The Tradition
of the
Congregation of Holy Cross

Holy Cross of San Antonio is one of many secondary schools and universities in the
United States operated in the tradition of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a tradition begun
in post-Revolutionary France with the vision of Father Basil Moreau. Holy Cross of
San Antonio is a school in the Southwest Province.



The History

"The Mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart" --Fr. Basil A. Moreau

  • The Holy Cross tradition of operating schools and teaching young people began in post-revolutionary France around 1835. Father Basil Anthony Moreau began the Holy Cross family when he took over the direction of brothers of St. Joseph -- who later became known as the Brothers of Holy Cross -- and founded a group of "Auxilialry Priests" who would later become members of the Congregation of Holy Cross. In subsequent years, Moreau founded the Holy Cross sisters.
  • The Congregation gets its name from the section of Le Mans, France known as Sainte-Croix, or Holy Cross, the first settlement of the Congregation.
  • Fr. Moreau saw the brothers, priests and sisters primarily as educators. For FatherMoreau, the vocation of a teacher was a special call from God as important as God's call to the religious life.
  • Holy Cross schools began in the United States in 1842 with the founding of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Thirty years later the Congregation founded St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Holy Cross of San Antonio opened in 1957.

    Top of Page

    The Schools
  • The school, in the Holy Cross educational heritage, is a place of broad academic learning and of socialization in gospel values. The Congregation of Holy Cross currently administers forty-three schools around the world, including nine universities and eighteen middle and secondary schools in the United States.
    Holy Cross Schools in the United States
    Top of Page
    The Vision
     Top of Page


    Return to Holy Cross of San Antonio Home Page

    Copyright©, 1997 Holy Cross High School
    426 North San Felipe -- San Antonio, Texas 78228-6294
    (210) 433-9395; Fax (210) 433-1666
    E-mail Address: admisn@onr.com