Our name "Congregatio Jesu" was officially adopted in 2003 in place of the title "Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary".

The origins of the name "Congregatio Jesu"

Following the enlightenment of 1611 to "take the same of the Society (of Jesus), Mary Ward never doubted that the name of her institute must be that of "Jesus". However, she could not give her new foundation an official name because the Church never gave it the recognition she sought. Among the sisters they spoke about themselves as "the companions" and "ours". Their opponents and detractors named them "Jesuitesses" and "galloping girls". By common custom the sisters were often identified simply as the "English Ladies", a description still in use in some provinces.

Within half a century of Mary Ward's death the sisters had adopted the Marian title: "The Institute of Mary". Shortly later this was changed to the "Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary". It was under this title that the Church approved the institute in 1877, and at the inconclusive Union Congress of 1900 all branches of Mary Ward's institute accepted this as the official ecclesiastical title.

The decision to adopt the name "Congregatio Jesu" was taken at the General Congregation of 2002 when the Ignatian Constitutions "ad maximum" were adopted. After nearly 400 years Mary Ward's founding vision was at last realised.