The first six missionaries Mother M. Hilaria Droesch and Sisters M. Anselma
Ruth, M. Tiburtia Leis, M. Agnes
Koestler; Beda Pfister; M. Illuminata Lang and S. Emmerana (Mensch) were “small
in number but they were so excited. The journey, taken by boat, was long and
uncomfortable. They were filled with love for God and God’s people. Their
prayer had brought them to this point and they knew God would sustain them. One
Sister was called to return to New York to do other work for the Congregation.
The remaining Sisters stayed and other Sisters came from New York to join them.
The early conditions were hard for them. They needed to become accustomed to
the heat. They acquired the diseases of the poor with whom they worked.
However, nothing could deter them.”
The first
local superior was Sister Hilaria Droesch (1910-21) followed by Sister Charitas
Harth (1921-26), Sister Concordia Yoos (1926-31) and Sister Matilda Wilhelm (1931-37). A few Sisters were assigned to the Puerto
Rican mission from the New York each year with the understanding that the
mission was temporary, although it might take generations. The plan from the beginning was for mission
to be turned over to the native inhabitants once they had the religious
education and administrative experience to manage successfully on their own. By 1935 the mission was deemed a sure success,
Fr. Martín Luycks, OP enthusiastically reported “The number of Sisters had
increased from six to forty, nineteen of whom are Puerto Rican by birth. All of the five schools are accredited by the
Department of Education and hundreds of little ones profited by the religious
and educational training received during the years they sat on the benches of
these Dominican schools, and have begun their careers in the mazes of modern
life strengthened by the sound principles of Catholicism.”
