Celebrating 375: Anything of Which a Woman is Capable

Women Called to Serve the Dear Neighbor

Apostolic Foundations

When the “Little Design” of Father Jean-Pierre Médaille, SJ began to take shape in the mid-1600s, there was only one form of religious life available to women: the cloister. Groups of women had tried to create apostolic congregations, focused on ministry and service to the people of God, but they had been shut down or shut behind the doors of a convent.

Building the foundations of what would become the Sisters of St. Joseph, Father Médaille carefully described a new community of women in service of the dear neighbor. These women had no monastery but lived together in a “common life.” The Règlements instructed the women to leave their house only “to go to the churches, to visit the sick, hospitals, prisons, and to perform other exercises of charity.” This strict sounding rule left a loophole wide enough for the women to address any and every need. Many chose to wear widow’s black so that they could move about in public unaccompanied and minister to the poor.

Finally, in 1650, six women of the “Little Design” joined together in community under the patronage of St. Joseph in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. Offering their lives in service to God and the dear neighbor, this religious community devoted themselves to the needs of ordinary people, living among them.

Ministries of the First Sisters

Free to minister outside the walls of their common home, the original Sisters of St. Joseph were encouraged by Father Jean-Pierre Médaille to “practice all the spiritual and corporal works of mercy of which women are capable and that will most benefit the dear neighbor.”

Our foundresses set out to “divide the city, seek out its ills and cure them.” Each sister claimed went to different sections of the city where they found out the needs of the dear neighbor from the people themselves.

During the beginnings of the congregation in France, our sisters were already providing educations, helping women become self-sufficient, taking care of the orphaned, running hospitals and more.

Capable of Anything

Since our founding, the Sisters of St. Joseph have traveled to different cities, nations and continents. In each new place, our sisters “seek out its ills and cure them.” As the needs of the dear neighbor grew and changed, our sister adapted to meet them. Father Jean-Pierre Médaille told our first sisters to do “anything of which a woman is capable.” From our history and ever-growing legacy, we know women are capable of doing anything.

Sisters of St. Joseph Now

Today, Sisters of St. Joseph can be found in soup kitchens, shelters, universities, schools, hospitals, courtrooms, prisons, retreat centers, offices, nursing homes, laboratories, studios and hospices. We are educators, lawyers, doctors, nurses, family therapists, social workers, patient advocates, spiritual directors, parish ministers, theologians, psychologists, physical therapists, administrators, artists, authors, musicians, poets and more. We continue to serve the dear neighbor, doing anything of which we are capable.