Our Community History -- The Beginning of the Congregation 

In 1723, a young woman and her mother saw daily the children in the streets near Salzburg, Austria that were too poor to be in the public school that required tuition. Their parents were working all day, and the children had no one to educate them or to watch them during the day. Maria Hyacintha and her mother, who were Third Order Franciscans, took it upon themselves to begin educating the young people in their home. Soon other women joined them, and so the Congregation began! 

Our Community History – Motherhouse Moved to Vienna
In 1845, three Sisters moved to Vienna at the request of Austrian royalty to work in education.  Empress Carolina Augusta asked for Sisters to come to teach the children of the military. The Bishop of Vienna later required the Sisters to establish a separate Motherhouse in Vienna.  Mother M. Xaveria fulfilled the request in that same year. Since that time, our Motherhouse has been in Vienna.

Our Community History - Coming to America
In 1931, our Sisters decided to extend the mission to the United States. The Sisters were able to learn English, work in a seminary, teach in schools, take classes, and work as nurses in several cities, including: LaCrosse, WI; Trenton, NJ; Youngstown, OH; Independence, IA, and many more. 

Our Community History - Texas (Brief edition)!
After working in many apostolates and being educated in the central and eastern United States, the Sisters were looking and praying for a place to create a Regional House for all the Sisters to live in one place. It happened that the Bishop of the Amarillo Diocese was looking for Sisters to staff a Catholic Children's Home, new Catholic Schools, and eventually a new Catholic Nursing Home (opened in 1963).

In 1954, the School Sisters migrated to Texas to begin their new lives. Since then we have been fundamental in the opening and staffing of schools in our diocese and in other areas in the state.

We have served in so many schools, helping to found some, but mostly doing our best to love each person we come into contact with.

We are currently ministering only in the Amarillo diocese as the harvest is more than plentiful here in this mission territory.

The Catholic Children's Home was established in 1954, donated by the late Rose Gordon. After 40 years of loving and caring for the children that needed a temporary home, we had to close it in 1994. We have so many good memories from there! People that have lived there stop by from time to time to reminence and to see the Sisters that used to care for them.