South Texas Catholic (2024)

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^“XAVIER
Historian, writer; teacher and archivist
By Sister Lou Ella Hickman, IWBS
Correspondent
ister Mary Xavier Hol-
worthy, IWBS is widely
r known as the historian of
the Diocese of Corpus Christi. She
was not only a historian but was a
legend in her own right.
She was legendary—both in the convent and in the dio-
cese. Her sisters at the Incarnate Word Convent all knew
she was vocally adamant in her dislike of the hymn “Priestly
People.” But they also knew Sister Xavier was a pioneer
religious and a profound person of prayer.
She and the diocese “grew up” together. She entered
the Incarnate Word community in 1908 and just four years
later, in 1912, the Vicariate of Brownsville was elevated to
the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
Sister Xavier did not begin life as a Catholic. She was
born in 1890 in Denver, Colorado and the family came to
Corpus Christi at the turn of the century where her father,
the Rev A. J. Holworthy was assigned as rector of the Epis-
copal Church of the Good Shepherd.
Not a great believer in public schools, her father sent
her to school at Incarnate Word Academy After an initial
resistance, the young girl said she was “thrown to my knees”
during the Benediction service. She recalled years later
“grace was poured into my soul” and she made up her mind
to become a Catholic. Her father forbade such a notion, but
Father Claude Jaillet baptized her on Dec. 6,1903.
At the age of 18, her father finally consented to her en-
tering the Incarnate Word convent but her mother refused.
She made her final vows at the end of 1910.
In 1913, Sister Xavier, requested and received a dispensa-
tion to leave the silence of the cloister during the summer
to attend school for teacher training. Sister earned a B.A.
degree at Incarnate Word College in San Antonio in 1929
and her M. A. also in San Antonio at St. Mary’s University
in 1939.
Her graduate thesis was on the history of the Diocese of
Corpus Christi. The thesis was an outgrowth of her research
on the history of the Corpus Christi Cathedral parish that
was later published under the title, A Century ofSacrifice—A
History of the Cathedral Parish 1853-1953.
She went on to write much of the original material on
which the Nueces County Historical Society based its hand-
book. She served as president of the Society as well as a di-
rector of the Nueces County Historical Survey Committee.
Sister Xavier authored several books; the most notable
was the biography of Father Claude Jaillet, whom she knew
personally The book, Father Jaillet, Saddlebag Priest of the
Nueces, was published in 1948 and the Duval County His-
torical Society reprinted it in 1996 with permission of the
Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. The
book is often given to diocesan seminarians to provide them
with a sense of the early years of the Church in south Texas.
As a teacher at Incarnate Word Academy, Sister Xavier’s
expertise was business or secretarial training, as it was called
then. After they graduated, her students were much in de-
mand by the businessmen of the city However, business
was not her only accomplishment; she also organized the
first orchestra, the drama and music clubs after she went
to the high school in 1924. Eater she set up and organized
the high school library during the 1938-1939 school year.
Sister Xavier retired from teaching in 1968 and became
the first diocesan archivist. At 82, she still worked an
eight-hour day in the archives office at the Corpus Christi
Cathedral.
“ If it were not for Sister Xavier, we would be in a very bad
state,” said Geraldine McGloin, a local historian and Corpus
Christi Cathedral parishioner, concerning Sister Xavier’s
impact on the efforts of recording the diocese’s history
Sister Xavier died on April 28, 1974 in Corpus Christi.
Her life and work not only helped lay the foundation for the
Church in South Texas, it also recorded for future genera-
tions the legacy of those beginnings. -T
12 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC I APRIL 2012
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
 

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