Our Story!

Incarnate Word's Call Leads
to Texas and Beyond ---

The birth of Jeanne Chezard de Matel, November 6, 1596, in Roanne was an answer to prayer. Her mother, Jeanne, had previously had four pregnancies, in which the babies were still born or died at or soon after birth. The couple longed to have a family, and they prayed and sacrificed for this intention. Their prayer was heard, and in spite of many complications during the pregnancy, little Jeanne was born. The precocious young girl delighted her parents and had a happy childhood in spite of her too-often absent father who held a position in the King's court in Paris. She was also plagued by a severe recurring malaria-like illness which left her moody and irritable.

She was a pious young girl and except for a period during her teen years when her attention was diverted from her religious practices, Jeanne continued to grow in love of God and prayer. During her twenties, she spent six years trying to discern her vocation. One day during her prayer, she was told, "I have destined you to institute an order in my name." She would later learn, through prayer, that the title of the new Order would be "Incarnate Word" and that she was to carry the name of the Incarnate Word to the ends of the earth. In response to this request, Jeanne began the Order on July 2, 1625, in Roanne, France. Before her death in 1670, this great mystic, writer and spiritual director had established houses in Lyons, Grenoble, Avignon, and Paris.

After Jeanne's death the Order continued to bring the Incarnate Word to the people until the French Revolution during which the Order was dispersed. After the war, Father Stephen Denis brought together several of the dispersed members and restored the Order which continued to grow in France.

In response to an invitation from Bishop Jean Odin, the first Bishop of Texas, Mother St. Claire Valentine and three companions left their native France and founded the first American convent in Brownsville on February 26, 1853. These valiant women soon increased in number and were asked to expand northward. Consequently, the house in Victoria was founded by Mother St. Claire Valentine and five companions on December 21, 1866. From this foundation, The Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Victoria, Texas, along with Sister Congregations in Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas, and Cleveland, Ohio, and with many Sisters in Mexico, now serve in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. They serve primarily through ministries of prayer, Christian education, and health care according to the needs of the Church today.

(Left Picture: Sisters share stories; Top Picture: Icon of Jeanne de Matel, our Foundress; Bottom left: Lone Star Ship on which early Sisters sailed from Mexico on last leg of voyage to Texas; Bottom right: Sister Charlene and students)