Heritage

Early History

The "Project"
When I was an assistant in the parish of St. Victor at Metz, I began to form the project of sending young women into the countryside, and especially to the remotest hamlets, to instruct the children and other people who needed instruction. Since that thought did not leave me, I had reason to believe it came from God.

However, according to the rules of prudence, I wanted to consult the authorities, and it was only after eight years—in 1762 or 1763—that I proposed my plan to Fr. Bertin, at that time vicar general of the diocese of Metz. Fr. Bertin rejected the project as impracticable; then, upon reflection, he said—and these are his exact words—
“Great things have small beginnings; begin with little.”

With these words, John Martin Moye, a parish priest in the Alsace Lorraine region of France, described the “small beginnings” of the Sisters of Divine Providence. Moved by the poverty, ignorance and spiritual deprivation of the rural poor, Moye envisioned a group of courageous, devoted young women whom he could prepare and send wherever they were needed, with no other dependence but Providence.

Marguerite Lecomte
In January, 1762, Father Moye sent the first of these young teachers, alone or by twos to the villages.He urged them to practice four virtues: abandonment to Divine Providence, simplicity, poverty, and charity. He stressed especially the first spiritual work, education. Marguerite Lecomte, a woman in her twenties, was the first to collaborate with Moye in this “project” and she is recognized as the first Sister of Providence.

"Sisters of Providence"
Moye’s schools for poor children soon spread throughout the country and his Sisters became a vibrant religious Congregation. They were called by various names at first: Sisters of the Infant Jesus or Sisters of Christian Schools or even Poor Sisters; however, the people of the villages named them, "Sisters of Providence," because Divine Providence, through the Sisters, took care of them. This name endures today.

St. Jean-de-Bassel
During the French Revolution religious congregations were suppressed. Many of the religious Sisters and priests were forced into exile in the 1780’s. Moye and the Sisters went to Germany where Moye died in 1791. After the Revolution, the Sisters came together again in France. Eventually several groups emerged—largely based on language and culture and the communities they served. By 1826 Moye’s “project” of dedicated women had grown and become a flourishing Congregation with the Motherhouse at St. Jean-de-Bassel in France. By their 1839 Constitution, they took vows and bound themselves to the observance of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It is from this place and this community that the Sisters of Divine Providence came to Texas.