On August 15, 1880, Dun Ġużepp Diacono, a humble but bright priest from Victoria and a group of pious youths that he had guided spiritually for various years, gathered in a house that he called Casa di Carità.

They were to become the nucleus of the future Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus. Soon afterwards, the direction of the group was taken over by Margherita De Brincat, a holy youth from Kerċem who is rightly considered, along with Dun Ġużepp, the co-founders of the congregation.

Madre Margherita and her fellow sisters dedicated their life to the instruction of the poor, including the teaching of lace-making and weaving to earn a living. Throughout its 140 years, the congregation has gone through innumerable ups and downs. Certainly, one of the saddest occurrences is the assassination of Sister Marcellina Tabone who was a missionary in Mirkurphas, Pakistan.

Antoinette, as she was christened at baptism, was the daughter of Ġanni Tabone, one of the best-known bakers of Victoria, and Ġużeppa.

Marcellina joined the Franciscan Congregation in 1967 and from the following year she opted to work as a missionary in Pakistan. Through benefactors from Malta and Gozo, the sisters had built a school for the very poor boys and girls in the region as well as a clinic for people who did not know what was health care.

In 1971, the Pakistani government took over the school and clinic without giving compensation to the sisters.

They continued to work there among enormous difficulties. The school was returned to the sisters in a dilapidated condition in 1995.

On June 28, 1997, an hour past midnight, an armed burglar who had knowledge of the premises, entered the convent and fired at Sister Marcellina, who was then superior of the mission. She died on her way to hospital.