URSULINE SISTERS

Compiled by Marian Noll, OSU

Legend has it that St. Ursula, a Christian princess, sailed from her homeland in Britain to the mainland. On the shores of Gaul her ship was wrecked and she and her companions were martyred by pagans. In the Middle Ages, universities throughout Europe chose Ursula as the patron of learning, and the common people revered her as a virgin martyr. When St. Angela Merici founded the Ursuline Order in Brescia, Italy, in 1535, she chose for the foundation date the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, also a virgin martyr, and placed the order under the name and patronage of St. Ursula. These women symbolize for Ursulines the call to love and fidelity, a commitment signified also in Angela's motto, Soli Deo Gloria, Glory to God Alone.

The Ursuline Order spread quickly throughout Europe, especially to France and Germany. By the 19th century it had spread throughout the world. It is to this rich and varied tapestry of Ursuline history that the Ursulines of Bruno add their own unique design and texture. Mother Clara Erpenbeck and a companion made a quick exploratory trip to St. Peter's Colony, a settlement only 11 years old with German speaking immigrants. The sisters marvelled at the welcome they received. On Sept. 2, 1913, the first group of Ursulines, Mother Clara and with her Mother Angela Hasselkuess of the Ursulines of Cologne, arrived in Muenster to take charge of the parochial "school," two rooms, now used for sacristy and storage space, at the back of the cathedral. Hospitality and generosity characterized the people of the abbacy. The three Sisters of St. Elizabeth, housekeepers for the Benedictines, temporarily shared their tiny quarters with the Ursulines until their own residence/boarding school was ready early in January 1914.

The Ursuline chronicle tells of the Muenster people's generosity with food and milk, a generosity exemplified by Abbot Bruno. The chronicle reports, "We even saw him coming from the abbey one day balancing a mattress on his head. He had noticed that one was lacking."

Pleas from other parishes for sisters to come and teach continued to come to Mother Clara. A genuine daughter of St. Angela and a true pioneer, she took into consideration the needs and circumstances of the time and made the necessary adaptations. For example, when Mother Xaveria Sutcliffe and Sister Laurentia Christen arrived from Winnipeg on April 22, Mother Clara answered a desperate plea from the Bruno parish to take over the school of 45 pupils whose elderly teacher had died very suddenly. Despite the tradition that said Ursulines never travelled or lived alone, Mother Clara went alone to Bruno where she began teaching on April 23, 1914. In 1913 Mother Clara had applied to the convent in Haseluenne for more sisters. On July 27, 1914, seven sisters embarked on an old steamer. Their destiny: Montreal, and from there to St. Peter's Colony in Saskatchewan. Drama on the high seas intervened. On Aug. 4 the ship's captain received a cablegram with the message: "England declares war on Germany." The old Wittekind, with its valuable cargo and 323 passengers, had been spotted by the British. Drawing only 12 - 13 knots, she was a sure target for British cruisers. Emergency measures began at once, but first of all Captain Lembill approached the sisters. "Pray for fog," he said. "A dense fog is our only salvation." So the sisters prayed; a heavy fog rolled in, but no fog horn sounded and a complete blackout prevailed. Under cover of night, the ship was painted in American colors; the Stars and Stripes replaced the German flag; the course was changed to Boston. Fear gripped even the bravest until the ship reached American waters and at last docked safely in Boston harbor on Aug. 9.

With the arrival of the seven sisters it was possible to staff parish schools not only in Muenster but also in Bruno and Leofeld. Several sisters also served temporarily as housekeepers and sacristans for Bishop Albert Pascal and about 12 Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Prince Albert. Parishioners in Dead Moose Lake, later called Marysburg, were constructing a large, well-planned building that seemed to be an ideal site for the sisters' headquarters. When the Marysburg convent/school opened on Jan. 4, 1915, the sisters from Prince Albert transferred there, and the house was established as the Ursuline Convent.

During the war all communication with the motherhouse in Haseluenne was cut off, and it was impossible to consult authorities there about major decisions that had to be made in the mission field. So Bishop Pascal asked Rome to grant autonomy to the fledgling community on the western Prairies. On May 31, 1916, the convent officially received the right to set up its own novitiate and to make the decisions necessary to maintain and further this foundation. Mother Clara was named the first superior.

Meanwhile, a number of sisters attended three month courses at Normal School (Teachers' College) to supplement their European teacher training and to qualify them to teach in the public schools. By 1918 it was clear that the convent in Marysburg was no longer adequate for the expanding motherhouse, mainly because the railroad had bypassed the little settlement. At the same time, hopes and dreams revived for a girls' academy in the area. St. Bruno Parish offered an excellent piece of property and pledged $5,000 toward the building project. The sisters accepted the offer and excavations began at once (1918). Henry Dust did the excavation for the building, gratis, with horses and shovel, and the townspeople transported the building materials free of charge. But money was needed to pay the architect and contractors, and the cost of the building materials was more than the sisters could save from their monthly salaries of $25. They had been unable to bring any money from Germany and could expect no help from that source because of the war. A reluctant house-to-house canvassing among the abbacy parishioners (many themselves poor) netted $2, 500. In early November, 1919, the brick and tile convent in Bruno was completed, the novitiate moved from Marysburg to Bruno, and on Nov. 11 the new building was blessed by Abbot Ordinary Michael Ott, OSB. The Ursuline Sisters had a permanent home. The generosity of the people combined with the frugality of the sisters made the dream become reality.

Beginning in September 1922, the Ursuline Sisters offered a unique type of education for girls at St. Ursula Academy in Bruno. Students came to the boarding school mainly from across the abbacy but, as the academy's reputation for excellence in education spread, many girls came from farther afield. In addition to positions in Muenster (1913), Leofeld (1913), Bruno (1914) and Marysburg (1915), the Ursulines began to teach in Lake Lenore (1921), Watson (1924), Humboldt (1927), Annaheim (1927), Englefeld (1950), Carmel (1950), Cudworth (1957), St. Benedict (1958), Delta, B.C. (1959), Whalley, B.C. (1964), and Saskatoon (1965). A private girls' school, St. Angela Academy, also opened in 1965 in Delta, B.C. The coming of the Ursulines to St. Peter's Abbacy had fulfilled a very real need to teach the children of the German Catholic settlers: to complement their Christian family life with religious instruction, to give them a good academic background, and to enrich their lives with an appreciation for music and art.

Many sisters who had spent years of fruitful service in teaching felt called to devote themselves to other areas. Over the years these have included ministries in such areas as catechetics, parish ministry, family life, hospital and prison chaplaincy, adult faith education, work with youth, service in the foreign missions, social justice education and journalism. The number of members of the Ursulines of Bruno reached a high of more than 100 in the 1960s. These were also the years of the greatest expansion, when the sisters accepted to teach in more schools and established local houses.Times and circumstances change rapidly these days. Some needs disappear while others emerge. But Ursulines continue to look to St. Angela for inspiration. Her predominant focus was to respond to the needs of her contemporary society by renewing family life through fostering Christian values. Mother Clara and her companions responded to the needs of their time by providing educational opportunities for the families in the St. Peter's Colony.

The Ursulines of Bruno still seek to cultivate holistic family life, whether by working in the school system or in the varied ministries in which they are engaged. Here as elsewhere, the modern family experiences stress and threats to its stability. In an effort to help families cope, the sisters originated two specific family oriented projects. The Merici Centre was established in Regina in 1982. Its goal was to give parents of infants and young children a basic foundation in parenting skills, to help them provide the kind of care for their infants, from birth to three years, that would ensure good mental health for the babies. In their first ministry to refugees, the Ursulines sponsored and adopted a family of 6 orphaned Vietnamese girls. These girls arrived in Bruno Oct.31, 1979 undernourished, frightened, knowing not a word of English, and owning not much more than the clothes on their backs. The sisters found joy in watching and helping the girls develop into poised, fluent, confident young women. All the teaching, housekeeping, and mothering skills of the sisters were mustered and put to the service of that little family. And when, after some years, the first of the girls was married, the marriage service was held in the convent chapel and the wedding banquet and dance in the sister's dining room. The sponsoring of these six Vietnamese girls was followed by that of two Kurdish families from Iraq (1988 and 1993) and two Eritrea (1990 and 1995). All of these refugee families come regularly to the convent to visit and to show off their growing children.

In this year of celebrating 75 years of the Muenster Diocese, the Ursulines feel a deep sense of gratitude to the Benedictines and the pioneers who requested their presence in the diocese; to those who in subsequent years supported and befriended them in their apostolate, their cultural pursuits and their building expansions; to their associates; to those who collaborate with them in countless ways. They look forward in trust to continued support and collaboration as they try to make their lives an expression of St. Angela's motto, Soli Deo Gloria, Glory to God alone.