URSULINE andoftheContinuingLegacySpiritualityService A PUBLICATION OF THE URSULINE SISTERS OF LOUISVILLE • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 The Teaching Ministry Of The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville From 1858–1938 Rooted and Reaching
DONOR/ALUMNI RELATIONS KIM BRADLEY Manager, Donor/Alumni Relations
A PUBLICATION OF THE URSULINE SISTERS OF LOUISVILLE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 2 On The Cover/About This Issue 3 From the Leadership Circle 4–11 The Teaching Ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville from 1858–1938 12-13 By The Numbers 14-15 Peruvian Journal: Rooted and Reaching 16-17 AMC Spirituality: Rooted in the Ground of Our Being 18-19 Planned Giving: College Scholarship Gave Asian Student an Escape from Communist China 20 2022 Community Days
Ursuline Society and Academy of Education (USAE) is the corporate title under which the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville do business. USAE does not include gifts received for the other corporation, Sacred Heart Schools (SHS), Inc. Gifts for Sacred Heart Academy and other campus schools are received by the SHS Office of Development and used exclusively for the schools and their programs.
DONATION INFORMATION
DOME Editor, Art Direction and Design
The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville appreciate the support of those who share their financial resources with us. We make every effort to ensure that you receive the maximum tax credit allowed by law. When making a donation, make your check payable to the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, and mail it to Donor Relations Office, Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, 3115 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40206, or use the enclosed remittance envelope.
The check must be processed through the Donor Relations Office for the Ursuline Sisters to generate the proper documentation you will need for your tax-deductible donation.
—Kathy Williams, editor A brief note of a change in future issues of the DOME. Due to increased printing and mailing costs, beginning in the fall of 2022, we will be printing two issues per year: the winter and spring issues. We will continue to stay in touch with you through our social media platforms and e-newsletters.
Bottom, right: Graduates of St. Patrick High School, Sidney, NE, 1931. L-R: Eileen Hall, Sister Amanda (Mary Ann) Caulfield, Helen Stueve (later became Sister Dolora), Sister Marguerite Brookman, and Florence Hinman (later became Sister Janet).
COMMUNICATIONS/PR OFFICE KATHY WILLIAMS Director, Communications/Public Relations
On the cover Main photo: First graduating class from St. Mary High School in Cumberland, Maryland, 1913. Front Row: Pearl Gunter and Mary Schriver. Second Row: Marguerite Dorsey, Winifred King (later became Sister Carmela), Nellie Price (later became Sister Mary Carmel), and Sister Carmelita Doyle.
From its humble beginnings at Shelby and Chestnut streets with three Bavarian Sisters, by 1938 the Louisville Ursulines had grown in number to over 400 in the community. We hope this short history gives you a glimpse into the story of these daughters of Angela, who remain “united in one heart and one will.”
DOME CONTRIBUTORS GINNY SCHAEFFER ELLEN MCKNIGHT KATHY WILLIAMS SISTER SUE SCHARFENBERGER LAUREL WILSON Archivist KAREN HEILERS Proofreader
About this issue
Bottom, left: Sister Hedwig Hellenthal with her First Holy Communion class at St. Francis of Assisi in Louisville, 1933-34.
In this issue you will read a brief history about the teaching ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville from their founding, in 1858, through 1938. These strong women of great faith put down “roots” in Louisville at a time when prejudice against Catholics and German immigrants was very real, and there were many obstacles to overcome. From 1858 to 1938, their teaching ministry “reached” across the country quite rapidly, going as far north as Pennsylvania, west to Nebraska and south to Columbia, South Carolina. This growth was not without struggle or sacrifice; quite the opposite. Their mother superiors often had to borrow money and ask for donations to keep the community going. The Sisters often depended on the kindness of the communities where they were sent for shelter, food and other necessities. There were two groups of Sisters that broke away during this period to form separate communities, but there was also the South Carolina Ursulines, who chose to join them.
Throughout our history and the spread of our vow of teaching Christian living, we have been able to touch the lives of many persons and respond to their needs because of God’s fidelity and the support of many donors and friends.
Rooted and Reaching
DOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 3 In reflecting on roots and reaching out, I am immediately drawn to the gospel and our charism. Our life must be centered on the life and teachings of Jesus if we are serious about reaching out to others in love, service, hospitality and compassion. Jesus invites us to be in an intimate relationship with Him and God—to be rooted in that relationship in order to reflect and reach out to others in sharing that loveAsrelationship.PopeFrancis said in his book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future: “The firm center of Christianity is the essential proclamation, the kerygma. It means that God loved me and gave himself up for me. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His love on the Cross, are what calls us to be missionary disciples, inviting us to recognize each other as brothers and sisters of the larger human family, and especially of those who feel themselves orphans. As the Beatitudes and Matthew chapter 25 show us, the principle of salvation is fulfilled in the compassion we demonstrate.”Thisisthe gospel mandate—this is what we are invited to embrace and to ask of God, to allow this gift of love to take deep root in our hearts and reach out to others. We, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, express it a bit differently in our charism: “A contemplative love of God resulting in an openness and eagerness to serve the needs of others.” The awareness and intentionality of embracing God’s unconditional love, and abiding in that love, touches us at the deepest level and opens our hearts for the capacity to reach out and serve the needs of others. And the reaching out to others is beyond our comfort zone. So where is the need we are to serve and who are the people to whom we reach? The immigrant neighbor, the alienated family member, the friend struggling with cancer, the stranger in the homeless shelter, and many others who are in need and waiting for a response of love, compassion and generosity.
Throughout our history and the spread of our vow of teaching Christian living, we have been able to touch the lives of many persons and respond to their needs because of God’s fidelity and the support of many donors and friends. For all of us, it begins at our baptism, when God calls us into that deep relationship that needs to be nurtured to take root, thus branching out and touching the lives of others, no matter where and what the need is.
God be with you in love.
FROM THE LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
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By 1858, the city of Louisville, established on the banks of the Ohio River, was rapidly expanding with many French, Irish and German immigrants who were eager to raise their children in the Catholic faith. That same year, Bishop Martin J. Spalding, of Louisville, sent Father Leander Streber, a native of Bavaria, back to his home country to recruit Sisters to teach children of German immigrants at the school at St. Martin Parish.
Rooted and Reaching, Part One: The Teaching Ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville from 1858 –1938 185918681872 1858186418701874
Mother Salesia Reitmeier, Sister Pia Schoenhofer, Sister Maximilian Zwinger St. Martin of Tours School, 1889
Enter Mother Salesia Reitmeier, a young and talented Ursuline Sister of Straubing, Bavaria, who answered the call to travel to Louisville, Kentucky, in the “New World.” Mother Salesia, age 26, was accompanied by two other Ursulines, Sister Pia Schoenhofer, also 26, and Sister Maximilian Zwinger, who was 50 years old.1
With the equivalent of $22.50 total for traveling expenses and seed money for a convent, Mother Salesia and her two companions arrived in Louisville on October 31, 1858. They made their home in a tiny frame house on East Campbell Street in Louisville, near St. Martin’s, and then set to work. Sister Pia, academic directress, applied for incorporation as an educational
The Sisters found Ursuline Academy of the Immaculate Conception on East Chestnut Street in Louisville. A new convent and chapel are built at Chestnut and Shelby streets. Mother Salesia dies at age 36. Sisters begin staffing schools in Illinois, spreading the mission of the Ursulines. Three Ursuline Sisters from Straubing arrive in Louisville to teach children of German immigrants at St. Martin of Tours school. 1691 1535 Ursuline Convent in Bavaria,Straubing,opens. Angela Merici founds the Company of Saint Ursula in Brescia, Italy. The Louisville Ursulines receive “incorporation in perpetuity” as Ursuline Society and Academy of (USAE).Education The Sisters establish a new school in the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul inMaryland.Cumberland, Five Sisters were sent to staff Mount St. Joseph Academy in DaviessKentucky.County, Ursuline Sisters of Louisville Timeline
Within ten years, the Sisters had established a grade school for girls; a high school—Ursuline Academy of the Immaculate Conception (1859–1972) that took boarders; a training school for teachers; and a novitiate, and built a small convent and chapel.
institution. On January 12, 1864, the institute was incorporated in perpetuity, and was able to confer academic honors under the title, “Ursuline Society and Academy of Education.”Withinten years, the Sisters had established a grade school for girls; a high school—Ursuline Academy of the Immaculate Conception (1859–1972) that took boarders; a training school for teachers; a novitiate, and built a small convent and chapel.2 All of this had been accomplished during the Civil War era, when food was scarce and prices were high, making it exceedingly difficult to maintain the boarding school. Sadly, Mother Salesia took ill from worry and shock over a wall collapse during the construction of a larger chapel, and died.3
At the time of Mother Salesia’s death in 1868, at age 36, the community numbered thirty professed Sisters, six novices and five postulants, and the Sisters oversaw five parochial schools and the academy. The early parochial schools they directed were St. Mary’s School (1861) on Eighth Street in West Louisville; Corpus Christi School (1864) in Newport, Kentucky; St. Aloysius in Covington, Kentucky (1866); St. Joseph School (1867) and St. Peter’s School (1868), in Louisville. These first few schools laid the foundation that would take the Ursulines of Louisville across the United States. Mother Martina Nicklas, the second mother superior, continued 1535-1938: Ursuline Sisters of Louisville Timeline 1877 1881 The Sisters purchase 10 acres of land on Workhouse Road (now Lexington Road). On October 4, the Sisters open the Academy of the Sacred Heart for grades 1-12 on the property. Sisters begin staffing schools in Tennessee, at the request of pastors in that state. 18831903 1895 1912 Sisters begin staffing schools in Missouri. New construction begins on Sacred Heart Academy following construction of Ursuline Academy in 1900. Thirteen UrsulineUrsulinesLouisvilleestablishanindependentfoundationinPaola,Kansas. Louisville Ursulines in Daviess County establish an independent Ursuline foundation—the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph. 1915 1916 Sisters begin staffing schools in Ohio and West Virginia, and their ministry spread, even during World War I. Sisters begin staffing schools in Nebraska under the leadership of MotherLeininger.Angela
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19211937
Rooted and Reaching, Part One: The Teaching Ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville from 1858 –1938
1938 South Carolina Ursulines join with Louisville. Sisters begin staffing schools in South Carolina under the leadership of Mother Petra Garthoeffner.
year, in a three-story mansion on the estate, the Sisters opened the Academy of the Sacred Heart, also known as Sacred Heart Academy (SHA), which was a coed school for students in grades one through twelve. Students attended from the 1535-1938: Ursuline Sisters of Louisville Timeline
the work of expansion for the community, both in novices and schools. Part of that expansion included Cumberland, Maryland, situated on the state border, 75 miles east of Morgantown, West Virginia. In 1869, correspondence between Father Cyril Knoll, O.C.C. and Mother Martina “eventually resulted in the establishment of an Ursuline school in the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul.” 4 Over 100 Ursulines of Louisville came from Cumberland, including Sisters Rita Dressman, Catherine Franze, Kathleen Neely and Mary Martha Staarman. Over 250 Ursulines ministered at Sts. Peter and Paul/St. John Neumann School between 1870 and 2000. Sister Rita Dressman was the last Ursuline to have served at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish (2007), and Sister Eileen Carney was the last Ursuline Sister to leave Cumberland, in 2010. Requests continued to come in from pastors in several different states for these excellent teachers, and thus the Ursulines were sent. Other parish schools the Ursulines taught at during this period of Logansport,schools(1872-1886)expansionincludedinLafayette,Madison and Peru, all in Indiana; and in Illinois the following towns: (nowinauthorizedLiberty,Lincoln.Minonk,Metamora,Bloomington,Mascoutah,Germantown,Columbia,Edwardsville,ElPaso,Peking,Ottawa,Henry,andTheyalsotaughtinEastPennsylvania.5Concurrently,MotherMartinathepurchaseofland1877onWorkhouseRoadLexingtonRoad).Thatsame
1917 1918 The Ursuline Motherhouse is completed on Cherokee Drive (now LexingtonSistersRoad).take care of soldiers at Camp Taylor during the flu epidemic. Sacred Heart Academy burns to the ground in April. No lives are lost.
1936 1938 Sacred Heart Junior College opens on Lexington Road and later UrsulinebecomesCollege.
On the Lexington Road campus, Sisters house refugees from the Great Flood of the Ohio River, which occured during The Great Depression.
1938 Sacred Heart Junior College expands to a four-year college for women renamed Ursuline College under the leadership of Mother Roberta Zehe. Straubing Ursulines Caecilia Staemmer and Seraphina Winkler flee political oppression in Germany and come to live with the Louisville Ursulines for several years.
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Another(1897-2010).schooltheUrsulines took charge of was St. Boniface in Louisville, in 1898. The Sisters walked to the school from the convent
4. Sister Ruth Clemens (L) and Sister Dolores Ackermann (R) on a picnic in Sidney, Nebraska
surrounding countryside and paid a small tuition fee that, together with proceeds from selling farm products, gave the Sisters their only source of income. By 1887, all the boarding students from Ursuline Academy had moved to SHA, the new school “in the country” and Ursuline Academy enrolled only day students. In 1874, Father Paul Joseph Volk established a new school, Mount St. Joseph Academy, near Owensboro, Kentucky, and asked for five Ursulines to staff it. Sisters Pia Schoenhofer, Xavier Wurm, Johanna Froeba, Martina Greineder and Margaret Allgeier were sent, and unknown to them at the time, this marked the beginning of a profound change in the community.6 Several years later, in 1912, after much emotional debate, these Sisters separated from the Louisville Ursulines to form their own autonomous community—The Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph. In 1881, Sister Pia Schoenhofer was elected as the third mother superior of the community, which now numbered 108 members that served at 20 schools. During this time, there was much debt and financial hardship, but the Sisters persevered. 1883 marked the silver jubilee of the community, with three days of celebration. In 1884, Mother Pia chose to return to her homeland of Bavaria, and the direct link between Louisville and Bavaria was broken until the twentieth century, when the bonds were renewed.In1890, Sister Florence Meder became mother superior, and at the request of Bishop William George McCloskey, she withdrew teachers from other states to meet the needs of local schools in Louisville. In 1897, the Ursulines were asked to take charge of St. Joseph’s Orphanage (now St. Joseph Children’s Home), serving as both teachers and house parents there. Over 160 Ursuline Sisters of Louisville served at St. Joseph’s Orphanage for 113 years
2. Sacred Heart Convent, Conemaugh, Pennsylvania. Front Row: Unknown Sister, Sisters Leonita Reichert and Mary Ellen Flynn. Back Row: Sisters Margaret Larner, Antoinette Johmann, Florence Stanley, and Angelina Geis
3. Louisville Ursulines at Mount St. Joseph Academy, Daviess County, Kentucky
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1. Sister Mary Blanche Hirschbuehl with pupils at St. Boniface in Evansville, Indiana, early 20th Century
St. Francis de Sales High School, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1939
8 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 | DOME at Chestnut and Shelby streets. Many vocations came from this parish, and this commitment came full circle with the establishment of Nativity Academy at St. Boniface in 2003, with Sister Paula Kleine-Kracht as the first administrator. At the start of the twentieth century, Mother Theodore Guethoff was busy with new construction in Louisville for Ursuline Academy and Sacred Heart Academy. She received another call to staff a new school in Cumberland, Maryland. Saint Mary, a co-ed high school, had its largest enrollment of 420 students in the 1950s. In 1959, the pastor announced that the school would merge with Ursuline Academy at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, and it would be an all-girls school. In addition to staffing the schools in Cumberland, the Sisters traveled to nearby towns in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to teach catechism to children enrolled in public schools on Saturday mornings and during the summer months. Starting in 1908, the Louisville Ursulines taught at St. Peter Claver parish school, in the Smoketown Continued from page 7 In 1914, Mother Angela Leininger was elected superior of the Ursulines. A former directress of Sacred Heart Academy for fifteen years, she jumped at the request of Monsignor Anton Link of Nebraska for teachers. Sisters at this time were teaching in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, but Mother Angela was convinced that the educational ideal of Angela should be carried as far as possible, and thus the Ursulines went westward.
St. Augustine, New Straitsville, Ohio, 1920s. L–R: Sisters Antonia Wagner, Juliana Auerweck, Domitilla Bender, Benedict Rezanina, and Henry Vollmer
One of the Sisters called to South Sioux, Nebraska, was Sister Mary Claire Mountrey. She was called to leave at the last minute in September, 1918, due to another Sister’s illness. Traveling alone from Louisville by train, Sister Mary Claire left on a Thursday morning with a satchel full of sandwiches and “50 cents so that I could buy myself some coffee in Chicago.” After buying a ten-cent cup of coffee in Chicago, and waiting several hours, she got on a train for Sioux City. After several train delays, and buying a second cup of coffee in Manilla, Iowa, she arrived in Sioux City at 11 p.m. Friday night, rather than 2 p.m. as planned. Sister Mary Claire recalled, “And there I was. I was alone.” After sleeping in the station all night, then catching a
DOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 9 neighborhood of Louisville, teaching Black children at a time when their schooling was “separate but equal” under the law; but in reality, the schooling for most Black children was far from equal. In 1914, Mother Angela Leininger was elected superior of the Ursulines. A former directress of Sacred Heart Academy for fifteen years, she jumped at the request of Monsignor Anton Link of Nebraska for teachers. Sisters at this time were teaching in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, but Mother Angela was convinced that the educational ideal of Angela should be carried as far as possible, and thus the Ursulines went westward.
One of the Sisters called to South Sioux, Nebraska, was Sister Mary Claire Mountrey. She was called to leave at the last minute in September, 1918, due to another Sister’s illness. Traveling alone from Louisville by train, Sister Mary Claire left on a Thursday morning with a satchel full of sandwiches and “50 cents so that I could buy myself some coffee in Chicago.”
The new Motherhouse was also used after the fire for students. Mother Angela pushed on. She sent $6,000 to construct another boarding school in Nebraska and sent five more teachers to staff it. She also opened a boarding school in North Platte, and soon thereafter, the Louisville Ursulines staffed schools in the Nebraska cities of Rushville, South Sioux, Omaha, O’Connor and Sidney.
The first missionaries to Nebraska left Louisville on December 28, 1915. Five Sisters, accompanied by Mother Angela, stepped off the train into 40 degrees below zero weather, a sharp contrast to the moderate climate in Louisville they had left behind! They lived in a two-story frame house that had no fuel, no furniture, nothing that resembled a convent. This did not stop these brave Sisters; they immediately started a boarding school and day school. When school began on January 10, 1916, they already had 48 pupils, 28 of whom wereTragically,boarders.8back home in Louisville, a fire destroyed Sacred Heart Academy in 1918. Miraculously, no lives were lost, and the beautiful new chapel was untouched. Boarders and students had to study in St. Angela Hall, the original mansion on the property.
Sacred Heart Academy Louisville KY 1877
Name of School City State Year Started Schools that Ursulines served between 1858–1938
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St. Boniface School Evansville IN 1881 St. Joseph School Owensboro KY 1881 St. Francis of Assisi School Ottawa IL 1882
SS Peter & Paul School HaubSt.adt IN 1879 St. CeleSt.ine School CeleSt.ine IN 1880 St. Vincent de Paul School Louisville KY 1880 St. Mary School Memphis TN 1881 Sacred Heart School Pekin IL 1881 St. Patrick School Minonk IL 1881
St. James School St. James IN 1884 Holy Trinity School Louisville KY 1885 St. Alphonsus School St. Joseph Daviess Co. KY 1885 St. Bernard School St. Louis MO 1886 St. Mary School St. Henry IL 1886 St. Joseph School Memphis TN 1887 St. Henry School St. Louis MO 1889 St. Michael School FroSt.burg MD 1891
Ursuline Academy Louisville KY 1859 St. Mary School Louisville KY 1861 Corpus ChriSt.i School Newport KY 1864
Rooted and Reaching, Part One: The Teaching Ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville from 1858 –1938
Continued from page 9
Through the economic and societal changes of the 1920s and 1930s, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville continued their teaching mission. In 1921, they founded
St. Joseph Academy Daviess Co. KY 1874
St. Francis of Assisi School Dayton KY 1873
St. Mary School Bloomington IL 1877 St. Boniface School Edwardsville IL 1878
St. Aloysius School Covington KY 1866
Holy GhoSt. School St. Louis MO 1883
streetcar, she walked to the convent at St. Michael into Mother Angela’s arms on Saturday morning. Mother Angela had been sending telegraphs, frantic to find her.
St. Joseph School Louisville KY 1867 St. Peter School Louisville KY 1868
St. Anthony School Jeffersonville IN 1870
St. Boniface School Lafayette IN 1868
St. Mary School Metamora IL 1878
SS Peter & Paul School Cumberland MD 1870
SS Peter & Paul School EaSt. Liberty PA 1869
St. Joseph School Logansport IN 1870
St. Martin of Tours School Louisville KY 1858
St. Mary School Lincoln IL 1878 St. Patrick School Lincoln IL 1878 St. Mary School El Paso IL 1879
When recounting her story to Sr. Concetta Waller in 1982, she recalled, “I still had 30 cents in my pocket,” to which Sr. Concetta replied, “You did almost as well as Mother Salesia.” 9
St. Mary School Madison IN 1872 Holy Childhood Jesus School Mascoutah IL 1872 St. Boniface School Germantown IL 1873
The western missions were very fruitful in vocations and higher education for the Sisters. Being close to Creighton University, the Sisters were able to pursue advanced degrees there. This was very advantageous, as religious teaching orders began to be required to meet various state requirements to be certified. Mother Angela supported the Sisters in these endeavors.
Immaculate Conception School Columbia IL 1875
St. Charles Borromeo School Peru IN 1870
St. Boniface School Louisville KY 1898 St. Anthony School Louisville KY 1899 St. George School Louisville KY 1899 St. Helen School Louisville KY 1902 St. SylveSt.er School Ottenheim KY 1903 St. Romuald School Hardinsburg KY 1903
Sacred Heart Junior College/ Ursuline College Louisville KY 1921 St. Michael School Madison IN 1922 Sacred Heart Model School Louisville KY 1924 St. Rita School Louisville KY 1928 Catholic Schools Office Louisville KY 1932 Ursuline High School Columbia SC 1936 St. Peter School Columbia SC 1936 St. Joseph Academy O’Connor NE 1937 Holy Spirit School Louisville KY 1937 Our Mother of Sorrows School Louisville KY 1937
Special thanks to Laurel Wilson for research for this article.
Ursuline Sisters of Columbia, South Carolina. Front Row: Sister Frances Berberich, Mother Gertrude Myers, Mother Clare Agnes Maguire, Sister Benedicta Dougherty, Sister Dolores Fitzgerald. Back Row: Sister Rita Reilly, Sister Teresa O’Connell, Sister Eugenia O’Neill, and Sister Marianna Meyssen
The Louisville Ursulines had been teaching in South Carolina since 1936 and were connected with the Columbia Ursulines. The teaching mission and charism of the Louisville Ursulines was spreading across the United States and continued to grow in the upcoming decades.
Louisville KY 1897
St. Mary School Cumberland MD 1903
St. Elizabeth of Hungary School Louisville KY 1906 St. Leo the Great School Louisville KY 1906 St. Therese School Louisville KY 1907 St. Ann School Louisville KY 1907 St. Peter Claver School Louisville KY 1908 St. Mary High School Cumberland MD 1910 St. Francis of Assisi School Louisville KY 1911 St. Martin School Rome KY 1912 St. Augustine School New Straitsville OH 1915
DOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 11 SS Peter & Paul/ Ursuline Academy Cumberland MD 1892 St. Patrick School Mount Savage MD 1896 St. Joseph Children’sOrphange/Home
Name of School City State Year Started Schools that Ursulines served between 1858–1938 Sacred Heart Junior College and Normal School, accredited by the University of Kentucky, to meet the demand for higher education for women. At that time, there were few institutions where women could earn a secondary degree, and it was a way to educate their own Sisters. In 1938, Sacred Heart Junior College was expanded to a four-year institution and renamed Ursuline College. The Ursuline Sisters of Columbia, South Carolina, joined the Louisville Ursulines in 1938.
1. Under His Mighty Power, p. 33 2. Under His Mighty Power, p. 39 3. Annals of the Ursuline Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Louisville, 1858-1914, p. 3 4. Under His Mighty Power, p. 43 5. Annals of the Ursuline Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Louisville, 1858-1914, p. 18 6. Under His Mighty Power, p. 44 7. DOME magazine, winter 2020, p. 5 8. Under His Mighty Power, p. 62 9. Oral History Interview of Sister Claire Mountrey by Sister Concetta Waller, March 4, 1982
St. Francis de Sales School Morgantown WV 1915 Sacred Heart School Conemaugh PA 1915 St. Patrick Academy Sidney NE 1916 St. Mary School Rushville NE 1916 St. Patrick School North Platte NE 1916 St. Aloysius School Louisville KY 1916 St. Ambrose School Seymour IN 1917 St. Joseph School Diamond IN 1918 St. Mary School Washington IN 1918 St. Michael School S. Sioux City NE 1918 St. Michael/St. Therese School Omaha NE 1918 St. Bartholomew School Columbus IN 1919 Blessed Sacrament School Omaha NE 1920
1868
BY THE NUMBERS 12 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 | DOME From Bavaria
1869
CALIFORNIAOREGONWASHINGTON IDAHO montanawyoming utah colorado arizona mexiconew nebraskatexasoklahomakansassouthdakotanorthdakotaminnesota wisconsiN MICHIGAN iowamissouriarkansasMISSISSIPPI ALABAMA GEORGIA louisiana FLORIDA NEVADA CAROLINASOUTHwestvirginiaTENNESSEEKENTUCKY OHIO ILLINOIS INDIANA PENNSYLVANIA delawaremarylandRHODEconnecticutISLANDmassachusetts new virginiavermonthampshireNEWYORK newmainejersey 1858 CAROLINANORTH 1872 1858 1870 1869 191519381881 1915 1868 1883 1916
Ursuline Sisters from Bavaria arrive in Louisville, Kentucky to teach at St. Martin Parish 1868 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Indiana at St. Boniface School in Lafayette 1869 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Pennsylvania at Sts. Peter and Paul School in East Liberty 1870 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Maryland at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Cumberland 1872 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Illinois at Holy Childhood of Jesus School in Mascoutah 1881 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Tennessee at St. Mary School in Memphis 1883 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Missouri at Holy Ghost School in St. Louis 1915 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in West Virginia at St. Francis de Sales School in Morgantown 1916 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Nebraska at St. Patrick Academy in Sidney 1938 Ursulines of Columbia, South Carolina join Louisville; continue teaching at Ursuline School in Columbia 1915 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Ohio at St. Augustine School in New Straitsville
CALIFORNIAOREGONWASHINGTON IDAHO montanawyoming utah colorado arizona mexiconew nebraskatexasoklahomakansassouthdakotanorthdakotaminnesota wisconsiN MICHIGAN iowamissouriarkansasMISSISSIPPI ALABAMA GEORGIA louisiana FLORIDA NEVADA CAROLINASOUTHwestvirginiaTENNESSEEKENTUCKY OHIO ILLINOIS INDIANA PENNSYLVANIA delawaremarylandRHODEconnecticutISLANDmassachusetts new virginiavermonthampshireNEWYORK newmainejersey 1858 CAROLINANORTH 1872 1858 1870 1869 191519381881 1915 1868 1883 1916 1858
Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Illinois at Holy Childhood of Jesus School in Mascoutah 1881
1870
Ursuline Sisters of Louisville Ministry Arrival Dates by (throughState1938) 1858
1872
Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Pennsylvania at Sts. Peter and Paul School in East Liberty Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Maryland at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Cumberland
Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Indiana at St. Boniface School in Lafayette
Ursuline Sisters from Bavaria arrive in Louisville, Kentucky to teach at St. Martin Parish
Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Tennessee at St. Mary School in Memphis 1883 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Missouri at Holy Ghost School in St. Louis 1915 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in West Virginia at St. Francis de Sales School in Morgantown 1916 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Nebraska at St. Patrick Academy in Sidney 1938 Ursulines of Columbia, South Carolina join Louisville; continue teaching at Ursuline School in Columbia 1915 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Ohio at St. Augustine School in New Straitsville to Louisville and beyond: 1858–1938
120 NORTH CAROLINA HESSEN RHEINLAND- WURTTEMBERGNIEDERSACHSEN VORPOMMERNSCHLESWIG-BAVERIAHOLSTEIN Berlin Hamburg FrankfurtamMain Munich Koln Straubing GERMANY 0 20 40 60 80 100 54 17 109 11 6 8 23 66 8 3 Indiana MarylandPennsylvania Illinois Missouri Ohio VirginiaWest Nebraska CarolinaSouth Mississippi ProfessedPerpetual 1868 ProfessedTemporaryNovices 1933191820444323065 3723834 Membership Trends 9 of 27 One third of Mother Superiors/ Presidents came from missions outside of Kentucky DOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 13 BY THE NUMBERS Louisville Ursulines By the Numbers oklahomaminnesota wisconsiN MICHIGAN iowamissouriarkansasMISSISSIPPI ALABAMA GEORGIA louisiana FLORIDASOUTHCAROLINAwestvirginiaTENNESSEEKENTUCKY OHIO ILLINOIS INDIANA PENNSYLVANIA delawaremarylandRHODEconnecticutISLANDmassachusetts new virginiavermonthampshireNEWYORK newmainejersey CAROLINANORTH 1872 1858 1870 1869 191519381881 1915 1868 1883 NORTH CAROLINA HESSEN SAARLAND MECKLENBURGHORDRHEIN- SCHLESWIG-BAVERIASACHSEN-ANHALTHOLSTEIN Berlin Hamburg FrankfurtamMain Munich Koln Straubing GERMANY 1883 Ursuline Sisters begin teaching in Missouri at Holy Ghost School in St. Louis 9 of 27 One third of Mother Superiors/ Presidents came from missions outside of Kentucky 120 NORTH CAROLINA HESSEN SAARLAND VORPOMMERN BAVERIA BRANDENBURGSACHSENBerlin Hamburg Frankfurt MunichStraubing GERMANY 0 20 40 60 80 100 54 17 109 11 6 8 23 66 8 3 2 Indiana MarylandPennsylvania Illinois Missouri Ohio VirginiaWest Nebraska CarolinaSouth Mississippi Peru ProfessedPerpetual 1868 ProfessedTemporaryNovices 1933 19384193425191820444323065 3723834 Membership Trends 9 of 27 One third of Mother Superiors/ Presidents came from missions outside of Kentucky 120 NORTH CAROLINA PFALZ NIEDERSACHSEN VORPOMMERN WESTFALEN SCHLESWIG-BAVERIASACHSEN-ANHALT Berlin Hamburg am Main Munich Koln Straubing GERMANY 0 20 40 60 80 100 54 17 109 11 6 8 23 66 8 3 2 Indiana MarylandPennsylvania Illinois Missouri Ohio VirginiaWest Nebraska CarolinaSouth Mississippi Peru ProfessedPerpetual 1868 ProfessedTemporaryNovices 1933 19384193425191820444323065 3723834 Membership Trends 9 of 27 One third of Mother Superiors/ Presidents came from missions outside of Kentucky Dates Served Name Age 1858-1868 Mother Salesia Reitmeier 26 1868-1881 Mother Martina Nicklas 29 1881-1884 Mother Pia Schoenhofer 50 1884-1890 Mother Leandra Schweri 41 1890-1892 Mother Florence Meder 47 1892-1896 Mother Leandra Schweri 49 1896-1899 Mother Innocent Schlangen 51 1899-1908 Mother Theodore Guethoff 37 1908-1914 Mother Victoria Bernsen 44 1914-1920 Mother Angela Leininger 54 1920-1926 Mother Theodore Guethoff 58 1926-1932 Mother Chrysostom Luecker 55 1932-1938 Mother Petra Garthoeffner 54 1938-1944 Mother Roberta Zehe 50 Mother Superiors, 1858–1938 Vocations from Out-of-State Missions The number of vocations listed above are from 1858 to 2022, and includes novices, even those who did not make final vows.
It was a time when base Christian communities—neighbors, family, friends—came together to reflect on the scriptures and transfer their meanings to their daily lives. Faith took expression on the streets, in the park, in the factories and in the soup kitchens.Forthe Ursulines who traditionally were teachers, it was logical, that what we could bring to this dialogical ministry was an experience in education. We were asked to begin a school in a recently established “barrio” or “pueblo Joven” (new town), Carmen de le Legua. At the same time, two of the four sisters were to minister in the Peruvian naval school in another part of Lima.
We waited with great anticipation for news from our missionaries who, in the ’60s, could only rely on the Peruvian mail service to communicate newsletters. Most of us knew little about the joys and difficulties of the four sisters who led the effort until much later.
Deeply rooted in the charism of Angela, a contemplative love and an ardent desire to serve was more than enough to encourage these women to reach beyond borders. The story that unfolded probably surprised all the participants. Simply, the evangelizers became the evangelized. And those who needed religious and catechetical formation were indeed the catechists, those whose deep faith was manifested and celebrated in faithful devotion to the images of Jesus and Mary.
While there were occasional visits from Ursuline Sisters from the leadership team, basically, visits
In general, the Church saw itself as growing as missionaries took the gospel message to far-away lands. That is true since the time of Paul. Evangelization was, in a manner of thinking, a conquest that was “religious.” Latin America is an illustration of this school of thought. While we rejoiced with the faith sewn in the “New World,” we interpreted the absence of priests and catechists as a sign that the faith of the people was not alive and active. That was the situation in much of Latin America after the Spanish conquest, invasion and conversion. So, Pope Pius XII invited religious communities to send ten percent of their membership to Latin America to evangelize and respond to the spiritual need of thousands of the faithful. In the case of the Ursulines of Louisville, contact was made with the superior of the congregation, Mother Agnes Marie Long, and after communication between religious authorities, she, and her assistant Sister Delia Lynch, traveled to Peru to begin conversations, expressing a desire to be a part of this missionary effort. Reaching across borders was not new to the Ursulines: Italy to France to Germany to Louisville to Peru?
Sociologists tell us that the years move in cycles. Our lives. Historical events. Every part of our happening is connected to every other part. Our journey as a congregation has experienced this. To understand this, though, it is necessary to look back to history, the history of evangelization and being church in different cultures and places.
In addition to the Peruvian mail, the Sisters also began to rely on a Jesuit friend who had a ham radio. On a somewhat regular basis, we could count on contacting family and friends through ham radio conversations. One spoke a sentence or two and then “over” to allow the receptor to share the same and successively conclude with “over.”
14 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 | DOME PERUVIAN JOURNAL Rooted and Reaching
Later, two teachers from Sacred Heart Academy accompanied a group of students to Carmen de la Legua, and over three days established interesting and significant awarenesses on the part of north and south that we are all a part of a larger family. While many of our concerns, interests and difficulties are similar, there is a richness in the opportunity to share who we are and what we long for, coming from different realities and holding different dreams.
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And, as our community in Peru grew, so also did our communication with our Louisville community. It was probably in the late ’80s or early ’90s when it occurred to some of our Sisters that maybe a fax machine would help facilitate communication. What an innovation! We could receive written communication without waiting three or four weeks, or sometimes more for the mail to arrive.
PERUVIAN JOURNAL DOME | SPRING 2021 15 were scarce. Much of that changed in the ’80s. I remember clearly when Sister Betty (Jeanne Therese) Albers, requesting to make a visit to Peru, simply said, “I want to go to visit the Sisters.” She stayed for 18 years!
Footprints, and handprints, and heart prints are evidence that the charism of Angela Merici knows no border fences. And our various ministries in Peru have been at the heart of our Ursuline family.
The technology revolution of the ’90s, with the help of electronic mail, changed everything. It became much easier to share information of what was happening in Peru, what we were doing, and what many of our difficulties and blessings were. At the same time, we were better aware of the events and processes that the congregation was experiencing. One very significant “connection” happened when, for a short time, we had a Sister–parish relationship with Holy Spirit Parish in Louisville. There was a bonding, not only with the two parishes, but also with Saint Angela Merici School in Carmen de la Legua. The friendship from those visits continues to this day. In addition, and very significant to Saint Angela Merici School, were visits from some teachers from St. Francis of Assisi School, a traditionally Ursuline-staffed school. Almost at the same time, two professors from Bellarmine College, and later, a group of Bellarmine students, visited our school. These contacts and visits expanded our understanding of being in relationship with a broader and more global community. All the visitors were housed in our home.
Santa Angela Merici church yard, 1960s 50th Anniversary celebration, 2015
Over the course of many years there have been significant efforts on the part of individual Sisters to make contact, respond to specific needs, or share important resources: from musical instruments to art materials, to books and sports equipment, to mention a few. Many Sisters have contributed to the enrichment of Saint Angela Merici School in Carmen de la Legua over the years.
I can almost imagine that ah-hah moment when Jesus first realized these lessons that he later shared with us, lessons about the condition of our hearts and how receptive and fertile the soil of our hearts might be.
—Paul Tillich
There’s another plot of ground within my heart that is full of rocks and stones made up of core beliefs about myself and others that prevent the deep roots from developing. Some of my personal stones are perfectionism, procrastination and avoidance of conflict, just to name a few. How would you name yours? Then there are the weeds that grow up with the young plants, vying for the same sun and nutrients needed to grow. For some reason, it seems that the weeds always win this battle. Worry, anxiety and fear are the weeds that grow and spread throughout my heart and look and sound a little bit like: W hat if this or that happens? W hat if I don’t have enough? W hat if I fail or disappoint? W hat if I’m notWhatenough?about you? What do the weeds in your heart look and sound like?Finally, yes finally, there is soil within my heart, within all of our hearts, that is free of rocks, stones and weeds, soil that is moist, open, soft and full of what is needed to allow what is planted to grow and bearPaulfruit.Tillich, a 20th century theologian, tells us that the Creator of the cosmos is “… the ground of our being.” It is the essence of the Divine in our hearts that receives, nurtures and allows the seeds of our lives to grow.There is nothing other-worldly about these seeds. They are the innate gifts, talents and passions with which we are born. They are the seeds of love and life, compassion, kindness, acceptance and understanding. They are the seeds that make us more fully human by allowing the Divine within us to bear fruit. But what of the hardened, stone and weed infested ground in our hearts? Do we just forget it and chalk it all up as a loss?
God is the ground of our being.
Of course not. Any farmer or gardener worth their salt knows that earth can be reclaimed and restored to
I know, for myself, there are places in my heart that have been hardened by the wounds I have experienced. They are dried out and depleted by the searing heat of the pain and suffering caused by these wounds. What has hardened your heart?
Jesus knew this, too. He saw the farmers around him trying to feed their families and squeak out something of a living by what they could grow. He often used stories about seeds, planting, weeds and harvesting to teach lessons about God’s ultimate reality. One such story is about a farmer casting out seed on his fields. Some of it fell on hard ground and was immediately devoured by birds. Some of the seed fell on gravel and sprouted but was not able to put down roots and withered away under the sun’s heat. Some fell in the weeds and were choked back. Finally, some seeds fell on good earth and did what seeds are supposed to do, and produced a great harvest for the farmer. (Mt 13:3-9)
Rooted in the Ground of Our Being
Even though I grew up in a rural, farming area and, to this day, love flowers blooming in my yard, I am not much of a gardener. I do know that plants can be picky about the type of soil in which they can grow. Sometimes it is the ph level. Other times it is the composition—is it sandy and does it drain well, or does it tend to stay moist or even wet? It is also about location, location, location—full sun, partial sun or shade can determine a plant’s health. Plants want to grow, but they need what they need to do so.
16 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 | DOME ANGELA MERICI CENTER: ROOTED BY GINNY SCHAEFFER
DOME | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 17 ANGELA MERICI CENTER: ROOTED
Upcoming AMC Spirituality Events: Prayer in the Spirit of Taizé: Second Monday of the month 7:00 Ursulinepm Motherhouse Chapel 3115 Lexington Road Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12
Follow us on Facebook at: amcspirituality or visit www.amcspirituality.org to see our virtual Taizé prayer services and reflections. You may also sign up to receive updates in your inbox! Please email us at amc@ursulineslou.org for more information and to sign up. There is nothing other-worldly about these seeds. They are the innate gifts, talents and passions with which we are born. They are the seeds of love and life, compassion, kindness, acceptance and understanding. They are the seeds that make us more fully human by allowing the Divine within us to bear fruit.
its life-giving essence. It needs attention—to be cared for and nurtured. Sometimes it needs to rest. Other times it needs to be turned over, watered and nutrients restored. We do this with our hearts by cooperating with its Creator. We stay connected to the One in whom “...we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) through the usual practices of prayer, meditation, reflection, ritual and reading sacred texts. But wait, there’s more. In Philippians 4:8, St. Paul encourages us to fill our minds, and thus our hearts, with what is true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious— the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse. When we focus on these things, we eventually discover that there is not as much room for rocks and stones and weeds, and that our hardened hearts once again become soft, receptive and full of what is needed to bear fruit to share with the world.
Sabbath Moments: Saturdays, 10 am–12 pm Ursuline Motherhouse 3115 Lexington Road Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 12, Dec. 10
Born a Buddhist in Shanghai, China, during WWII, Jacqueline Yung Tao attended third grade in a private Catholic school run by Franciscan nuns in a French section of the city. Shanghai was under Japanese occupation, where sirens and possible air attacks kept everyone on alert. Three years after the war ended in 1945, there was a period of peace before the eventual takeover by the communists. This was the deciding factor for her father to send his family of six to safety in Taiwan. They left him and their possessions behind, taking only two suitcases filled with photographs and pictures.
18 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 | DOME PLANNED GIVING College Scholarship Gave Asian Student an Escape from Communist China
December 1948 was the last time Jacqueline saw her father. She was eleven years old. Her education and religion would be the guiding factors for her future. Her high school in Taiwan was near a Catholic church, where she spent a lot of time and met several Sisters from Kentucky. She converted to Catholicism and was baptized. Jacqueline was chosen by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville to receive a full four-year scholarship to attend Ursuline College in Louisville, Kentucky, where several Asian students were enrolled or had graduated.Jacqueline said, “It was extremely hard for a high schooler to get a Taiwan passport, much less a visa to the United States. Sister Raymond Carter, academic dean of Ursuline College at that time, intervened and wrote many letters on my behalf so I could attend the college, beginning in 1957. Plans materialized to get me to Louisville, but with limited English and traveling alone, it wasn’t an easy journey. I purchased a big leather suitcase to pack for America. My first stop was Hong Kong. While there, I was able to contact my father for the first time since fleeing China eight years earlier. It was the last time I ever spoke with him.“With my one large suitcase and a big itinerary, it took me multiple days to reach my destination in Kentucky. From Tokyo, I zigzagged to Fairbanks, Alaska; then to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; to Seattle; to Los Angeles; to Chicago; and finally to Louisville, where I met Sister Raymond for the first“Initially,time. I came to the United States to attend Ursuline College as a special trainee in religion, under the sponsorship of Archbishop A. Riberi, Internuncio of Free China, who worked with converts in his religious program in Taiwan. Plans changed course during my four years of studies. I majored in liberal arts and home economics.
Left: Tao family before Jacqueline left Taiwan for United States Above: Sister Raymond Carter, Ursuline College Dean of Academics
PLANNED GIVING
After graduation, I went to New York City, and eventually became a junior accountant. In New York, I met my husband, John Herde. We were married in 1965 and will celebrate our 57th anniversary this fall. We have two wonderful daughters, Jennifer and Juliana, and four grandchildren. We have traveled worldwide and are now retired in Virginia to be with our family.”
John and Jacqueline (center) with daughters Jennifer (L) and Juliana (R ) behind them with their spouses and children
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Jacqueline stayed in contact with several Asian classmates after she graduated from Ursuline College in 1961, but most important was her connection to Sister Raymond Carter, who championed her journey to Louisville from Taiwan and her college enrollment in Kentucky, and who gave her guidance and advice over the years. “Sister kept me up to date with everything going on at Ursuline College. She helped me stay in America.”Recently,her daughter, Juliana, sent a donation that was originally intended to be her mother’s planned gift in memory of Sister Raymond and for the Chapel Preservation Fund. Sending it now, rather than later, assured the family that her gift would be used as intended, and more importantly, while her mother was still alive. Jacqueline added, “It is rewarding to do so, and makes me feel good to be able to give back to the school that did so much for me. Because of the Ursuline community, I was able to come and stay in the U.S. and live a wonderful 60-plus years as a citizen.”
Top and Right: Wedding Photos, October 23, 1965 in Manhattan Below: 50th Anniversary Celebration – Jacqueline and John Herde
3115 Lexington Road Louisville, Kentucky www.ursulinesisterslouisville.org40206 FORWARDING SERVICE REQUESTED www.ursulinesisterslouisville.org Follow us on @UrsulinesLouTwitter!Like us on facebook.com/UrsulinesLouisvilleFacebook! Our Mission Teaching Christian living is the corporate mission of the Ursuline Sisters. This ministry, cutting across socio-economic, racial and national boundaries, assists women, men and children to live more fully and to develop a personal relationship with God. August 2–5, 2022 Community Days Walk In Faith/Camina Con Fe
