The Congregation of the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate (UMI) was founded in 1649 in Piacenza, Italy, by Blessed Brigida Morello. She was gifted with a high degree of mysticism and contemplation even at the early age of her life. Captured by the love of Christ Crucified, she realized perfect love of God and neighbor as the end of the Institute and began its mission for the integral formation of the young girls in Italy. To fulfill the prophetic vision and mission of the Foundress, the then Superior General Mother Maria Felice Radini Tedeschi, sent five zealous Italian missionaries to India–Calicut on 12 Nov. 1934. The Ursulines gradually extended their services to all parts of India and at present there are 107 communities in 4 provinces, engaged in education, healing and socio-pastoral ministries. Besides Italy and India, our services are extended to East Africa and Brazil. The Holy Spirit who began his work through Brigida nearly four centuries ago, continues to inspire us to remain open to the signs of the time to identify ourselves with the crucified of today.
The Sacred Heart Province of the Ursuline Sisters of Mary Immaculate functions with its head-quarters/ Provincialate at 26 Davis Road, Bangalore. The Province geographically extends to six states in India– Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Orissa, Jharkand, and Kerala, and a missionary branch in Tanzania in the African continent. Our sisters are engaged in various services reaching out to the people through the educational, healing and medical and socio-pastoral ministries, Prison ministry and rehabilitation of girl children and women. Our presence is both in the rural and urban contexts through institutional and non-institutional services. We run and manage hospitals, schools of various types and levels mostly in the urban settings, while in the rural set up, we conduct non-formal and adult education, self-help programmes etc. We involve ourselves in the Parish activities like teaching Catechism, organising BCC and family visits. The precious heritage left to us by our Foundress, consists in doing everything for God’s greater glory and the good of our neighbour, living our daily life in the context of a community, marked by mutual love and charity. Today, recapturing her apostolic zeal and prophetic vision of the Foundress, we her followers, bear witness to God’s love in the four continents of the world, namely in Europe, Africa, South America – Brazil, and Asia – India, responding to the needs of the local Church and to the urgencies of the time, always bearing in mind our specific Charism, namely to promote God’s glory and the good of neighbour.
