Catholic Sisters Week 2026
Each year, Catholic Sisters Week (March 8–14) offers an opportunity to celebrate the lives and ministries of women religious whose work continues to shape communities across the world. For the Sisters of Divine Providence, this week is also an invitation to reflect on a mission that has unfolded in Texas for nearly 160 years.
The Sisters arrived in Texas in October of 1866, responding to a need for education among children who had few opportunities for schooling. From the beginning, however, their mission was to respond to the needs of the moment, wherever Providence called them. In the early twentieth century, that response included outreach to Mexican-American communities and migrant families, which eventually led to the founding of the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence in 1930.
Education became one of the most visible expressions of that mission. The Sisters opened schools across Texas and helped establish institutions that continue to serve communities today. That work continues through ministries like Providence Catholic School, which celebrates 75 years of forming students within a tradition rooted in faith, academic excellence, and community.
Our Lady of the Lake University, now celebrating 130 years, remains a place where scholarship and service come together. The University has long served as a gathering place for ideas and leadership, including hosting conversations that contributed to the founding of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
Throughout their history, the Sisters have consistently responded to communities where needs were often overlooked. Some mentored students who struggled academically, guiding them patiently until confidence took root. Others opened new pathways for working adults through programs like OLLU’s Weekend College. Sisters also worked alongside communities through organizing and social outreach, helping families strengthen neighborhoods and access needed resources.
In many cases, their ministries brought them to people facing illness, stigma, and hardship. One Sister used art therapy with patients living with HIV at a time when physical contact with those suffering from the disease was widely feared. Others helped establish neighborhood programs for children and families. Across the decades, Sisters have quietly walked alongside the communities they serve, trusting that Providence was already at work in those encounters.
This same spirit continues through ministries today. At the Madonna Center, which has served the community for more than 85 years, programs respond to neighborhood needs with compassion and practical support. Merced Housing Texas, celebrating 30 years, provides stable and dignified housing for families.
The Sisters have also long welcomed spaces where people can pause, listen, and discern the movement of Providence within their lives. In Castroville, the property that is now the Moye Retreat Center first served as the motherhouse of the Sisters in Texas, a place of community life, prayer, and formation. For generations, the space has welcomed people seeking reflection and renewal. Today, as a retreat center, it continues that tradition as a place where individuals and groups gather, share stories, and accompany one another in moments of transition and discernment.
Behind each of these ministries are individual Sisters whose dedication shaped the communities around them. Professors, counselors, musicians, archivists, organizers, chaplains, and educators have carried the mission forward in different ways. Some helped build academic programs and research centers. Others created spaces of belonging for students and alumni.
Together, their lives reveal a pattern that runs throughout the history of the Sisters of Divine Providence: a willingness to listen, to gather people together, and to respond creatively to the needs of the moment.
That spirit continues today through partnerships with educators, students, volunteers, CDP Associates, and community leaders who share in the mission.
During Catholic Sisters Week, the Sisters of Divine Providence will share stories from across their ministries and history, highlighting the people and communities who continue to live this mission today. From classrooms and universities to community programs, housing initiatives, and places of prayer and discernment, these stories reflect the many ways Providence continues to unfold.