Our Story
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1869-1899 | 1900-1940 | 1941-1950 | 1951-1965 | 1966-1979 | 1980-1990 | 1991-today |
| Click on the images above to see other periods in our history. | ||||||
1900 - 1940
To see an enlargement of an image below, place your mouse pointer on the small image.
| 1900 |
 The Motherhouse is completed. It provides administrative offices as well as living space for the Sisters and the rapidly growing number of Novices entering from various parts of Europe, Canada, Mexico and the United States. The west wing serves classroom and dormitory space for lay students of the Academy of the Incarnate Word. |
| 1903 |  Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio establishes its training school for nurses to serve lay persons and Sisters. ▪ Sisters in the teaching ministry attend summer sessions at the Motherhouse to enhance their professional skills. |
| 1905 July 16 |
 The only health care facility in South Texas, Spohn Sanatorium in Corpus Christi (now known as CHRISTUS Spohn Health System) is blessed by Bishop Verdiguer. |
| 1907 May 30 |
 The Chapel of the Incarnate Word is dedicated by Bishop Forest, in San Antonio, Texas. Unfortunately, Rev. Mother St. Madeleine who is overseeing the construction dies before the project is completed. |
| 1910's |  The decade is filled with much sorrow. With the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, schools in Mexico are being closed, properties confiscated, and Sisters are seeking refuge in safer places. In the United States, tragedy strikes when fires destroy an orphanage and several other congregational properties in Texas, a hurricane destroys one hospital, and Spanish influenza breaks out. A dozen Sisters lose their lives in the various disasters. |
| 1910 April 10 |
 His Holiness Pope Pius X approves the Constitutions of the Congregation, officially recognizing the Congregation instituted by Bishop Dubuis forty years earlier as a religious institute. ▪ The first group of postulants receives veils and capes in Mexico. |
| 1919 December 3 |
The Golden Jubilee (50 years) of the Congregation is celebrated in San Antonio, Texas. Records indicate that there are 663 Sisters operating in 60 institutions: 1 college, 40 schools and academies, 12 hospitals, 4 orphanages, 2 homes for the elderly, and a postulate in Holland. |
| 1920's |  The Congregation is becoming completely international in character, the diversity of backgrounds creating a multicultural richness. Changes in governance lead to provinces being established In San Antonio, St. Louis, Mexico, and, for a short period, in New Orleans. |
| 1922 September 24 |
 Provincial House in St. Louis, Missouri, is blessed by Archbishop
Glennon. |
| 1925 |  A convent in Dumore, Ireland, is established as a house of formation for candidates entering the Congregation. |
| 1930's |  Sisters in Mexico become involved for the first time in health care. They staff health care institutions in different areas of Mexico and serve as nurses, instructors, and hospital supervisors. |
| 1932 September |
 Incarnate Word Academy is established in St. Louis, Missouri;
classes are held in the convent. |
| Late 1930's - 1940's |
Schools are re-opening and re-organizing in Mexico after 20 years of being suppressed. Sisters are opening new schools, taking charge of an orphanage, and beginning work in a large teaching hospital in Mexico City. |
| 1940 |  A school of nursing is established at Hospital Muguerza in Monterrey, Mexico. ▪ The first graduates of the English Academy, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, receive their diplomas. ▪ Guadalupe Community Center is opened in San Antonio as a new social services center to care for the multiple and diverse needs of the many poor families on the west side of the city. |