Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland kick off Sesquicentennial celebration
(July 26, 1999; Cleveland, Ohio) The Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland are celebrating their 150th Anniversary of ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland. The special Sesquicentennial commemoration begins with a Liturgy of the Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Anthony M. Pilla on Sunday, August 1 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Cleveland and closes with the dedication of a Sesquicentennial Garden on August 6, 2000.
Saint Angela Merici founded the Ursuline Sisters in Italy in 1535. The Ursulines dedicated themselves to the education of young girls. In 1850, four Sisters arrived in Cleveland from France, and within a month opened a school for 300 children. Today, the congregation has 270 Sisters whose primary ministry continues to be education at all levels (pre-school, elementary, high school and college), but has also expanded into pastoral ministry in parishes, hospitals, nursing and wholistic health services.
Although the Ursuline Sisters have concentrated their ministry on people in Greater Cleveland, the Sisters have also served since 1968 as missionaries in El Salvador. Today, Cleveland Ursulines serve in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Montana, Indiana, Mexico and New York.
The theme of the year-long celebration is "150 Years: God's Abundant Blessings." Sr. Virginia DeVinne, General Superior, says, "The theme of our sesquicentennial celebration was chosen to emphasize that God has held us and will continue to hold us in loving care, now and for all eternity."
Between now and August, 2000, a series of events will bring together the thousands of women and men who have been and continue to be educated by the Ursulines in local parish elementary schools, as well as the women who were educated at the three former high schools -- Ursuline Academy, Sacred Heart Academy and Villa Angela Academy -- and continue to be educated at Beaumont School and Ursuline College.
The calendar of Sesquicentennial events is as follows:
In addition, a benefit is planned for May, 2000 to raise funds to extend the ministries of the Sisters. The event will be co-chaired by Christine Voinovich and her daughter, Deborah Voinovich McCann.
The Ursulines’ first Cleveland location, Ursuline Academy, was the Judge Cowles residence, a two-story brick building on Euclid Avenue near Erie Street. The building was purchased by Bishop Amadeus Rappe, the first bishop of Cleveland, and opened by the four sisters from the Convent of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, on August 8, 1850.
In 1893, after the Euclid Avenue property was sold, the Motherhouse on Scovill Avenue and E. 55th Street was erected. In 1958, the Ursuline Motherhouse was relocated to its current location at 2600 Lander Road in Pepper Pike.
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Contact:
Sister Maureen Doyle, OSU
Phone: 216-771-8014
or
Ms. Mary Patton
Phone: 216-479-7788, ext. 1354
Email: mary@vantageone.com