We are Ursuline Sisters sustained by prayer and vowed life in community, who proclaim Jesus through education and Christian formation. Our charism is a creative contemplative response to the needs of the people of God. Founded in 1874 in western Kentucky, our core values are Prayer, Service, Empowerment, Justice, and Contemplative Presence, in the spirit of our founder, Saint Angela Merici. We minister in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Louisiana, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., and Chile, South America. Our focus is in four areas: Education, from primary grades to college; Church ministry; Social Outreach and Justice Advocacy with the poor, children, the elderly, immigrants, and the homeless; and ministries of Body, Mind, and Spirit. We sponsor two institutions, Brescia University, and the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center. More than 500 Ursuline Associates join us in prayer and ministry.