The Ursuline Sisters originated in 1535 in Brescia, Italy, when St. Angela Merici of Desenzano formed a company of women who, through their relationship with God, responded to the needs of the people. In the 1840s, Father Amadeus Rappe, chaplain of the Ursulines in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, came to northern Ohio and in 1847 was appointed Bishop of all northern Ohio, with Cleveland as his Episcopal see. He brought Ursulines from France to Cleveland and later sought their help in supplying religious teachers elsewhere. On December 12, 1854, the Toledo Ursulines were formed when five Ursuline Sisters arrived in Toledo to bring Catholic education to immigrant adults and children, and four days later they opened their doors to 200 pupils at St. Francis de Sales. In 1863, the Cleveland Community sent nuns to teach in Tiffin, Ohio, where an independent Ursuline community was established. After Toledo became a separate diocese from Cleveland in 1910, the two independent communities in Toledo and Tiffin were joined in 1913, with the Motherhouse designated as the Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart in Toledo. Until 1975, the Tiffin Ursuline Convent maintained a home for Sisters teaching at Calvert High School and St. Mary's and St. Joseph's parochial schools. As consecrated women religious, the Ursuline Sisters continue the spirit and vision of St. Angela Merici through ministries carried out in accordance with their mission to promote the mission of Jesus by being available for any work of charity.