French Beginnings

When the first Bishop of Texas, French Bishop Jean-Marie Odin, came to Texas and saw how large his diocese was, he realized that he would need many helpers to bring the Gospel to the people in such a vast area. He returned to France, looking for Priests, Brothers, and Sisters who would work with him in this very large Diocese.

Four Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament were among those who returned to Texas with him. Two were from the Monastery of Lyons: Sister St. Ange Barre (24 years old) and Sister St. Ephrem Satin (28 years old). The other two were from the Monastery of the Incarnate Word in Belmont: Sister St. Claire Valentine (22 years old) and Sister St. Dominic Ravier (32 years old), a turn Sister. Sister St. Claire, the youngest of the group, was appointed Superior by Father Galtier and Mother Angelique Hiver.

In the New World

On March 22, 1852, the group left France on board a ship, La Belle Assise, with members of various other religious Institutes. During the journey, a French woman, Gilberte Martignat, very impressed with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word, asked to join the community and was accepted as a candidate. She was received as a novice after her arrival in Galveston.

The Sisters remained in Galveston for eight months, studying both Spanish and English. Bishop Odin appointed Father Verdet, O.M.I. as their ecclesiastical superior, and Oblate priests offered daily Mass for the Sisters. Toward the end of February, 1853, several Oblates and the little community of the Incarnate Word Sisters traveled south down the Texas coast to the little town of Port Isabel. The next morning, Father Verdet celebrated Mass for them in Mr. Lafarge's home, and at that Mass, they met a twelve-year-old girl, Rosa Solis.

On her return home, Rosa told her mother, "I want to be like the Sisters." Six years later, she became the first postulant from the New World and the first Hispanic Sister in the Order. Her religious name was Sister Teresa Solis.

The Sisters' final destination was Brownsville, a town on the border between the United States and México. It was still very primitive, and for their first three days there, the Sisters lived in a warehouse with trunks and boxes as their only furniture. However, the priests and good people of Brownsville saw their need, and provided them with a house and some basic furniture. On March 7, 1853, just one week after their arrival in Brownsville, they opened a school - the first Incarnate Word Academy in the New World. Two weeks later, on March 20, 1853, the first stone for the first convent of the Incarnate Word was laid in Brownsville.

Later in the first year, yellow fever broke out among both students and Sisters, and the children had to be sent home. God provided for them, however. A gentleman from Matamoros helped them financially by paying tuition in advance for his children in the school; and a good lady, Mrs. Baucherie, moved into the convent to care for the sick. She nursed them back to health, but from time to time, outbreaks of yellow fever proved to be a recurring problem.

The first Convent of the Incarnate Word in the New World was built on what was later the 700 block of East Saint Charles Street, and the community moved into their new home on November 29, 1853. Then three more Sisters arrived from France - one, the first Irish Sister in the Order, Sister Ignatius McKeon; the other two, French turn Sisters, Sister St. John and Sister Lucie Chassagnat.

Developments in Ministry

After the outbreak of yellow fever subsided school re-opened, and the foundation flourished in spite of difficulties. In addition to teaching in two languages, English and Spanish, in which the Sisters were not fluent, they had to struggle with inadequate buildings and a lack of textbooks. Eventually, the Sisters acquired an old printing press, translated their French books, and printed their own texts. In 1857, they experienced the first death in the little community when Sister St. Joseph Martignat, the Sister who had joined the community on the boat from Lyons, died. She had served the Lord as a Sister of the Incarnate Word for just four years. When Sister St. Paul Goux came from France in 1857, she provided a great service by opening a free school for children who could not afford to pay tuition.

Yellow fever struck again in 1858, and all except two of the Sisters fell ill. Once more, Mrs. Baucherie nursed the Sisters back to health, but in spite of her best efforts, in this outbreak, two Sisters died: Sister Josephine Suson and Sister Lucie Chanudet.

Translation of Community Documents

For their first forty years in the United States, the Sisters continued to use the French Constitution brought from France, although the membership was now international. Only in 1893, forty years after their arrival in Brownsville, did they have the Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitution translated into English. These translations were approved by Bishop Neraz of San Antonio and Bishop Verdaugaur of the Vicariate of Brownsville. They were then printed by a New York firm.

New Foundations

In 1865, Mother Saint-Claire went to Europe looking for vocations. She found eight French and four Irish postulants. With the increase in numbers, it was possible to send Sisters to found a second Monastery of the Incarnate Word in Victoria, Texas in 1866. Then Bishop Dubuis asked for a third monastery to be founded in Corpus Christi. This was done in 1871.

In 1894, the Monastery of Brownsville made the first Incarnate Word foundation in México - San Juan Bautista in Tabasco, México. This was the beginning of a most fruitful ministry for the Order in México. Brownsville also made a foundation in Rio Grande City, Texas in 1898, a Monastery which, in spite of great poverty, lasted for about twenty years.

The Twentieth Century

The Monastery of Brownsville continued to make foundations in México in the 20th Century as did the communities already in México. And within twenty years, there were Sisters from the U.S., France, México, and Ireland, speaking English, Spanish and French.

In the early part of the 20th century, México was in the throes of a revolutionary movement. By 1912, Mother Teresa Solis of Chilapa, México, and Mother Stanislaus Dedieu of Brownsville, Texas, were in dialogue about the possibility of setting up a Generalate for the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. However, both these Superiors died without accomplishing this. But in 1929, the first Generalate in the Order was set up by Mother Concepción Solis of México City from the union of the three Monasteries of the Incarnate Word in Chilapa, Matehuala, and México City with the new Motherhouse in México City.

In the early part of the twentieth century, the Bishops of Texas asked for the abrogation of the cloister, and permission for this was obtained from Rome. This made it possible for the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament to move into small communities in smaller towns in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, but always under the authority of the Superior General in the Motherhouse. In 1921, after the adoption of the 1917 Code of Canon Law the Incarnate Word communities in Texas became Pontifical Institutes.

In the late 1920's, the Monastery of Brownsville was experiencing financial and vocational difficulties, and the Sisters sought permission from Rome to amalgamate with its daughter house, the Monastery of Corpus Christi. This brought an end to the status of these houses as Monasteries. Instead, together as one Congregation, they formed a Generalate with the Motherhouse in Corpus Christi.

Renewal and Updating

From the 1950's on, Pope Pius XII was calling for religious Institutes to begin to update their life style and customs, and the Second Vatican Council built on this call. The Corpus Christi Congregation answered the call of the Church, and a new Constitution was finalized in the General Chapter of 1984, and accepted by a Decree of the Roman Congregation of July 2, 1986.

Today the Sisters minister in schools, diocesan offices, religious education, parishes, hospitals, and retreats. For eight years some of the Sisters taught in a diocesan high school in Nakuru, Kenya in East Africa with Sisters from the Generalate in México City. Today the Sisters live and work in cities throughout Texas, including: Corpus Christi, Rockport, Laredo, Brownsville, Harlingen, Edinburg, Beaumont, and Houston.

In the 21st century, all Incarnate Word Congregations are involved in answering the call of the Church. They are in dialogue with each other, and as a result, new horizons are opening for the Church and for the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.