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The Sisters of St. Joseph |
OVER 100 YEARS OF SERVICE
The Sisters of St. Joseph have been an intimate part of Our Lady of Lourdes since 1895. When Father Pompeney arrived in Pittsburg to serve as pastor, he made arrangements for the Sisters of St. Joseph to come to Pittsburg to teach at the growing school in about 1895. Since then, over 150 sisters have served in the grade school (see list below).
Since the high school opened in 1936, the Sisters of St. Joseph have been active there. They have served as Principals of the high school from the beginning in 1936 until 1973. Sister Linus was the first principal (1936-1949), followed by Sister Edwina (1949-1950 ), Sister Paula (1950-1958), Sister Linus again (1958-1960), then Sister de Chantal (1960-1963), Sister Veronica (1963-1966), Sister Mary Patrick (1966-1972), and finally Sister Laura (1972-1973). The Sisters have always been active in school life from teaching, to coaching, to directing musicals, and more. A list of sisters serving at the high school is given below.
THE SISTERS TODAY
Three sisters now teach at St. Marys. Sister Patrice, Sister Rosina, and Sister Charlotte help with the grade school. We are graced to have these lovely and spiritual women here.
THE CONVENT
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Monsignor McCullough began a high school program in 1936. With the addition of the secondary program and the starting of a Kindergarten program that same year, a Sister's residence was purchased in 1932 but later sold.
In 1949, Father Alex G. Stremel began a building program of "three tabernacles": a new rectory, a new gymnasium and a new convent. The image to the left shows the existing convent at the southwest corner of Locust and Ninth Streets. |
When Pastor Dr. Pompeney brought the
Sisters of St. Joseph to Pittsburg to teach in the grade school,
the Sisters lived in a cottage at Ninth and Elm. They resided
there until construction of the new church was started in 1904.
HISTORY OF THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH
Sisters
of St. Joseph can trace their history to LePuy, France in 1650.
The Bishop Henri de Maupas granted ecclesiastical approval to
organize a Congregation without cloister that dedicated themselves
to works of charity, called the Sisters of St. Joseph. Several
widows and young women were trying to minister to those suffering
due to civil and religious strife in France. A traveling Jesuit
missionary, Father Jean Pierre Medaille, became associated with
them and helped carry the cause to the Vatican. This tiny nucleus
of women began to live very simply in small groups, sometimes
only three, and with no distinguishing mark to set them apart.
During the French Revolution, many Sisters were imprisoned or scattered to their family homes and five were guillotined. The revolution ended in 1794 and in 1807, Mother St. Jeanne Fontbonne, who had been cheated of a martyr's death by the fall of Robespierre, was asked to gather women religious who had been scattered during the revolution and to refound the Sisters of St. Joseph.
In 1836, Mother St. John sent six sisters to America at the request of Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, Missouri. They lived in a log cabin convent in Carondelet, Missouri, where they taught the deaf and worked with Native Americans. Eventually, they expanded their work to other parts of the United States.
The current Congregation in Wichita was formed in 1888 and its roots can be traced to Concordia, Kansas (1883), Rochester, New York (1854),and Carondelet (1836).
More than two thousand Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet now serve in forty states and in Peru, Japan, and Chile. In countless parishes, schools, health care centers, retreat houses, colleges and universities, neighborhood outreach centers, the sisters serve with the same spirit which motivated the first sisters.
[Basic historical information was collated from web sites maintained by various existing congregations. See the Wichita site below for a more in-depth history.
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Federation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the United States of America: http://www.sistersofsaintjosephfederation.org/
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Sisters of St. Joseph of Wichita: http://www.csjwichita.org/
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Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia: http://www.csjkansas.org/]
SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH IN SERVICE AT OUR LADY OF LOURDES
The following list of sisters serving in the grade school was found in the Diamond Jubilee Book, so it includes all years up to 1956.
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Sister Adella - 1937 Sister Agatha - 1899 Sister Agnes Clare - 1925, 27-28, 34-35 Sister Agnes Marie 1948 Sister Agriesina - 1942-44 Sister Alfreda - 1945-46 Sister Ambrose - 1923 Sister Anacleta - 1954-56 Sister Anthony - 1898 Sister Antoinette - 1918-26 Sister M. Assissium - 1903 Sister M. Athanasius - 1947-49, 55 Sister M. Augustine - 1924-25, 37 Sister M. Aurelia - 1918-19 Mother M. Baptista - 1900 Sister Barbara - 1921 Sister Beatrice - 1940 Sister Berchmans - 1943-48 Sister Bernard - 1938-39 Sister Bernadine - 1917-1919 Sister Bertina - 1951-52 Sister Bfrtrand - 1951-53 Sister Boniface - 1895 Sister Borromeo - 1927-40 Sister Callista - 1924 Sister Carlotta - 1956 Sister Carol Ann - 1950 Sister Catherine - 1948 Sister Cecilia Agnes - 1926 Sister Chrysostom - 1948, 1951 Sister Clare - 1915 Sister Clare Louise - 1949 Sister Clarence - 1936 Sister Clarissa - 1947-50 Sister Clementine - 1896-99 Sister Clotilde - 1897 Mother Colette - 1903 Sister Cosmas - 1927-35 Sister Cvrilla - 1956 Sister Daniel - 1953-54 Sister David - 1950-1953 Sister M. de Chantal - 1926-36 Sister M. Delphine - 1904 Sister M. Denise - 1950 Sister M. de Pazzi - 1949-52 Sister M. de Sales - 1895-96 Sister M. de Sales - 1948, 1954-56 |
Sister M. Dolores - 1948-56 Sister M. Dorothea - 1896 Sister M. Edmund - 1905 Sister M. Edwina - 1949 Sister Eileen - 1937-41 Sister Eina - 1920 Sister Elizabeth - 1943 Sister Emerentia - 1951, 55 Sister Ermina - 1934 Sister Esther - 1925 Sister Eugenia - 1952 Sister Eulalia - 1917-1918 Sister Euphrasia - 1929, 1942-48 Sister Eusebius - 1947, 1956 Sister M. Eva - 1948 Sister M. Evangelist - 1925-26 Sister M. Evarista - 1936, 1956 Sister Ferdinand - 1939-46 Sister Fernando - 1951-52 Sister Flavia - 1944-47 Sister Flora - 1935 Sister Florence - 1936-37 Sister Frances - 1898, 1901 Sister Francis Aloysius - 1955 Sister Francis Joseph - 1938 Sister Gabriel - 1950 Sister Genevieve - 1898, 1902 Sister Georgiana - 1927-30, 36, 49 Sister M. Germaine - 1915-16 Sister M. Grace - 1929-33, 37-45 Sister Gregory - 1915-17 Sister Ignatius - 1949 Sister Isabel - 1951 Sister James - 1953-54 Sister Jean Louise - 1952-56 Sister Jerome - 1919 Sister John Joseph - 1920-22, 38 Sister Joseph - 1899-1902 Sister Julia - 1951 Sister Justin - 1929-31, 44, 50-54 Sister Kevin - 1917-18, 22-24 Sister Lambertine - 1921-24 Sister Lawrence - 1900 Sister Leo - 1895-96, 1916 Sister Leonora - 1954-56 Sister Linus - 1938-48 Sister Loretta - 1915-16 Sister Louis - 1897 |
Sister Luciana - 1935-39, 50-51 Sister Lucilla - 1935-40 Sister Lucille - 1950-51 Sister Luke - 1937-41, 52-56 Sister Madeleva - 1950 Sister Margaret Mary - 1905 Sister Margarita - 1947-48 Sister Marina - 1940-41 Sister Marita - 1947, 49 Sister Martha - 1918, 1931-33 Sister Martin - 1924-26, 40-46, 55 Sister Mary Margaret - 1952-54 Sister M. Maxime - 1950 Sister Mel Eesa - 1920-24 Sister Miriam - 1923 Sister Modesta - 1918, 55-56 Sister Monica - 1949 Sister M. Nora - 1954-56 Sister M. Paschal - 1951 Sister M. Paula - 1937-42, 49-56 Sister Philip Ann - 1952-53 Sister Philomena - 1899 Sister Quintin - 1941-47 Sister Raphael - 1927-28 Sister Regina - 1903-04 Sister Regis - 1920, 39 Sister Rita - 1917-22 Sister Rosalia - 1915-16, 1950-54 Sister Rose - 1919 Sister Rose Angela - 1926 Sister Rosemary - 1932-33 Sister Scholastica - 1938 Sister Simeon - 1941, 1950-51 Sister St. John - 1925-26 Sister St. Jude - 1945-47 Sister Sylvia - 1942-45 Sister Teresa - 1901-02 Sister Teresa Marie - 1927-47, 1953 Sister Teresita - 1934, 1955-56 Sister Thomas Aquinas - 1952-53 Sister Victorine - 1940-45, 1953-54 Sister Vincent - 1896 Sister Vincentia - 1948, 1952, 1956 Sister Virgilius - 1936 Sister Urban - 1951-52 Sister Ursula - 1915-16 Sister Wilma - 1946-48 Sister Xavier - 1900 |
The list of Sisters serving at the high school was compiled by the Alumni Association in 2000 and included:
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Sister Ferdinand Sister Luke Sister Paula Sister Linus Sister Martin Sister Euphrasia Sister Victorine Sister Florence Sister Elizabeth Sister Berchmans Sister Flavia Sister Athanasius Sister Clarissa Sister Eva |
Sister Vincentia Sister Agnesina Sister Edwina Sister Ignatius Sister Rosaria Sister Lucille Sister Lucianna Sister de Pazzi Sister Simeon Sister Isabel Sister Teresa Marie Sister James Sister Teresita Sister Cyrilia |
Sister Walburga Sister Justina Sister Cleophas Sister Veronica Sister Edward Sister de Chantal Sister Assumpta Sister Sara Sister Leocritia Sister Eustasia Sister Clare Louise Sister Immaculata Sister Lynda Sister Mary Patrick |
Sister Eda Marie Sister Prudentia Sister Helen Joseph Sister Laura Sister Suzanne Sister Harriet Sister Gabrielia Sister Rebecca Sister Mary John Sister Helene Sister Teresa Sister Lucille Sister Denise Sister Patrice |
Last Update: August 3, 2003
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