Sisters of St. Louis California Region

On March 25, 1949, accepting the invitation of His Excellency, James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, Mother Mary Columbanus Greene selected eight Sisters of St. Louis to “Go teach…Go ye afar…” The “forty-niners”, under the leadership of Mother Mary Ronan McDonnell, were warmly welcomed on August 25, 1949, the feast of St. Louis, to Nativity Parish, El Monte, California by the Pastor, Father Denis Ginty.

For 17 years, each year saw new Sisters of St. Louis arriving from Ireland. They have taught in many schools throughout Southern California and as far north as Sacramento and continue to have a presence at Nativity School, El Monte; Corpus Christi School, Pacific Palisades; Our Lady of Malibu School, Malibu; and, of course, Louisville High School, Woodland Hills.

The heart of the Sisters of St. Louis’ heritage and destiny in the California Region is Louisville in Woodland Hills. The Los Angeles Chancery had invested in the property located on the vacated Rancho Manzanita and surrounded by brush-covered hills, California oak trees and deep canyons. By Memorial weekend of 1958, the Chancery gave the property over to the Sisters of St. Louis and plans were underway to convert the Rancho Manzanita into a convent with visions for a California novitiate, a kindergarten and, eventually, a high school.

In 1976, the boundaries of the California Region extended as far as Brasil. There are currently three sisters ministering in Goiás, through Grupo AAVE to HIV/AIDs carriers and their families, and at educating the general population about the virus and its prevention, as well initiating family community gardening, holding Catechesis classes, and working with those who have been re-settled by the government.

In the early years the focus of ministry was on teaching in parochial schools. Over the years the sisters expanded their ministries to embrace education in a broader sense and meet other needs of the time.

In 1992, three sisters began work in rural ministries in Ahoskie. Today, two of our sisters continue their work among the poor in Ahoskie.

In 2011 three sisters opened a house in New York where they work with a safe house for women who are escaping trafficking, with immigration issues, and with families of the incarcerated.

Throughout their lives, the sisters strive to make the dream of their founder a reality – “One world – healed, unified and transformed.”