In the middle of October, we celebrate Founders’ Day, memorializing the eight courageous pioneers who created our community in Le Puy, France. Father Médaille went where Jesuits were not allowed to go, gathering a group of women and helping them become a formal religious congregation.
In 1870, seven brave sisters trekked from Missouri to Arizona to minister to the dear neighbor. After a delay of two years, the 150th Anniversary of the Trek of the Seven Sisters was held on May 29 at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson, Arizona.
When I turned the photo over to check for a date, I was amazed to see that the woman standing in the back between the guitar player and two sisters was identified as Helga von Trapp, a member of the famous Trapp Family Singers (as portrayed in The Sound of Music Broadway musical and subsequent 1965 film).
Many Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet are talented artists, including Sister Mary Kay Kottenstette of the St. Louis Province (pictured, forefront). Here she is creating and directing the making of life-size papier-maché figures in Chimbote, Peru.
October 8-10 marks the 150th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. At that time, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet operated St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum in Chicago, Illinois.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet are a congregation of Catholic sisters. We, and those who share our charism and mission, are motivated in all things by our profound love of God and our dear neighbors. We seek to build communities and bridge divides between people. Since our first sisters gathered in 1650, our members have been called to “do all things of which women are capable.” The first sisters of our congregation arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1836, and we now have additional locations in St. Paul, Albany, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Japan and Peru. Today, we commit to respond boldly to injustice and dare to be prophetic.