A Foyer of Charity is a community of laypersons working together under the leadership of a priest, the Father of the Foyer, at the service of those who come to the Foyer on retreat.

The first Foyer of Charity was founded in France in 1936, thanks to an inspiration nourished in prayer by a farmwoman, Martha Robin, and the apostolic work of a diocesan priest, Father Georges Finet of Lyons

Welcomed and approved by many bishops as a source of spiritual renewal, the Foyers were recognized by the Vatican on November 1, 1986 as an international association of the faithful. There are now seventy-five Foyers established in thirty-two countries around the world.

At the request of Cardinal Medeiros of Boston, Father Matthew Bradley came to Scituate, Massachusetts in 1977, and formed the first American Foyer. Many friends help to maintain the Foyer program in the hope of seeing the formation of a permanent Foyer community.

The principal mission of the Foyer is the preaching of a six day retreat.