in 1844, in Bertrand, Michigan, a school for girls. By 1855, this school moved the 6 miles to Notre Dame, Indiana to become Saint Mary's College, still one of the leading Catholic women's liberal arts colleges. In 1846 Bishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal asked Moreau, whom he had visited at Holy Cross, to send him sisters whom he might establish in his diocese. Four religious were sent in 1847 and founded their first house in the village of St. Lawrence, near Montreal. In 1856, Rome approved the constitutions of Holy Cross for the men. Doubting the propriety of a mixed congregation of men and women, Rome separated the women into an independent community at that time. Fr. Moreau, in his role as their founder, continued to work for Rome's approval of the sisters' constitution. In 1885, Rome approved the constitutions of the Marianites of Holy Cross, granting them the status of "congregation" within the Church. Meanwhile, the sisters set up schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, Le Mans, France and Quebec, Canada. The unity of the Marianites of Holy Cross would not last long: competing authorities at Notre Dame and Le Mans, complicated by slow communications over large distances, led to the withdrawal of the sisters at Indiana in 1867 and Quebec in 1883. They formed two new, independent congregations: the Sisters of the Holy Cross at Notre Dame, Indiana, and the Sisters of Holy Cross at Montreal, Quebec. Louisiana In 1849 three Marianite sisters traveled from France to New Orleans and opened an orphanage for boys. In 1866 they set up Holy Angels Academy, a high school for girls in the Bywater historic district. With the opening of the Archdiocesan Archbishop Hannan High School in Meraux, enrollment was reduced and Holy Angels closed in 1992. In 1965 the Marianites of Holy Cross founded Our Lady of Prompt Succor Nursing Home to provide long-term health care and short term rehabilitation services to the surrounding communities. C'est la Vie Independent Living Center for seniors was added in March 1986. The Marianites of Holy Cross continue to work in their traditional geographical areas of Le Mans, France and New Orleans, Louisiana. They continue to operate several significant institutions including: Our Lady of Holy Cross College, founded in New Orleans in 1916 and Holy Family School, in Port Allen, Louisiana, founded in 1949. As of 2016 there were 140 sisters worldwide. Recent events Sister