“Imagine love becoming Incarnate and dwelling among us.” These words encapsulate the mission of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Church. This church is not just a building. It is a beacon of hope and service in San Antonio.
The story of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Church begins in Lyons France. It started in 1625 with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Jean Marie Odin sought volunteers to work in Texas missions. Four sisters answered the call. Frances Valentine was among them. They arrived in Galveston on June 29 1852.
The sisters learned English and Spanish before moving to Brownsville in March 1853. Their first house was small. Later they secured a four-room house. By November their first convent was complete. They started a boarding and day school.
At Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis request Sister St. Claire opened Nazareth Academy in Victoria in 1867. She worked with volunteers from Europe. From 1874 to 1895 the sisters participated in a community system. Parents wanted a public school. They demanded the nuns wear secular clothes. This ended the arrangement.
During this time they also opened a school for African Americans. Protests by black Protestant ministers forced it to close. Recruits from France Ireland and Texas enabled them to expand their educational efforts. Nazareth Academy added a commercial school in 1911. It received state accreditation in 1917.
After 1900 the sisters taught in parochial schools in Cuero Falls City San Antonio and La Grange. Sister Superior M. Ignatius McKeon and three sisters opened a school in Corpus Christi in 1871. This became the motherhouse for the Brownsville and Corpus Christi sisters. They operated Christopher College and several parochial schools.
In 1873 an independent institution formed in Houston. It came from the Victoria Community. The Houston sisters operated a motherhouse a high school Our Lady of Perpetual Help Junior College and Incarnate Word Academy. They also ran Bishop Byrne High School and other parochial schools.
Two other communities formed from the Victoria house: Shiner and Halletsville. In 1939 they joined the Victoria group. They became the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of San Antonio. Their motherhouse was in Victoria. Besides schools the sisters operated Burns Hospital and Huth Memorial Hospital. They evangelized and educated youth in rural Texas parishes. The order spread throughout Texas and beyond.
The sisters contributed greatly to Catholic education. Their convents were places of refuge for religious women fleeing persecution in Mexico. In 1926 a small group settled in Ohio after crossing the border from Mexico to Texas. They received assistance there.
In the 1990s the order had four independent United States foundations. They were in Houston Corpus Christi Victoria and Cleveland Ohio. Five independent centers existed in Mexico. They branched across the border from Brownsville. In 1981 the nine independent congregations signed a document. It expressed their common heritage mission and purpose.
In 1926 the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament started administering and teaching at a Catholic high school. It was at 1135 Mission Road in San Antonio. For 60 years Blessed Sacrament Academy served as an all-girls high school. It sometimes took in boarders elementary students and Cuban refugees.
In 1986 the Congregation refocused its mission. It created the programs that exist on campus today. These programs include a Child Development Center a Parents Academy and Por Vida Academy Charter High School.
The Child Development Center provides a safe learning environment for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. The Parents Academy began in 1994. It has helped thousands of parents. Por Vida Academy Charter High School is an alternative high school. It helps teens finish school.
The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Church continues to extend the Gospel of love and mercy. They serve as the visible presence of God in the world. They carry the name of the Incarnate Word throughout the earth.