In 1893, the Municipal Council of Ladysmith asked the Vicar Apostolic of Natal, to send teaching and nursing nuns to open a school and hospital in Ladysmith.
The Augustinian Sisters opened a school in a building in Murchison Street on 2 February 1896.
In January 1897 the sisters moved into their new premises, a convent, school and sanatorium close to the present site of the La Verna Hospital. Mass was celebrated for the first time in the chapel on 27 February 1897 and the first patient was admitted to the hospital on 12 July 1897.
For the duration of the siege of Ladysmith in October 1899 to February 1900, the sisters were evacuated to Ntombi Camp.
The school flourished and in January 1915 boasted a refectory and dormitory and admitted 206 pupils.
The hospital too was of great value to the residents of Ladysmith and nursed many through the Spanish influenza epidemic in 1918.
The years between 1919 and 1934 saw a new chapel, a new sanatorium, a new school building and then an enlargement of the chapel.
Construction on the present church building began in 1943. The church was used for the first time on the 6th of February 1949.
In 1960 the Augustinian Sisters sold the hospital and school to the Franciscan Sisters. As the Franciscan Order does not teach and nurse in the same area, the convent school was closed. The La Verna Hospital was sold to a private company in the late 1980’s. The convent was closed in the late 1990’s and the sisters were relocated.
The convent building is the present day priest’s house and is situated alongside the church. The house is occupied by several Franciscan priests who serve the communities in and surrounding Ladysmith.
The present church building underwent major restoration in 1996.
There are two halls to the left of the church; the older of the two was a stable during the Anglo-Boer War.
The grotto to the right of the halls is a prayerful spot with Our Lady of Lourdes.