July 6, 2016

Submitted by the
Ursulines of the Eastern Province

St. Angela Merici, foundress of the Ursulines (1535) encouraged her sisters to “respond to the needs of the times.” 

The Ursulines have heeded these words from the original invitation of Bishop Henry Gabriel, the second Bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, to the present day. 

In June 1898, Sister Stanislaus Janisse, originally from the Ursuline Monastery in Chatham, Ontario, accompanied by three sisters, arrived in Malone. It was then that the mission of the Ursulines began to take root in the North Country.

Open St. Joseph’s Academy
The founding Ursuline sisters purchased the Hawley property on Elm Street in Malone and less than a year later had opened St. Joseph’s Academy to a hundred students.  The Academy was chartered by the New York State Board of Regents in 1904; by the time it closed in 1976 it had graduated more than 2000 students. 

A large convent, housing both sisters and school boarders, was completed in 1906 at 111 Elm Street.  All the sisters worked hard – in addition to teaching and caring for the boarders, they did most of the cleaning, tending furnaces, cooking, canning and preserving. 

The generosity of the townspeople in contributing to their garden produce helped the community to survive.  Rural families were eager to send their daughters and sons to St. Joseph’s to obtain a solid education in the only Catholic school in the area.

In the space of about 15 years some 20 young women, including many graduates of the School, joined the founding members as Ursulines. This remained their home until they moved to the new convent at 90 Elm Street. 

Expansion and growth continued after the first class graduated from St. Joseph’s in 1908. 

In 1923 sisters staffed Notre Dame School, which many years later became Holy Family School.

Beyond boarding, day schools
From their earliest days the Ursulines reached beyond their boarding and day schools by offering religious education in the surrounding Malone parishes and to various town in the North Country. 

Ursulines staffed the Malone District School of Religion, and served as pastoral associates in St. Mary’s, Fort Covington; St. Patrick’s, Chateaugay; St. Francis of Assisi, Constable, in addition to the Malone parishes in Notre Dame, St. Joseph’s and St. John Bosco.

The closing of St. Joseph’s Academy in 1976 offered other opportunities to become involved in numerous new ways of ministering to the needs of the area.

Among these ministries was involvement with Pastoral Outreach Services, an ecumenical organization that worked with the elderly, sick and homebound.  The sisters also taught at North Country Community College, in the Malone public schools, and the Montessori program. 

In addition, Ursulines were actively involved in the Permanent Diaconate Program, Caring Friends Hospice, Community Action Agency of Franklin County, North Star Behavioral Health Services, the Holistic Care Center of Malone, and Franklin Country Prison Ministry. 

They also served on numerous civic and ministerial boards, and peace and justice organizations.

The sisters also expanded their ministry to other parts of the diocese, establishing Ursuline communities in Witherbee/Mineville and Lisbon.  While in these parishes the sisters continued to reach out to the needs of the people and worked very closely with clergy, religious, and laity to spread the Gospel. 

Leaving in July
In July 2016 the Ursulines will be leaving Malone due to declining numbers of sisters.  The Ursulines may no longer have a physical presence in Malone and the Diocese of Ogdensburg, but their spirit, legacy, and mission will surely continue in the thousands of lives they have touched since 1898.

Ursuline alumni, outstanding members of their local communities, continue to carry on the tradition and values of Ursuline education. Ursuline Lay Associates, who have been integral to the Ursuline Mission, continue to reflect the charism of St. Angela Merici in their lives and in the pastoral activities in which they are engaged.
Malone has been described and experienced as “a place where one can grow and give life to others.”  The Ursuline Sisters, who have been ministering to the North Country since 1898, have witnessed to this and express their gratitude for the opportunity to have been able to serve as an integral part of the Malone and larger North Country community and Diocese of Ogdensburg for these past 118 years.

In the spirit of St. Angela Merici, they have faithfully responded to the needs of the times by their commitment to the Gospel and to the people of the North Country. In recognition of the ministry of the Ursulines, Bishop Terry R. LaValley will preside at a Liturgy of Thanksgiving July 17 Notre Dame Church, Malone.