“Everything hinges on education. Without it, you can’t advocate for proper health care, for housing, for a civil rights bill that ensures your rights” (Susan L. Taylor).

Our Congregation was founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1869 when three women responded to a pressing need: to care for the victims of a cholera epidemic. This led to the establishment of the first hospital in the city, an institution recognized today as the Christus Santa Rosa Health Care Corporation. This ministry soon spread to the care of homeless children and teaching. In 1881, the Congregation secured a charter from the State of Texas, which empowered them to establish schools on all levels.

In 1884, in response to the great wave of Catholic immigrants to the United States, the US Bishops declared that parochial schools would be mandatory in all dioceses of the United States. Bishops and pastors appealed to the Congregation; by the first decade of the new century, dozens of schools were being staffed by Incarnate Word Sisters. At the same time, many new schools were established in Mexico.

Throughout the 20th century, schools were established, supported and staffed by Incarnate Word Sisters in the United States and Mexico. The Congregation’s first school, The Academy of the Incarnate Word, is now the University of The Incarnate Word.

Following the first school foundation in Mexico (the first school in Mexico, Colegio La Purisima in Saltillo, was opened in 1885), the Congregation established twenty-nine schools in various parts of the country.

In light of the challenges of the world today, and in faithfulness to the charism of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and desiring to live the Mission in an education environment, the Sisters have created an EDUCATION MODEL that reflects this vision of Catholic Education.