113 How much these holy virgins accomplish! They render extensive and distinguished service which no one else could perform with the same blend of virginal and maternal concern! They do this not in one, but in many fields of endeavor. They attend to the sound formation and education of the young. They teach religion to boys and girls in parochial schools. They tend the sick in hospitals and lead their thoughts to heavenly things. They care for patients in homes for the aged with cheerful and merciful charity and move them in a wonderful and gentle way to a desire for eternal life. in homes for orphans, and for children born out of wedlock they stand in the place of a mother and cherish with a mother's love children who have lost their parents or been abandoned. They care for them, nurse them, and hold them dear.
Source: Ad Petri Cathedram (Vatican.va)