The Order of St Ursula (OSU), whom we know and love here in the US, originated from one of the first secular institutes in the church, the Company of St Ursula, or the Angelines:
https://companyofstursula.org/who-we-are/our-foundress-saint-angela-merici/
The monastic version of the Ursulines were cloistered by St Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Italy. He had requested members of the Company of St Ursula to teach in his See.
There is conflicting information regarding the enclosure of the group, however. One says that the Sisters themselves requested enclosure, and reconfiguration as a monastic order. Another says St Borromeo forced them to "take advantage of their Bull" (papal document) that the Company of St Ursula had received upon Papal approval, and enclosed them. The event was after the Council of Trent, which mandated the enclosure of women religious.
(A bit of a disclaimer as we go forward: I am not trying to reproduce Dehey here, I am posting with the intention of "where are they now?" That being said, I am not implying that the Ursulines of New Orleans founded the community located in X when I speak of the different sites. Now back to the tour).
According to Dehey, the first convent in the United States was that of the Ursulines in New Orleans, Louisiana. Unfortunately, the website for the convent-museum is down, so here is the history from the oldest school for girls in continuous operation in the US, the Ursuline Academy of New Orleans:
https://www.uanola.org/about/ursuline-heritage
The Ursulines then set down roots in St Martin, Brown County, Ohio. According to this page, the Brown County congregation is "nearing completion":
https://chatfield.edu/news/ursulines-act-preserve-character-brown-co-property/
The Texas locations of Galveston and Dallas are listed next. The Galveston convent was known as "The Queen" before it was damaged-beyond-repair by Hurricane Carla in 1961. An alumna writes about her alma mater:
https://www.galvnews.com/opinion/guest_columns/article_3e09c07d-8019-511e-a9a5-f9d10504a390.html
The Ursuline Academy of Dallas is still going strong. Here's their history page:
https://www.ursulinedallas.org/mission/heritage
The original Ursuline Convent in St Louis, Missouri, now houses the St Joseph Croatian Catholic Church. Their history page:
http://www.stjosephcroatiancatholicchurch.com/about/
The Sisters removed the convent and school to the Kirkwood area:
https://www.ursulinestl.org/
Arcadia Academy is now a venue:
https://www.arcadiaacademy.com/history
The Cleveland, Ohio, foundation eventually moved to Pepper Pike, and established Ursuline College:
https://www.ursuline.edu/why-ursuline/our-heritage
The Toledo, Ohio, Ursulines had this incredible campus built, pictured in Dehey:
https://www.collingwoodartscenter.org/
Eventually, the sisters moved here:
https://www.ursulinecenter.org/about-us/history/
One congregation of Ursulines opened the Academy of Mt St Ursula in New York City. They moved to the Bedford Park area of the Bronx, and have been there ever since:
https://www.amsu.org/who-we-are
The Sisters have converted their Convent into green living space for seniors recently:
https://www.cny.org/stories/ursulines-convent-reopens-as-green-housing-for-seniors,5538
Here ends The Ursulines, Part I.
The sisters never requested enclosure. And there was no such thing as a "secular institute" at the time the Ursulines were founded (and they are not the same as the "Company of St. Ursula," which is an entirely different group).
ReplyDeleteThe most authoritative account of the early Ursuline history is this 2-volume work, which incorporates much of the primary source documentation: Ledochowska, Teresa, Angela Merici and the Company of St. Ursula, According to the Historical Documents. [Vol. I: "An Educator and Apostle of the Pre-Tridentine Reform"; Vol. II: "The Evolution of the Primitive Company."] Trans. Mary Teresa Neylan. Rome: Typis PontificiaeUniversitatis Gregorianae, 1967.
If anyone is looking for an unedited reprint of Religious Orders of Women by Dehey, you can find it here:
ReplyDeletehttps://stathanasiuspress.com/product/religious-orders-of-women-in-the-u-s-by-elinor-tong-dehey/
It's a great book and the first book I ever published. Available in Hardcover.
Mel