Mother St. Andrew Feltin, a Sister of Divine Providence of St. Jean-de-Bassel, France, came to Texas in 1866 at the invitation of Bishop Claude Dubuis. While Superior of the Texas branch of the French-based congregation, the Congregation opened schools in twenty Texas towns, providing the first parochial school system for the Dioceses of Galveston and San Antonio.
Deposed as Superior General of her fledgling Texas Congregation by Bishop John Neraz of San Antonio, Mother St. Andrew left her identity as a religious to accompany her newly widowed brother and seven of his children to San Jose, California. There she raised the youngest children, supporting the family by establishing a grocery store.
Aged and frail, Mother returned to Castroville in 1900, where she rejoined her beloved Congregation. She died in 1905.
The Tattered Heart traces Mother's life as a young religious in France where she taught in three Alsatian villages, her journey to America, the establishment of the Texas motherhouse at Castroville, Texas, and her twenty years as the first Superior General of the Sisters of Divine Providence of Texas.
A woman of deep trust in our Provident God, Mother St. Andrew inspires her daughters even today.
