History of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (Canada)

 

Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus
1371 Langlois Avenue
Windsor, ON N8X 4L8
Canada
Tel: 519-256-7115
Fax: 519-256-0992
ursulinesahj@cogeco.ca
poloniawindsor.ca/polish-ursuline-sisters
Today
The Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus in Canada are closely linked to their mother house in Pniewy, Poland, and to their general house in Rome. There are over 900 sisters of the congregation in Poland, Italy, France, Germany, Belarus, Ukraine, Finland, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, the Philippines, Tanzania and Canada.
In Canada the Ursuline sisters are located in Windsor (Holy Trinity Parish), London (Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, and Ottawa (St. Hyacinth Parish). They are involved in parish work as catechists, children’s and youth group coordinators, organists, teachers of heritage classes, church decorators. They also teach in daycare centres, as well as in elementary and high schools.
They share their congregation’s special mission in the Church: to proclaim Christ and the love of his Heart through educating children and youth, through service to their most needy and wronged brothers and sisters, and through any other work of evangelization.
The congregation’s spirituality is rooted in the mystery of the Agony of Christ. Attentive to Christ’s words “I thirst”, the sisters seek to respond to the love of God’s Heart by surrendering themselves to him wholly and without reserve so that he may extend in and through them his mission of salvation. Taking the Mother of Christ as their model, they claim as their motto her words, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be it done to me according to your word”.
Grateful for the grace of vocation, they put their trust in God, the source of their joy and serenity. In this way, they seek to proclaim to the world the Good News that God is love and the source of the greatest happiness.
History
The Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus was founded by Mother Ursula Ledochowska 1865-1939) in 1920 in Pniewy, Poland. Mother Ursula was beatified in 1983 and canonized in 2003.
Sisters of this congregation came from Poland to Windsor, Ontario, in 1965 at the invitation of Father Lawrence A. Wnuk, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, mostly to look after children and youth of Polish background. They opened the Ursula Day Nursery and re-organized the Polish Heritage School. The sisters expanded their educational mission to other elementary and high schools. They have also been involved in Polish community work: helping new immigrants, organizing ethnic festivals, etc.
In 1975 they established a convent in London, Ontario, and another in Ottawa in 1983. In these cities sisters continue to work in Polish parishes and teach in schools.
Countries where the congregation is present
Canada, Poland, Italy, France, Germany, Belarus, Ukraine, Finland, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, the Philippines, Tanzania