The Congregation of the Daughters of the Immaculate Mary (exempt from religious dress code) was founded on 21 November 1891 at Zakroczym by the Blessed Honorat Koźmiński with the assistance of Ludwika Gąsiorowska. From the beginning, its members tried to reach out to as broad a spectrum of the urban population as possible. The apostolic work of the society was concentrated in two areas. The first was community and charitable work, which involved setting up old people’s homes, dressmaking workshops, canteens, shops, and laundries. The other involved upbringing and education, i.e., starting nurseries, orphanages, boarding houses, and the running of elementary and vocational schools. The sisters showed remarkable dedication to work with children and the young, especially girls. In the period discussed here, the Congregation started work in three old people’s homes. The Daughters of Mary not only looked after their patients’ health, meals, and proper hygienic conditions but also their spiritual needs. Meanwhile, their young pupils were taught sewing, embroidering, and knitting in twenty workshops. The launching of Christian canteens and shops was an attempt to halt the spread of alcoholism. Finally, the setting up of laundries was another aspect of the Daughters’ community work. Educational work was a priority on the Congregation’s agenda in the first phase of its history, i.e., until 1918. This was connected with the situation in the Kingdom of Poland where the Russian authorities still persevered with their Russification policy. The Society sought to enlist all its outposts (and not just schools) in the service of its educational goals. Wilno was the scene of the Congregation’s first major success story in the field of vocational education. It was in that city that they started and ran an Arts and Crafts School for girls. In the period 1891-1918, the Daughters of the Immaculate Mary ran six orphanages. Two of them were started by the sisters themselves; the remaining four were set up by diocesan clergy and the Charitable Societies. The sisters were also in charge of some boarding houses. The houses of the Congregation were very often used as venues for meetings of community and parish organizations. In more remote places, they made their chapels available for mass or Lenten teachings. Their apostolic ministry also included the promotion of good books and the Catholic press.