1585-1850 - Loreto

Our History

Headteacher of the first Loreto School in Rathfarnham:

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice and all things else shall be added unto you.”

The town of Loreto in Italy holds a famous relic, an old house which is said to be the house where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth.
According to the local tradition, it was carried to Loreto by angels in the year 1295 to protect it from destruction by the Saracens. The Holy House of Loreto became one of the great pilgrimage centres of mediaeval Italy and devotion of our Lady of Loreto was commended by many popes and saints.

1585

Mary Ward’s birth at Mulwith, Yorkshire

Mary was born into a rich, influential, Catholic family at a time of civil unrest in England.

1606

Despite much opposition from her family and several suitors for marriage, Mary feels called to religious life and enters the Poor Clare Convent at St Omer in Flanders.

1609

The Glory Vision: while coming her hair in front of a mirror, Mary has a realisation that:

1615

The Vision of the Just Soul: Mary embraces Ignatian spirituality and sees the essential qualities which are the foundation for those called to the way of life she envisaged:

SINCERITY, TRUTH, JOY, JUSTICE, FREEDOM.

1621

Mary Ward walks to Rome to ask the Pope for approval of her Institute. By now, houses and schools are opened in Flanders, London and many other cities across Europe.

Mary is a pioneer in her request for a religious order which is not enclosed, whose members elect their own leaders, and who wear the ordinary dress of the day; so, by now, she also has many enemies, both within the Church and outside it.

1631

Pope Urban VIII signs a Bill of Suppression of the Institute and Mary is imprisoned in Munich. When she is released, she returns to Rome.

1639

Mary moves to England. The Civil War begins and she moves to Yorkshire.

30 January 1645

Mary Ward dies and is buried in an Anglican churchyard in Osbaldwick, York.

1764

Frances Teresa Ball was born in Dublin, into a wealthy Catholic family, at a time when Catholicism was still suppressed in Ireland.

1800

She travels to York, England, to be educated by the Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As there are no holidays, she does not come home until her school days are over.

At this time, Mary Ward is still not acknowledged as the Foundress.

1808

Frances returns to Dublin and, with her striking presence and personality, is much sought after by eligible young men.

1810

At her debutante ball, in the midst of music and wine and swirling dancers, Frances realises that she does not belong in the ballroom or in the life it represents. God is calling her to dedicate her life to his service as a nun. The idea takes complete possession of her. No other course is possible.

1814

With the support of Archbishop Murray of Dublin, who hopes that she will set up an IBVM school and community there, Frances returns to York to enter the Bar Convent, where she takes the religious name of Teresa.

1821

She returns to Dublin to start her work of setting up the Irish Branch of the Institute. She founds a school in Rathfarnham, Dublin, which she calls Loreto, after the shrine in Italy where Mary Ward used to pray.

1823

A school for poor children is established in Rathfarnham. Like Mary Ward, Teresa Ball is concerned for the education of all children, whether rich or poor.

New companions join Teresa and soon the numbers of Loreto Sisters grow, despite many of them dying from ‘consumption’ at a young age. The sisters suffer great losses in these early years and yet carry on the mission with extraordinary courage.

1833

By now there are 80 Sisters living in Rathfarnham. Teresa receives a request to open a Loreto School and community in Navan. This is the second foundation made in Ireland. Others follow in the next few years.

1841

Teresa receives a request to open a Loreto school and community in Calcutta, India. This is the first of many requests from other countries to which she responds. Between 1841 and 1851, Loreto foundations are made in Mauritius, Gibraltar, Canada and Spain