A 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Ursuline Sisters’ presence in Laredo will take place on Saturday, May 26, at St. Augustine School, 1300 Galveston St.
A Mass will be celebrated at 4:30 p.m. in the Ursuline Chapel, followed by a reception in the St. Augustine School cafeteria.
A featured part of the reunion will be a historical photo exhibit from the Ursuline Collection donated by the Sisters to the Webb County Heritage Foundation.
Several Ursuline Sisters who played a role in the education of thousands of Laredo students will be present, including Sr. Maria Teresa de Llano, Sr. Karen Schwane, Sr. Theresa Sarich, Sr. Pauline Lorch, Sr. Julie Hickey, Sr. Agnes Murray, Sr. Elizabeth Hatzenbuehler, and Sr. Rita Ann Bregenhorn.
Alumnae and friends representing all years and schools where the Ursulines taught are expected to attend.
Parking for the event will be available in the school parking lot directly behind the school.
A HISTORY OF THE URSULINES IN LAREDO
The Ursuline Order was founded by Saint Angela Merici in Brescia, Italy in 1535. Angela and her followers met the need for the solid Christian education of young women from Europe to North America.
The Ursulines, as Angela’s followers are called, were the first religious women to come to the New World, arriving in Quebec, New France in 1639. By 1727, 12 French Ursulines had arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana. The New Orleans convent is said to be the cradle for the Ursulines in Texas. From the New Orleans community, Bishop Odin asked them to establish a community in San Antonio. By the mid-nineteenth century, Laredo was a town scarred by war, Indian raids, lawless men and smugglers. Coming to establish an Ursuline Community in Laredo in 1868, at the request of Bishop Dubuis, were Mother Saint Joseph Aubert and Sister Teresa Pereida who started teaching, as the annals say, ‘girls of every age and condition.”
By January 15, 1869, they moved into their new convent near the Río Grande. The building was the result of the work, donations and invaluable advice of Father Neraz, Father A. Souchon, and Raymond Martin. Four Ursuline Sisters from San Antonio were brought by John Leyendecker on January 23, 1869. The school prospered as the number of students and religious grew.
With only nine Sisters, the Ursuline order opened St. Peter’s School in 1898. By 1910 they had set up a two-room school in Nuevo Laredo which flourished until past the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. During the persecution of numerous religious groups, the Laredo Ursulines offered hospitality to members of the Sacred Heart, Good Shepherd nuns, and Sacramentines as well as a group of Salesian sisters and several refugee priests.
In 1912 two of the Laredo Ursuline Sisters went to Ireland to recruit subjects and they returned with 13 Irish postulants. In 1913, the Ursulines began to teach at Our Lady of Guadalupe School and also staffed Holy Redeemer School in 1914. They also founded a school in Falfurrias and helped to staff a high school in Corpus Christi.
By the 1930s Laredo was an international port of entry and the U.S. government bought the convent property. In August of 1940 the new convent and school at 1300 Galveston St. were dedicated and a new era of Ursuline education began. During the ensuing years the Sisters expanded their facility and Ursuline Academy became a well recognized center of education, serving as a college preparatory high school.
Many Ursuline Academy graduates have played leadership roles in the city and throughout the surrounding areas.
In 1974, it became evident that the Laredo Catholic community could no longer support its three private high schools — Ursuline Academy, St. Joseph’s Academy, and St. Augustine High School. After a plan for consolidation was presented by a group of civic leaders, the Ursulines sold the property to the Diocese and St. Augustine High School moved to the 1300 Galveston building.
In later years, the Ursuline Sisters moved to a convent in Century City in South Laredo, then to a convent on Corpus Christi St., and then back again to a convent in South Laredo. Loyal to their Ursuline calling and tradition, despite all the difficulties and challenges of their journey, the Ursulines remain committed to their ministerial call in Laredo. From the original Quebec founding, to New Orleans, San Antonio. and Galveston had come the Laredo Ursuline community which spread its influence throughout south Texas and Mexico.
The 150 year anniversary of the Ursulines celebrates the work of courageous women and all whose lives they touched and shaped.
