Sisters of St. Joseph Leave France for New World 175 years ago today



Chapel Candles, Fouviere Hill, Lyon, France 

 Today is the 175th anniversary of when the first Sisters of St. Joseph departed from Lyon to come to "The New World." I've attached a short prayer service that was originally written during the Bearers of the Tradition Institute in Concordia, Kansas.



The story of the Sisters of St. Joseph leaving Lyon and eventually arriving in St. Louis is told in a couple of books. Comunidad para el Mundo by Mary McGlone, CSJ, was written primarily to tell the story of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet's presence in Peru. However Chapter 3 offers a well researched account of this event. Another delightful book that I've just finished reading is titled Like a Swarm of Bees, by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie, CSJ, from California wrote Like a Swarm of Bees. Wikapedia explains that she finished the manuscript shortly before her death in May 2009. Written to fulfil both a prophecy and a promise spoken in 1805 by Abbe Piron of St. Etienne, France, fortold that the Sisters of St. Joseph would increase in number and "like a swarm of bees" spread everywhere. Both books are well worth reading.