Happy St. Joseph's Day!

We look to Joseph

as our model

of gentleness,

justice,

and humility...

Boston CSJ Constitution

Spirit and Purpose #5

As Sisters of St. Joseph and associates throughout the world celebrate St. Joseph's Day, I share this prayer to St. Joseph. It is on a prayer card produced by our Mission Advancement Office in 1999. Although it was written a few years ago, I continue to receive requests to use it. So I share it here once again.

Prayer to St. Joseph

God of Great Love,

Your son, Jesus,

was nurtured by St. Joseph.

May we look to Joseph

as our model of justice,

gentleness, and humility.

May we, with Joseph,

nurture the life of Christ

in our lives

and in the lives of others,

uniting all people

and all creation

with God and with one another.

May Joseph's life inspire us

to be a hopeful, healing presence

within our world.

Amen

© 1999 -- Joanne Gallagher, CSJ

Many will also recognize the photograph as the statue of St. Joseph by Mary Southard, CSJ, that is located on the grounds of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, CA. This is only one of many garden sculptures by Mary Southard, CSJ.  I'm including a photo that shows the full view of the statue so you can see it in context. The statue is a meditation in itself.

Also, I would like to call your attention to a lovely article by Father Richard Erikson, Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Boston, that is in this week's editon of The Boston Pilot. It's titled Celebrating the Sisters of St. Joseph. Thank you Father Erikson!

A very happy St. Joseph Day to all.

First Day of Spring/Anniversary of Final Vows

March 20
7:44 a.m. today is the vernal equinox and the official start of spring. For some reason this year I seem more excited about the start of sping then most years. Maybe it's because of the particularly snowy winter we've had in the Northeast. I've always loved crocuses and have quite a collection of crocus pictures. But for the past week I've been photographing them wherever I can find them. This one is from the front garden of Fontbonne Convent, one of our larger local communities.

March 20 also has special signifigance for me because it's the anniversary of the day I professed my perpetual vows as a Sister of St. Joseph. I had wanted to celebrate this event on March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, but it didn't work out. So March 20 has been important to me for quite a few years. A couple of weeks before my "Final Vows," as the event is often called, a Sister of Providence whom I had met on a retreat sent me a book called "Peace Pays a Price." It's the story of Margaret Anna Cusack the foundress of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. This congregation has a different history than ours. They don't have roots in LePuy, France like most congregations who bear the name of St. Joseph. But they are an inspiring group and the story of their foundress certainly inspired me.

Once I read her story, it seemed as if there was no turning back. I had to learn all I could about our own heritage and the women who began our congregation. I started by volunteering in our archives for a couple of summers. I read everything that was available. It was at a time when new research on our history was being done in France. Over the years I've had wonderful opportunities to study more. Like many other Sisters of St. Joseph, I participated in countless retreats, workshops and CSSJ Federation events that helped us integreate this new research into our lives. This all came about after one of the documents of Vatican II [Perfectae caritatis] "mandated" that congregations of religious women undertake this kind of study.

During the summers of 2003 and 2005, I spent time in Concordia, Kansas at what is called the Bearers of the Tradition Institute. I've also had the opportunity to travel to France where we were founded. I had the was able to spend a week at our CSSJ International Centre and just "be" in the midst of what feels like the sacred space of our origins. Two of those times I coordinated pilgrimages for sisters and associates.

Perhaps the combination of these experiences has contributed to my desire to create this blog as one more way of telling some small part of the story of the Sisters of St. Joseph.