Roman Relations with: Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP (born Elizabeth Clarisse Lange; c. 1789 – February 3, 1882) was an American religious sister in Baltimore, Maryland who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1829, the first African-American religious congregation in the United States.

According to oral tradition of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Lange landed in Charleston, South Carolina.

Lange recognized the need for education for African-American children and opened a school for them in her home[1] in the Fells Point area of the city.

In Baltimore, Lange met James Nicholas Joubert, a Sulpician priest who was a native of France and a former soldier.

He was in charge of teaching catechism to the African-American children who attended the Lower Chapel at Saint Mary's Seminary.

The Oblate Sisters of Providence were founded by Lange and Joubert as the first religious congregation of women of African descent in the United States.

[2] While dealing with poverty, racism, and hardships, the Oblate Sisters sought to evangelize the Black community through Catholic education.

In addition to schools, the sisters later conducted night classes for women, vocational and career training, and established homes for widows and orphans.

Lange's legacy of the Oblate Sisters of Providence has thrived over the years in the United States and in several foreign countries.

[7] A three-part Spanish-language documentary, Hermanas de Corazon (2021), created by Gloria Rolando, was made about Lange and the Oblates' work in Cuba.

In 1991, with the approval of the Holy See, Cardinal William Henry Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, officially opened a formal investigation of Lange's life to study it for her possible canonization.

On May 28, 2013, Lange's remains were exhumed and transferred to the Baltimore community of the Oblate Sisters, where she was reinterred in their chapel.