Louisiana Theresians-More

Our History

The Theresian concept was brought to Louisiana in the mid 1960’s. After meeting Msgr. Woody Voss in Colorado, Fr. Ignatius Ropolo returned to New Orleans and encouraged women to gather in community modeled after Theresians in Colorado. The response was impressive. The initial community was so large that two communities formed, one in Uptown New Orleans and one in Metairie, a suburb.

In the 1970’s, Nancy Colby was instrumental in bringing the Theresian concept to the Acadiana area. When she lived in Houston in the late 1970’s, she attended a class with several women who seemed to be very well informed about Vatican II. Nancy asked how they knew so much and was told that they were studying Vactican II in their Theresian community. Nancy moved to Lafayette 1977 and after several years Nancy finally gathered a group of interested women in 1982 and chartered Theresians 1 on November 4, 1982.

As Theresians grew the structure changed to facilitate better communication. A Regional Director was selected to help the President monitor community progress. Then the District Representative position was created to further promote better communication.

The number of communities became too numerous for one representative to handle. So in 1994 the District Leadership Team concept developed. Each community had a representative who attended regularly scheduled meetings. In addition to sharing information the districts planned days of prayer, conferences, leadership training and community building events.

By 2010, the Acadiana District had grown to 32 communities with several in formation. To return to smaller more intimate groups it was discerned in August 2010, with Sr. Pat Burke facilitating the meeting, to split into four different districts. So, in August 2011, the following districts were created: Fleur de Lis of SW Louisiana District, Roses of Acadiana District, Living Spirit of Acadiana District, and Live Oak of Acadiana District. Currently, Lousiana has grown to five districts since the addition of The Little Way District in 2018.

Contact us for more information about joining a Louisiana Theresian Community.