Loreto Institutions – Mary Ward – 400th Anniversary 2.2.2011

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Sisters of Loreto, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The congregation takes its name from the Marian shrine at Loreto in Italy where Ward used to pray. The Sisters of Loreto use the initials I.B.V.M. after their names.

Mary Ward, I.B.V.M. (23 January 1585 – 30 January 1645), was an English Catholic Religious Sister whose activities led to the founding of the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, better known as the Sisters of Loreto (not to be confused with the American Sisters of Loretto), which have both established schools around the world.