Oblate Sisters of Providence

The Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, MD, have supported the National Black Sisters Conference since its inception in 1968. Founded by Venerable Mother Mary Lange and Father James Hector Nicholas Joubert, SS, this Catholic religious order is the first founded for African American nuns. We celebrate the order’s legacy, history, and contributions to the National Black Sisters Conference.

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Venerable Mother Mary Lange was born Elizabeth Lange around 1794 in Santiago de Cuba, where she grew up in a primarily French-speaking community. In the early 1800s, she left Cuba to seek peace and security in the United States. She lived in Baltimore, MD, among Catholic refugees from the Haitian Revolution.

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In 1828, Baltimore Archbishop James Whitfield encouraged Fr. Joubert to approach Lange to open a school for girls of color. Elizabeth was interested, as she was teaching children in her home at the time. However, she also expressed interest in religious life and wanted to start a religious order. Fr. Joubert provided the direction, solicited financial support, and encouraged more women of color to join this new opportunity.

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On July 2, 1829, the Oblate Sisters of Providence was founded in Baltimore, MD, when Elizabeth and three women of color took their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Using the post-nominal letters OSP, they were the first Catholic order founded for African American nuns. As founder, Elizabeth was named Mother Mary Lange and served as superior general

from 1829 to 1832 and again from 1835 to 1841.

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The first four Oblate Sisters of Providence members – Mother Mary, Mary Rosine Boegues, Magdelaine Frances Balas, and Theresa Maxis Duchemin – opened a Catholic school for girls in their Baltimore convent. This was the early beginning of St. Frances Academy, the first and oldest Catholic school founded to educate African American children. It is still open today in

East Baltimore.

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In 1836, a new chapel and school were built to serve as a convent for the order and gathering space for African American Baltimore Catholics. This was the first space where Black Catholics could gather in a chapel to worship, receive sacraments such as baptisms, marriages, and confirmations, and have funerals.

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The Oblate Sisters of Providence continued to grow into the early 1840s. However, they would soon face many challenges, such as the death of cofounder Fr. Joubert in 1843 and his order, the Sulpicians, choosing to no longer minister to the Oblates. In addition, founding member Mother Theresa left the order to form the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM). Despite these challenges, the Oblate sisters remained faithful, determined, and persevered to continue their mission.

 

In 1847, the Oblates found a new ecclesiastical director, Fr. Thaddeus Anwander, CSsR. During this time, the order began to grow and prosper. A separate school was opened on the convent property where sisters started teaching to young boys. The sisters also opened additional schools throughout Baltimore taught evening classes for adult women and opened a home for widows.

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When the order came under the direction of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Oblate sisters expanded outside of Baltimore for the first time in its history. They started missions in Philadelphia and New Orleans in the 1860s. While the directorship of the Jesuits ended in 1871, the Oblates ministry continued to expand. Over the years, they established several missions in Cuba, the western Caribbean, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica.

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Mother Mary Lange was a religious leader, educator, nurse, and woman of faith until her death on February 3, 1882, at St. Frances Convent in Baltimore. She has been interred in her order’s

chapel.

Delegates from the Oblate Sisters of Providence attended the first National Black Sisters Conference (NBSC) in 1968. Members of the order have been active in NBSC for more than 50 years of ministry to share the Catholic faith, promote positive images of Black people, and speak out against moral injustice.

 

Today, the order has approximately 80 members that serve in Baltimore, MD; Miami, FL; Buffalo, NY; and Alajuela and Siquirres, Costa Rica. The Oblate Sisters of Providence continue to educate children across the United States and Central America and operate an orphanage and boarding school within the convent.

 

The cause for the canonization of Venerable Mother Mary Lange was opened in 1991 in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. She was declared venerable by Pope Francis on June 22, 2023. She is the third African American in history to have walked the path to sainthood.

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For more information on the Oblate Sisters of Providence, visit https://oblatesisters.com/.