Spiritual Reflections at, TX US - Bishop Claude M. Dubuis, Founder of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word

It was the aftermath of the Civil War in 1866 Galveston. Smallpox, diphtheria, yellow fever, mosquitoes, heat, rattlesnakes and storms were some of the challenges that faced the struggling population. That year, three French nuns, strangers in a strange land, answered the call of the Bishop of Texas to care for the sick and suffering. In 1866, the critical needs of people of Texas prompted Claude Marie Dubuis, Bishop of Texas, to write a letter to Mother Angelique, Superior of the Monastery of the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Lyons, France: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in the persons of a multitude of the sick and infirm of every kind, seeks relief at your hands." These immortal words initiated a process that culminated in the founding of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Galveston, Texas in 1866 and three years later, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Bishop Dubuis had returned to his native France to seek religious women who would care for the numerous persons ravished by disease and poverty in his vast diocese. Several congregations found themselves unable to respond to his request. He then turned to his friend, Mother Angelique, Superior of the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Lyons, France, a cloistered order founded in the 17th century by Mother Jeanne Chezard de Matel. Because it was a cloistered community, Mother Angelique was not able to respond directly to Bishop Dubuis' request. However, she was ready to fulfill another portion of this request--to prepare women willing to respond to the needs of the Church in Texas. Very quickly, three nurses volunteered to join Bishop Dubuis. On Sept. 23, 1866, they received the habit of the new congregation-and the names, Sister Blandine of Jesus, Sister Joseph of Jesus and Sister St. Ange. Two days later they left for Texas in the steamship Tybee. Arriving in Galveston on Oct. 25, 1866, the three founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. On April 1, 1867, they opened Charity Hospital, the first Catholic hospital in Texas. Only a few months later, a major yellow fever epidemic, the worst in the history of the city, struck Galveston. The disease took the life of Mother Blandine, the superior of the tiny congregation. Sister Ange also developed yellow fever, but she recovered. Eventually the epidemic passed, and four more sisters who had been carefully educated in Lyons arrived to join Sister Joseph, who then became the superior. In 1869 the name of Charity Hospital was changed to St. Mary's Infirmary. The increase in membership in the congregation and the urgent needs throughout Texas resulted in an extension of the sisters' work. Early in l869 a cholera epidemic in San Antonio prompted Bishop Dubuis to seek help from the Galveston community. Three sisters responded, leaving Galveston by stagecoach for San Antonio. On Oct. 21 Mother Madeleine, Sister Pierre and Sister Agnes began their ministry at Santa Rosa infirmary, which served as both hospital and convent. The first Mass was celebrated there on Dec. 3, 1869. The following year Bishop Dubuis made the congregations in Galveston and San Antonio independent foundations. In 1872 Mother St. Pierre was appointed Superior of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. In 1928 the Generalate of the Galveston Congregation moved to the Villa de Matel in Houston. Over the next century the two religious congregations expanded their ministries into other geographic areas and services. Included in these were two large, independent health systems serving the health needs of communities in five states. In September of 1997, in order to strengthen their ability to reach out to those in need and provide the best in health care, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Houston announced plans to combine the health care organizations they sponsor. In July 1998 they signed a letter of intent calling for virtually all assets of the two health care systems to become part of CHRISTUS Health. On Feb. 1, 1999, that dream became a reality, and CHRISTUS Health was born. From the 1866 founding call of Bishop Dubuis of Galveston, the CHRISTUS Mission was established: To extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to all persons in need.

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