User:Sisters of the Incarnate Word

Is a Catholic, apostolic religious congregation of women approved by the Church. Its founder is Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis, second Bishop of Texas, with Episcopal See in Galveston.

A native of France, Bishop Dubuis arrived in Texas as a missionary in 1846 where he worked with great apostolic zeal in several locations in the diocese during the sixteen years that preceded his appointment as Bishop.

Living and working in Texas during the Civil War years (1861-1865), and through personal encounters with his people, Bishop Dubuis came to know first hand of their many hardships and needs, personally witnessing their sufferings and the repeated attacks of yellow fever.

Compelled, therefore, by the sufferings of his people and the urgent need to alleviate them, the bishop felt called to seek the help of a religious order of women who would devote themselves to the care of the sick and the many orphaned children of his diocese. After several failed attempts to obtain assistance from existing religious orders, Bishop Dubuis decided to approach Reverend Mother Marie Angelique, the superior of the cloistered Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, in Lyon, France, writing thus:  “Reverend Mother: Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in the persons of a multitude of the sick and infirm of every kind, seeks relief at your hands.”

Mother Angelique, moved by this pressing plea, accepted into the Lyons Novitiate, the three young women who had responded to the Bishop’s call for the Texas mission and following a brief preparation period, sent them on to Galveston, Texas in 1866. New groups of volunteers were soon admitted and also formed in Lyons where they received a careful preparation for the Incarnate Word mission in Texas along with knowledge of the essentials of religious life. It was there that they came to know the Incarnate Word and the mysteries of his life, to grow in love of him and in a willingness to consecrate themselves to him totally and to make Him known and loved by others. Following their period of preparation, they also traveled to Galveston, Texas. In March, 1869, Bishop Dubuis chose three sisters from the Galveston community for the San Antonio mission, to open the Santa Rosa Clinic, what was to become the first catholic hospital in the city. He chose Sister St. Madeleine Chollet, Sister St. Pierre Cinquin and Sister Agnes Buisson. In the following year, the difficulty of travel and communication with Galveston, plus the fact that three American postulants had joined the San Antonio group, Bishop Dubuis was led to consider declaring the two communities separate and independent of each other, and thus the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word at San Antonio, Texas was established.

Bishop Dubuis named Mother St. Madeleine as superior of the new community for a three year period, after which he appointed Mother St. Pierre Cinquin to this position. She continued to be re-elected superior until her death in 1891.

Under Mother St. Pierre’s dynamic and charismatic leadership, the congregation flourished and expanded far beyond the frontiers of Texas. In 1885, the first house in Mexico opened its doors: Colegio “La Purísima”, in Saltillo. As the number of Sisters increased, their services also multiplied in numerous hospitals, schools, orphanages and homes for the elderly, both in the US and Mexico. In 1905, under Mother St. Madeleine’s administration, the Congregation requested and received its preliminary approval from the Holy See. Five years later, in 1910, the Congregation received the final approval of its Constitutions during the Pontificate of Pope Pius X. According to these Constitutions, the purpose of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word is “to love and glorify the Incarnate Word in themselves and in others, through the works of mercy entrusted to them. The motivating spirit in their daily lives and in their apostolate is one of charity, dependency, simplicity and imitation of the Incarnate Word.”

 It was thus that our founder and our co-founders established together the foundations upon which the next generations would be built. Over the years, several modifications have been made to the Constitutions, to accommodate community life and changes in the apostolate, in accord with Church regulations as regards religious life and in the spirit of renewal generated by Vatican Council II and related Church documents.

The Congregation has undertaken an in-depth study of its charism, together with a reading of the signs of the times, as it seeks to broaden its vision of the new horizons that open up before it.