Ursulines

Last updated
Order of Saint Ursula
AbbreviationOSU
Named after Saint Ursula
Predecessor Angelines
Established1572;452 years ago (1572)
Founder Angela Merici
Type Enclosed religious order
Prioress General
Susan Flood
Affiliations Catholic Church
Saint Ursula, painted by
Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1455-1460) Sant'Orsola.jpg
Saint Ursula, painted by
Benozzo Gozzoli (c.1455–1460)

The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of women that in 1572 branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula. The Ursulines trace their origins to the Angeline foundress Angela Merici and likewise place themselves under the patronage of Saint Ursula. While the Ursulines took up a monastic way of life under the Rule of Saint Augustine, the Angelines operate as a secular institute. The largest group within the Ursulines is the Ursulines of the Roman Union.

Contents

History

In 1572 in Milan, under Charles Borromeo, the Archbishop of Milan, members of the Company of Saint Ursula chose to become an enclosed religious order. Pope Gregory XIII placed them under the Rule of Saint Augustine. Especially in France, groups of the company began to re-shape themselves as cloistered nuns, under solemn vows, and dedicated to the education of girls within the walls of their monasteries. [1]

In the following century, the Ursuline nuns were strongly encouraged and supported by Francis de Sales. They were called the "Ursuline nuns" as distinct from the "federated Ursulines" of the company, who preferred to follow the original way of life. Both forms of life continued to spread throughout Europe and beyond. [2]

At the beginning of the 18th century, the period of its greatest growth, the order was represented by 20 congregations, 350 convents and from 15,000 to 20,000 nuns. [3] [4]

Ursulines in North America

Canada

The Ursuline sisters were not the first Catholic nuns to land in the new world. They were preceded by the Hieronymites in 1585 in Mexico City, who established the convent of San Jerónimo y Santa Paula. [5] In 1639, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, two other Ursuline nuns, three Augustinian sisters and a Jesuit priest left France for a mission in New France in what is now the Province of Quebec, Canada. When they arrived in the summer of 1639, they studied the languages of the native peoples and then began to educate the native children. [6] They taught reading and writing as well as needlework, embroidery, drawing, and other domestic arts. [7] [8] The Ursuline convent in Quebec City is the oldest educational institution for women in North America. [9] Their work helped to preserve a religious spirit among the French population and to evangelize native peoples of New France.

United States

The first Ursulines arrived at Mobile, Alabama, in 1719 (though information is contradictory from remaining and available sources). In 1727, 12 Ursulines from France landed in what is now New Orleans. The entire group of Ursulines were the first Roman Catholic nuns in what is now the United States. Both properties were part of the French colony of Louisiana (New France). They came to the country under the auspices of Pope Pius III and Louis XV of France. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, their charter came under the jurisdiction of the United States. [10]

They instituted a convent and school, both of which continue today. [11] Ursuline Academy (New Orleans) is the oldest continually operating Catholic school in the United States and the oldest girls school in the United States. [12] The Ursuline tradition holds many United States firsts in its dedication to the growth of individuals, including the first female pharmacist, first woman to contribute a book of literary merit, first convent, first free school and first retreat center for ladies, first classes for female slaves (which continued until abolition), free women of color (a unique New Orleans group also known as Creoles of Color) and Native Americans. In the Mississippi Valley region, Ursulines provided the first social welfare center. [13]

The tombstone of the Ursuline Sisters in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (New Rochelle, New York) Ursuline Sisters tombstone in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.jpg
The tombstone of the Ursuline Sisters in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (New Rochelle, New York)

The Old Ursuline Convent is located in the Vieux Carre (New Orleans' French Quarter). The building now houses the Archdiocese of New Orleans' Archives as well as operating as a tourist attraction/ museum with public tours available almost daily. They had a well established presence as a hospital by the time of the US Revolutionary War. Ursuline sisters treated in the same building both British and United States soldiers wounded in the war. They may have been the first group of women propagating the ideals of diversity in a society, which flowed directly from the teachings of St Ursula and her followers.

Ursuline nuns, primarily from France and Germany, settled in other parts of North America including Boston (1820), Brown County, Ohio (1845), Cleveland (1850), New York City (1855), Louisville (1858), Chatham, Ontario (1860), and Bruno (1916) and Prelate (1919) in Saskatchewan. These foundations spread to other parts of North America including Toledo, Youngstown, OH, Mount St. Joseph, Kentucky [14] Santa Rosa, Texas, and Mexico City. [15]

The members wore a habit consisting of a black dress bound by a leathern girdle, a black sleeveless cloak, and a close-fitting headdress with a white veil and a longer black veil. [16] Since Vatican II they were no longer required to wear habits and today many opt out of wearing a habit.

Today the monastic Order of St. Ursula (post-nominals OSU) has as its largest group the Ursulines of the Roman Union (described in this article) which consists of Ursulines of the Eastern Province, Ursulines of the Central Province and Ursulines of the Western Province. The other branch is the Company of St. Ursula, commonly called the "Angelines", who follow the original form of life established by their foundress.

Ursuline Academy, Springfield, Illinois was founded in 1857 by Mother Mary Joseph Wolfe and operated from 1857 until 2007.

Ursulines in Ireland

In 1767, Nano Nagle stayed with the Ursuline Sisters on Rue des Ursulines in Paris while visiting her cousin Margaret Butler who had been professed just one year previously. In 1771, she established the first Ursuline convent in Ireland on Cove Lane in Cork. The community was made up of four Cork women – who were professed at the Ursuline Convent in the Rue St. Jacques in Paris – together with a reverend mother. [17] [3] In 1825, the sisters and their boarding students relocated to Blackrock. The first Ursuline primary and second-level schools were founded at Blackrock. [18]

At the request of James Butler, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Anastasia Tobin went to Cork to train as a religious. She was professed at the Ursuline convent in September 1787, and returned to Thurles where she commenced teaching. Joined in 1796 by two others also trained at Cork, a small Ursuline community was founded at Thurles. In 1816, four sisters from Thurles established a community in Waterford. [19] In 1932, Providence School was opened to serve the needs of the travelling community. [20]

In 1839, George Joseph Plunket Browne, Bishop of Galway, brought the Ursuline Order of nuns to Dangan on the Oughterard road. In 1844, Browne was translated to the Diocese of Elphin. The Ursulines Order followed him to Elphin, first to Summerhill in Athlone and then to Sligo. He raffled his carriage to raise funds to compensate the sisters for the financial loss they suffered by removing to Sligo. There they took up residence at "Seaville", the former house of Bishop Burke, Browne's predecessor, and renamed it St. Joseph's Convent. Nazareth free primary school was built in 1851. [21] In 1952 the Ursulines established St. Angela's College, Sligo for the training of students and teachers in Home Economics, which became recognised college of the National University of Ireland in 1978, and since 2003 is a college of the National University of Ireland, Galway.

The Irish Ursuline Union was established in 1978.

Ursulines in Australia

New South Wales

Queensland

Victoria

Australian Capital Territory

Role in education

Ursuline works Osu weltweit.PNG
Ursuline works

Colleges and universities

In the United States, the Ursulines founded two well-known Catholic women's colleges. Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, was founded in 1871 by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland. It was followed in 1904 by College of New Rochelle, now closed, but was located in New Rochelle, New York.

In 1919, the Ursulines founded a university-level liberal arts college for women in London, Ontario, Canada. Currently called Brescia University College (Brescia College at its foundation), it remains the only women-only university-level college in Canada and is affiliated with the University of Western Ontario.

From 1922 to 1975 the Mary Manse College in Toledo, Ohio, was operated by the Ursulines. It was a women's college until 1971, then was coeducational for its final four years.

In 1927, the Ursuline Sisters of the Eastern Province restructured Catholic education in Elkton, Maryland, by assisting in the founding of Immaculate Conception School, originally located at the corner of Cathedral Street and Singerly Avenue in historic Elkton, Maryland. The Ursulines ministered within the schoolhouse from 1927 to 1930, followed by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Glen Ridde.

in 1931, The Ursulines established St. Ursula's College in Toowoomba alongside Downlands College which was established by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

In 1932, the Great Falls Junior College for Women was founded in Great Falls, Montana. Now the University of Providence, it has an open admission policy.

In 1921, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville established Sacred Heart Junior College, which was expanded into a four-year college, Ursuline College, in 1938. Ursuline College merged with Bellarmine College in 1968, now Bellarmine University. [22]

The Mount Saint Joseph Junior College for Women operated between 1925 and 1950 in Maple Mount, Kentucky, with the Ursulines offering co-educational extension courses at Owensboro. The Ursulines merged their extension courses with Mount Saint Joseph Junior College in 1950, creating the co-educational Brescia University that remains in operation.

In 1966, the Ursulines established in Taiwan what became the Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages.

From 1968 to 2003 the Ursuline Order operated Ursula College at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. It is a co-educational residential college for approximately 200 undergraduates. In 2003 the college was sold to the university and was renamed Ursula Hall. The Ursuline tradition has been retained in the Hall's high educational standards, retention of Ursuline symbols and livery, and the observance in October of Ursies Weekend for relaxing and socializing before November exams.

Secondary education

Ursuline Convent, Dallas, Texas (postcard, circa 1901-1907) Ursuline Convent, Dallas, Texas.jpg
Ursuline Convent, Dallas, Texas (postcard, circa 1901–1907)
Ursuline Convent, Toledo, Ohio Ursuline Convent, Toledo, Ohio - DPLA - c7ec68ff18e4e079f7783eeb341c1162 (page 1) (cropped).jpg
Ursuline Convent, Toledo, Ohio

Ursuline secondary education schools are found across the United States and other countries. The first school was Ursuline Academy, began in 1727 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the oldest all-girls school in the country. The Academy of Mount St. Ursula High School [23] in the Bronx is the oldest all-girls Catholic high school in New York State, founded in 1855, the same year Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, was founded.

In New York City, in 1873, James Boyce (1826–1876) invited the Ursuline nuns to found a girls' academy in St. Teresa's parish on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The new school, called St. Teresa's Ursuline Academy, located at 137 Henry Street, was incorporated in 1881 and as of 1891 had a faculty of five sisters teaching 62 pupils. [24] In 1899, the Ursulines bought a two-story, wood-frame house farther uptown in Manhattan, at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 93rd Street, converted the house to a school building, and changed the name of their school to simply "Ursuline Academy". In 1905, a news article announced plans for a twenty-four-foot wide, four-story seminary building to be built on the site to the design of architect Joseph H. McGuire. [25] The new building was constructed immediately to the west of Gen. Scott's old house, in its former garden. [26] The order occupied both buildings until selling them in 1912, and moving the school to the Ursuline Provinculate at Grand Boulevard and 165th Street in the Bronx, New York. [27] (Both the house and school building were demolished for the construction of the Francis F. Palmer House beginning in 1916.

The Ursuline School in New Rochelle, New York, is a school for girls in grades 6-12 and is closely affiliated with the nearby Iona Preparatory School.[ citation needed ]

Other notable all-female Ursuline secondary schools in the United States include Ursuline Academy of Dallas , Texas, Ursuline Academy in Saint Louis, Missouri (founded in 1848), and Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Delaware.[ citation needed ]

In the London Borough of Newham, United Kingdom, is the all-female girl school St. Angela's, named after the founder of the Ursulines. Only the sixth form centre of the school allows males. The same applies to the Ursuline High School in Wimbledon, which was selected as a Regional Winner - "London Secondary" in the Church School Awards 2011. [28] Ursulines also have St Ursula's Convent School in Greenwich which educates girls aged 11 to 16 and coeducational Ursuline College, Westgate-on-Sea.

The British philosopher and author Celia Green has written extensively about her time at the Ursuline High School (now Ursuline Academy Ilford) in Ilford, London. [29] Angela de Merici inspired the Ursuline Sisters to provide young women with an opportunity to achieve their full potential. Throughout their lives, students continue to remain part of the Ursuline community and continue to carry forward the legacy of Angela de Merici, by serving their society. [30]

There is an Ursuline Convent, in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. [31]

In Thailand, the Ursulines established Mater Dei School in Bangkok in 1928. Its elite alumni include Kings Ananda Mahidol and Bhumibol Adulyadej. [32] Although an all-girls school, it enrolled boys from Kindergarten through Primary 2.

In Indonesia, the Ursulines established the Princess Juliana School in Batavia (1912), after its initial establishment as an Ursuline Convent in 1859. Now the school is known as St. Ursula Catholic School and is an all-girls school.[ citation needed ]

Like their colleges, not all Ursuline secondary schools have remained single-sex. Villa Angela Academy, founded in 1878, in Cleveland, Ohio, merged with Marianist (Society of Mary) St. Joseph High School in 1990 forming the coed Villa Angela St. Joseph High School. The aforementioned Ursuline Academy in Delaware permits male students in grades 1–3, and Ursuline High School in Youngstown, Ohio, founded in 1905, is fully co-educational. Other Ursuline secondary schools in the United States include Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio (founded in 1850); Ursuline Academy in San Antonio, TX (founded 1851 - closed 1992); Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio (founded in 1898); St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio; the Ursuline Academy of Dedham in Dedham, Massachusetts; Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa, California (founded in 1880); Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Illinois (founded 1857), which was coed from 1981 until it closed in 2007; and St. Joseph's Ursuline Academy in Malone, New York (closed in 1977 and was coed at least from the mid-1960s). There are Ursuline secondary schools in Ireland in Thurles, County Tipperary; Waterford, Blackrock, County Cork; and Sligo, Ireland, which have remained single sex.[ citation needed ]

See also

Notes

  1. "The Company of St. Ursula". Ursulines of the Roman Union. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  2. "Our History". The Company of St. Ursula in the United States. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ursulines"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 804.
  4. Collier's New Encyclopedia: A Loose-leaf and Self-revising Reference Work; with Illustrations and Ninety-six Maps. Google Books: Collier. 1921. pp. 140–141.
  5. Lavrin, Asunción (2008). Brides of Christ: Conventual Life in Colonial Mexico. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 259.
  6. Buescher, John. "Religious Orders of Women in New France", Teachinghistory.org, accessed August 21, 2011
  7. Chabot, Marie-Emmanuel (1979) [1966]. "Guyart, Marie, dite Marie de l'Incarnation". In Brown, George Williams (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography . Vol. I (1000–1700) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  8. Agnes Repplier, Mère Marie of the Ursulines: a study in adventure (New York, 1931)
  9. Fidelis, Mother Mary (1912). "Ursulines"  . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  10. Dom Guy-Marie Oury, Les Ursulines de Québec, 1639-1953 (2000)
  11. "Ursuline Academy and Convent in New Orleans Before and After Hurricane Katrina Photo Gallery by Coleen Perilloux Landry at". Pbase.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  12. "Ursuline Academy and Convent in New Orleans Before and After Hurricane Katrina by Coleen Perilloux Landry". PBase. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  13. "Ursuline Heritage | Ursuline Academy". www.uanola.org. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  14. "Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph - Maple Mount, Kentucky". Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph - Maple Mount, Kentucky.
  15. "Follow the Spirit." Angela Merici and the Ursulines. Editions du Signe. Rome: Spada, 1998
  16. Eaton, Andi (2014). New Orleans Style. Google Books: The History Press. p. 52. ISBN   978-1626196414.
  17. Clarke, Sr M. Ursula. The Ursulines in Cork since 1771 (Cork: Ursuline Convent, 2007) ISBN   978-0-9528160-0-3
  18. "Ursuline Education in Ireland", St. Ursula's Primary School
  19. "History of St. Angela's – St Angela's Ursuline Waterford".
  20. "Ursulines Thurles". Sisters of the Irish Ursuline Union.
  21. "History | Ursuline College Sligo". December 21, 2018.
  22. "Bellarmine University", Wikipedia, 2021-09-27, retrieved 2021-11-18
  23. "Academy of Mount Saint Ursula". Amsu.org. 2010-08-14. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  24. Sadlier's Catholic Directory (New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co., 1891), page 108.
  25. "New Home For Ursuline Convent" (PDF). New York Daily Tribune. July 9, 1905. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  26. Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image) Manhattan: Park Avenue - 93rd Street, (1911)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  27. Miller, Tom (2013-04-01). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The Lost 1847 Winfield Scott Mansion -- 93rd and Park Avenue". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  28. "London Secondary | Church Schools Awards". Churchschoolawards.com. 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  29. Green, Celia (2004). Letters from Exile: Observations on a Culture in Decline. Oxford: Oxford Forum.
  30. UrsulineAcademyMA. "The Ursuline Sisters - Carrying forth The Legacy of St. Angela de Merici". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  31. "Welcome to Ursuline Intermediate College!!". uicranchi.com. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  32. "The History of Mater Dei School". Archived from the original on February 7, 2013.[ dead link ]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sisters of Mercy</span> Religious congregation

The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute has about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They also started many education and health care facilities around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Merici</span> Christian saint

Angela Merici was an Italian Catholic religious educator who founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women dedicated their lives to the service of the church through the education of girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursulines of Quebec</span> Religious museum and teaching centre

The Ursuline Monastery of Quebec City was founded by a missionary group of Ursuline nuns in 1639 under the leadership of Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. It is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America. Today, the monastery serves as the General Motherhouse of the Ursuline Sisters of the Canadian Union. The community there also operates an historical museum and continues to serve as a teaching centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merici College</span> Roman catholic secondary day school in Australia

Merici College is a Roman Catholic secondary day school for girls located in the Canberra suburb of Braddon in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Established in 1959, the College caters for students in years 7 to 12. The school's Principal is Anna Masters.

The Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in 1606 at Döle, France, by the Venerable Anne de Xainctonge (1587-1612). Its members are especially involved in teaching.

The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congregation use the postnominal initials PBVM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academy of Mount St. Ursula</span> Private school in Bronx, New York, United States

The Academy of Mount St. Ursula is a Catholic girls' college preparatory school in the United States, which was founded in 1855 as a part of the Monastery of St. Ursula in the town of Morrisania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Ursula's College, Toowoomba</span> School in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

St. Ursula's College is a Catholic independent girls' secondary boarding and day school in Newtown, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The school was established in 1931 by Ursuline nuns. The college is administered by the Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursuline Academy (New Orleans)</span> Private, all-girls school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Ursuline Academy is a private, Catholic, all-girls high school and elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is located within the Archdiocese of New Orleans and under the trusteeship of the Ursuline Sisters of the New Orleans Community, part of the Ursuline Central Province of North America. Founded in 1727, the Academy is the oldest Catholic school and the oldest school for women in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursuline College, Westgate-on-Sea</span> School in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, England

Ursuline College is a Catholic comprehensive secondary school with academy status, located in Westgate-on-Sea, in north-east Kent, England, United Kingdom. Aimed at pupils aged 11 to 19, the college is based within the Ursuline and Catholic ethos, aiding and teaching its pupils within this regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Ursula's College, Kingsgrove</span> School in Australia

St Ursula's College, Kingsgrove, founded in 1957, is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for girls, located in Kingsgrove, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The College is a member of the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Ursulines in New Orleans</span>

The Ursulines have a long history in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursuline Academy (Great Falls, Montana)</span> United States historic place

The Ursuline Academy is a historic convent and former Catholic school located at 2300 Central Avenue in Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. Constructed by the Ursuline Sisters, a Catholic religious institute for women, the building was complete in 1912. It was originally known as the Ursuline Academy Boarding and Day School, a school for children age five to 12.

The Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula or officially the Secular Institute of Saint Angela Merici, is a secular institute of consecrated women in the Catholic Church founded in 1535 by Angela Merici in Brescia, Italy. Their primary focus is the education of women and girls, and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula. They follow the original form of life established by their foundress in that they live independently, responsible for their own well-being, for which they often have secular jobs, but they formally dedicate their lives to the service of the church. In 1572, some members formed a separate monastic order, the Ursulines.

Catholic sisters and nuns in the United States have played a major role in American religion, education, nursing and social work since the early 19th century. In Catholic Europe, convents were heavily endowed over the centuries, and were sponsored by the aristocracy. Religious orders were founded by entrepreneurial women who saw a need and an opportunity, and were staffed by devout women from poor families. The number of Catholic nuns grew exponentially from about 900 in the year 1840, to a maximum of nearly 200,000 in 1965, falling to 56,000 in 2010. According to an article posted on CatholicPhilly.com, the website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October 2018, National Religious Retirement Office statistics showed that number as 47,160 in 2016, adding that “about 77 percent of women religious are older than 70.” In March 2022, the NRRO was reporting statistics from 2018, citing the number of professed sisters as 45,100. The network of Catholic institutions provided high status lifetime careers as nuns in parochial schools, hospitals, and orphanages. They were part of an international Catholic network, with considerable movement back and forth from Britain, France, Germany and Canada.

The Le Chéile Schools Trust is a charitable trust which manages around 60 schools in Ireland on behalf of fifteen Roman Catholic religious congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral</span> Church in New South Wales, Australia

Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral is a heritage-listed cathedral at 132 Dangar Street, Armidale, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It is the diocesan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Armidale and the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Armidale. The cathedral was designed by John Hennessy of Sheerin and Hennessy, and built from 1911 to 1912 by George Frederick Nott. It is also known as the St Mary & St Joseph Catholic Cathedral and the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Joseph. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 13 February 2015.

Marie Tranchepain, also known as Marie St. Augustin, was a French woman of the Order of St. Ursula and in 1727 sailed to New Orleans where she became the first Mother Superior of the Old Ursuline Convent. At that time, New Orleans was part of French Louisiana. She established the first school for girls in what is now the United States.