Led by the Holy Spirit

In the 1800s, when women were considered second-class citizens, Mother Margaret Mary Healey Murphy was a dynamic woman.  She followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit and did not let minor setbacks keep her from aiding the poor, neglected and sick. She lived through famine, prejudice, hurricanes, plagues and war. If not for her strength and fortitude to overcome these obstacles, she would not have persevered. 

Her unwavering faith in the Holy Spirit, helped her set up hospitals, minister to the sick, aid the hurt and abandoned during war, build the first Catholic School for African Americans in San Antonio and founded the first Congregation of Sisters organized in Texas to work with the poor.

Mother Margaret was born Margaret Mary Healy to Jane Murphy Healy and Richard Healy on May 4, 1833, in Cahersiveen, County Kerry, Ireland. Her mother died during the birth of her fourth child, another sibling. 

During the Great Famine, Margaret Mary watched her family, and the rest of Ireland struggle to keep food on the table. As the situation worsened, her family emigrated to America. The voyage took a toll on her father, Richard Healy, who died after they arrived in the New World.

Margaret Mary, her brothers, aunts and uncles made their way from Virginia to New Orleans, Louisiana and then to Matamoros, Tamaulipas in Mexico, where they opened “The Healy Hotel.” While working at the hotel, she met and married the editor of the Gazette, John Bernard Murphy. She was just sixteen.

Margaret Mary and her family then moved to San Patricio, Texas. Her husband traveled for business, and in his absence, Margaret Mary provided spiritual guidance to the local people and likely helped her sister-in-law teach school. When yellow fever first hit the area, Margaret Mary jumped on her horse and rode 30 miles to Corpus Christi for medicine.

Although Margaret Mary was young, her experiences forced her into adulthood. After three years of marriage, she purchased 100 acres in “Nuecestown” (historically about thirteen miles northwest of Corpus Christi in Nueces County.) While this type of acquisition is not surprising today, in the 1850s, wives would usually lose control over their wealth and ability to conduct business when they married. On the other hand, Margaret Mary operated as a feme sole —A status that allowed a woman to make legal contracts and sign legal documents in her name. She could also own property and dispose of it.

With the Civil War brewing, Margaret Mary moved to Corpus Christi and stayed. She helped her neighbors with chores and cooked meals for those in need. After the war, Margaret Mary volunteered within the church. After another bout of yellow fever hit, she worked alongside Father John Gonnard, pastor of St. Patrick Church, who later died from the illness. 

Margaret Mary’s patient, Mrs. Delaney, also died, but not before entrusting her daughter, Minnie, to her care. The Murphys adopted Minnie and, in 1869, sent her to New York to a school run by the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, which was also where Margaret Mary’s sister, Jeannie, taught as Sister Mary Angela. 

The Murphys secured a loan for the sisters, and they opened a school in Waco in 1873. Margaret Mary later adopted her goddaughter Lizzie, who recently lost her mother. They sent Lizzie to Waco with the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur. After both girls graduated, they entered the congregation of the Incarnate Word Sisters. 

Margaret Mary instilled a strong Catholic faith in the girls, and they embraced religious life.

In 1875, Margaret Mary opened a hospital to help the poor. She also started a St. Vincent de Paul Society. In 1880, her husband assumed the position as mayor of Corpus Christi, but he died at the end of his second term. She grieved his loss, but within a week her sorrow was compounded by the death of both of her aunts.

Margaret Mary now assumed the responsibility of their business interests. She purchased her brother-in-law Patrick Murphy’s ranch at Mt. Echo. Later she opened another hospital in Corpus Christ. It was known as “Mrs. Murphy’s hospital for the poor.” After her hospital was up and running, she was asked to open a school for African Americans in Temple. She used her own finances to rent a home for a school, but unfortunately, after several months, she left Temple because her endeavor failed.

Margaret Mary then moved to San Antonio and observed how African Americans had to sit at the back of the church and wait to receive Communion. 

At Mass on Pentecost Sunday at St. Mary Church, Father John Maloney stressed the need for schools and churches for African Americans in San Antonio. She considered his request but feared her efforts would be rejected as they had been in Temple. 

As Margaret Mary left the church, however, she saw an African American child who grabbed her skirt and looked into her eyes. She took it as a sign from the Holy Spirit and made up her mind to work the rest of her life helping African American children. She started building the first African American Catholic School and church in San Antonio. St. Peter Claver Mission and it opened in September of 1888. 

Throughout the construction phase and for the first several years of the existence of St. Peter Claver, Murphy suffered great indignities and persecution from those opposed to her efforts on behalf of “those” people.  She battled daily storms of criticism and prejudice, and her opponents incessantly tried to arouse discord.

She sought advice from the Bishop of San Antonio, Bishop John C. Neraz, who encouraged her to start a religious congregation in order to stabilize the work. She accepted his advice and on June 6, 1892, she and three other women became novices with the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, where her blood sister was a member. 

One year later, on Friday, June 9, 1893, Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy, Sister Mary Joseph McNally, Sister Mary Aloysius McMullen and Sister Mary Alphonsus Cronyn made their first vows in the convent of Our Lady of Light on Nolan Street, in the presence of Bishop Neraz. Thus, the congregation, Sisters of the Holy Ghost and Mary Immaculate came into being.

Under Bishop Neraz, Margaret Mary founded the Sisters of the Holy Ghost and Mary Immaculate (later the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate). 
 

Sister Rita Nealon (left) and Sister Geraldine Klein (right) from the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate visit their foundresses' grave.

In 1893 she had a difficult time staffing the school. Under circumstances such as these, maintaining a steady teaching staff in her school became impossible. She returned to Ireland four times to bring women to join her community.

At the time of her death in 1907, Mother Margaret had assigned 15 sisters in missions in Oaxaca and Laredo. The order flourishes to this day, with missions in the United States and Africa. Her school is now the Healy-Murphy Center, an alternative high school in San Antonio.

Mother Margaret Mary dedicated her religious life to helping the poor and African Americans. She overcame many obstacles and her legacy lives on today. The Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate have begun the process of seeking her canonization.

She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Corpus Christi.
 

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About the Author

Cecilia Gutierrez Venable is the director of archives for the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. She is a history doctoral candidate at the University of Texas-El Paso. She received her M.A. and B.A. from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Venable is an award winning author, and has published or edited seven books, and numerous articles and chapters. She is a regular contributor to Blackpast.org and tshaonline.org. She studies women’s history, African American history and the history of energy.