In the Kingdom of Poland, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, in the era of intensive economic, industrial and demographic development, social problems increased: poverty, orphanhood, physical suffering, and moral threats. The response to them was above all the activity of charity societies. In the history of charity, the activity of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Suffering was especially noted. The first part of the article presents the characteristics of the social situation of the Kingdom and the diagnosis of social pathologies. In the further part of the article, particular attention has been given to the activities of the Franciscan Sisters of Suffering, whose initiatives and activities constitute an important part of the history of charity at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the Kingdom of Poland.