administration of the Order in Rome confirmed the election of the superior and her council and determined that the new Vice-Provincial Administration would begin to operate on January 14, 1965, the feast of St. Basil the Great according to the Julian calendar.
The monastery in Karlovac was founded in 1972. The Sisters worked in that monastery until 2010.
The Vice Province of St. Basil and St. Macrina in Križevci today has ten sisters with Perpetual vows. The Sisters work in three monasteries: in Križevci, Zagreb and Sošice.
The Motherhouse and novitiate are in Križevci as well as the most fruitful apostolate. The Sisters run a Nursing Home and until 2021 they used to run the Pavilion for the Children of St. Mark of Križevčanin, which is currently leased to the Eparchy of Križevci. By working on the arrangement of the library and the Bishop’s residence, the Basilian Sisters made a great contribution to the preservation of valuable cultural treasures.
Eighteen elderly women are accommodated in the Nursing Home. In addition to taking care of their physical health and material needs, the Sisters also take care of the spiritual needs of their residents.
In Zagreb, the Sisters work in their monastery in Jurjevska. As part of that monastery, the Sisters rent rooms to female students in a in an apartment building on the grounds.
In Sošice, the Sisters are the guardians of the ethnographic treasures of the Žumberak region. They take care of the permanent exhibition of the Ethnographic Museum and gladly welcome and host mountaineers, tourists, pilgrims and travelers to their monastery.
Year by year the population is decreasing and there are fewer of us also so we ask the Lord of the harvest to send good spiritual workers to this community of our Order.