The birth of Jeanne Chezard de Matel, November 6, 1596 in Roanne was an answer to a prayer.  Her mother, Jeanne, had previously had four pregnancies, in which the babies were still born or died at or soon after birth.  The couple longed to have a family and they prayed and sacrificed for this intention.  Their prayer was heard, and in spite of many complications during the pregancncy, little Jeanne was born.  The precocious young girl delighted he parents and had a happy childhood in spite of her too-often absent father who held a position in the King's court in Paris.  She was also plagued by a severe recurring malaria-like illness which left her moody and irritable. 

She was a pious young girl and except for a period during her teen years when her attention was diverted from her religious practices, Jeanne continued to grow in love of God and prayer.  During her twenties, she spent six years trying to discern her vocation.  One day during her prayers,  she was told, "I have destined you to institute an order in my name."   She would later learn, through prayer, that the title of the new Order would be "Incarnate Word" and that she was to carry the name of the Incarnate Word to the ends of the earth.  In response to this request, Jeanne began the Order on July 2, 1625, in Roanne, France.  Before her death in 1670, this great mystic, writer and spiritual director had established houses in Lyons, Grenoble, Avignon, and Paris.  After Jeanne's death the Order continued to bring the Incarnate Word to the people until the French Revolution during which the Order was dispersed.  After the war, Father Stephen Denis brought together several of the dispersed members and restored the Order which continued to grow in France.  In response to an invitation from Bishop Jean Odin, the first Bishop of Texas,  Mother St. Clair Valentine and three companions left their native France and founded the first American convent in Brownsville on February 26, 1853.   These valiant women soon increased in number and were asked to expand northward.  Consequently, the house in Victoria was founded by Mother St. Claire Valentine and five companions on December 21, 1866.  From this foundation, The Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Victoria, Texas, along with Sister Congregations in Corpus Christi and Houston,. Texas, and Cleveland, Ohio and with many Sisters in Mexico, now serve in the Americas, Europe, and Africa.  They serve primarily through ministries of prayer, Christian education, and health care according to the needs of the Church today.   Jeanne died in 1670, but her Order, the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament lives on.  Now there are IWBS Sisters in France, Spain, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, Argentina Uruguay, El Salvadore, Guatamala and the United States.

Praise be the Incarnate Word

Our Mission Our Mission as Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament is to extend the Incarnation in today's world by living the Gospel of Love, proclaiming the Good News, and building the Kingdom of God. 

Our Charism We, sister os the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament are women of the Church, who, in our communal living, seek to focus on the Person of the Incarnate Word through adoration, witness and the extension of the Eucharist by service to others in a spirit of charity and simplicity. 

Our Ministry  Our ministry or apostolate in the Church involves:

* Special adoration and imitation of Jesus, the Incarnate Word;

* Special adoration of the Blessed Sacrament;

* Special reverence for Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word;

* An apostolate of  Christian education and care of the sick determind by the current needs of the Church.